Amsterdam Smart City

On June 21, under the flag of RVO’s 100 Climate Neutral Cities Mission, Amsterdam Smart City hosted the 200 Intelligent & Climate Neutral Cities Jam, bringing together stakeholders of the 100 Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) and 100 Climate-Neutral Mission, to create synergies between these two initiatives and help amplify their impact. In this post we provide a short recap of the session.

To kick-off the session, participants were asked to reflect on what will it take to achieve the so-called “twin” green and digital transitions. Some of the key ingredients indicated by the participants were: strong leadership, sense of urgency, good policy, collaboration, innovative thinking, shared ambition, funds and imagination.

After that ASC program director Leonie van den Beuken introduced the work of Amsterdam Smart City, which started in 2009 with a focus on engaging citizens and entrepreneurs in small-scale projects that could accelerate the energy transition through digital and social innovations. Reflecting on the situation 12 years later, Leonie noted the work is far from finished: “The world is in transition and people often say everything is changing too fast. But the opposite is true; we are not changing fast enough”.

100 Intelligent Cities

Next, Dana Eleftheriadou, European Commissions’ Head of Advanced Technologies and Digital Transformation provided an introduction to the Intelligent Cities Challenge – a programme launched in 2020 that is helping more than 100 small and medium European cities on their way to sustainable growth through the use of digital technologies. The programme is delivering tailored strategies and boosting capacity of municipal authorities and their innovation ecosystems on five themes: citizen participation & digitalization of public administration, green economy & local green deals, upskilling & reskilling, green & digital transition in tourism, and supply chains, logistics and the economics of mobility.

100 Climate Neutral Cities

The following pitch came from Harry Tuinder, representative of the Directorate General for Research and Innovation at the European Commission, who introduced the Climate Neutral Cities Mission which aims to achieve at least 100 climate-neutral European cities by 2030, and ensure that all European cities build the right foundation to become climate-neutral by 2050. The programme will be one of five missions inspired by the Apollo 11 programme that sent the first man on the moon. The idea is to create bold yet realistic targets to address key societal challenges by inspiring bottom-up innovation and solutions. The mission is expected to be published in October 2021.

The session wrapped up with short contributions by Christiaan Norde, Policy Advisor International Affairs at the City of Amsterdam and Jacobine de Zwaan, Smart City Advisor at Ministry of External Affairs, who reflected on the role of learning in city networks and public-private collaboration to achieve climate-neutral and smart cities.

The Intelligent Cities Challenge and Climate Neutral Cities Mission are inspiring examples of how the European Commission is mobilizing resources to accelerate the twin green and digital transitions. As Mariana Mazzucato, special adviser on research and innovation for the Commission points out, the collaborative, mission-oriented thinking resulted in putting a man on the moon. We can use the same approach to solve our most “wicked” problems – including climate change – closer to home and improving the lives of all Europeans.

Check out the recording of the event below.

ESPON Programme and Open & Agile Smart Cities are looking for your help and insight!

As part of the ESPON DIGISER project (Digital Innovation in Governance and Public Service Provision) and beyond, we are collecting data on the practices and current situation of digital innovation in European cities, towns and regions.

The survey is available here until 9 July 2021:
 https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/DIGIsurvey2021

The DIGISER project is an EU initiative run by the ESPON Programme and supported by the European Committee of the Regions, living-in.eu, EUROCITIES, ICLEI, 100 Intelligent Cities Challenge, Smart Cities Marketplace and Open and Agile Smart Cities.

The goal is to lay the foundations for future EU programs and initiatives that support municipalities in their digital transition. To do this, we need to know what is being done at local level. The survey is also the cornerstone of the annual index, which will help you understand the current state of your digital journey and help cities with to benchmark themselves against similar cities across Europe. By participating in the survey, you will get a better overview of your city's approach to digital innovation. The results of the survey can be used by local governments to apply for funding from future EU or national programmes.

And: There’s even a chance for you to win 1 of 5 reMarkable tablets as a little token of appreciation for your time!

In our program of Tuesday July 6th Circular will meet Digital. Demodays are part of our innovation process and intended to boost the progress of the various innovation projects. Always in a variety of ways and in a very positive and open vibe. Invitations are sent but we're always open to adding a few new names to the list.

We host these days every 8-10 weeks. During Demodays, community members pitch projects & ask for input, and in small groups we work on concrete questions that our partners put on the table.

Pitches to explore:

• Can we unify powerful, complex tech with a democratic society? – KNVI
• Subsidy opportunities for innovation partners – City of Amsterdam
• Building bridges that stimulate bike use – Pontiflex
• How to take circularity and energy into account when it comes to data storage – A’dam Economic Board

Workshops:

Circular ICT - AMS Institute & Gemeente Amsterdam
De production, purchase and use of ICT equipment happens mostly in a well known linear model. But what if we could let the end user manage their hardware in a circular way? Together we'll identify what’s needed to come up with the ideal monitor for sustainable ICT.

Materials Passport – Provincie Noord-Holland
A materials passport could truly speed up circular construction. It gives insights on what’s deconstructed when demolition is taking place and reused in new designs. The different experiences with the Cruquiusbrug and the Bruggencampus Flevoland-Floriade will serve as examples to pinpoint challenges and opportunities.

Responsible IT en data – Hogeschool van Amsterdam
Building a responsible IT System isn’t done overnight. There’re equipment choices, energy use, privacy and security. Not all aspects get the same attention which has consequences for the transparency and accessibility. We'll work with the question: How can you truly built a responsible IT system?

Have a question? Let’s hear it in the comments!

How can we learn from international smart city experiences to ensure that we do not keep reinventing the smart city wheel. In the City Deal “A Smart City, This Is How You Do It” 58 public and private parties are working together to collect, validate and scale smart city solutions in the Netherlands.

On 10 June, Future City Foundation (FCF) and Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) brought together more than 30 Dutch and international colleagues to connect the City Deal to international experiences and best practices. The session consisted of short pitches sharing the tools and solutions developed in the City Deal Working Groups. For every pitch the international experts were asked to share their experience with similar projects, and reflect on what is needed to improve and scale the solutions abroad.

1.     Open Urban Data Platform Tender

As more municipalities look to purchase urban data platforms, can we develop a generalized Program of Requirements? The Dutch cities of Rotterdam, Hilversum, and Helmond are working to develop such a flexible Program of Requirements, taking into account aspects such as scalability, flexibility and shareability of data, as well as privacy, cybersecurity, and data autonomy.  During the session, the city of Aahus shared the experience of Open Data DK, a collaboration of Danish municipalities and regions to not only tender, but collectively develop an open data portal, leading to improved collaboration and cost savings for Danish municipalities and their stakeholders.

2.     Model ByLaw Smart City in Public Space:

The public space is rapidly digitalization with many parties wishing to add sensors, beacons, cameras and other objects to enable various smart city applications. Local authorities need to find effective ways to regulate how this is done, so that the public space does not become a “Wild West” of smart applications. Within the City Deal, a model bylaw has been drawn and it is now being tested in Rotterdam. The question to the group was whether similar bylaws or initiatives been developed in other cities or jurisdictions? The city of Vienna shared its experience developing a Smart City Framework Strategy – a high level but binding document when it comes to designing bylaws related to various smart city domains.

3.     Citizen Measurement Initiatives:

Within the City Deal three Working Groups are exploring how to use citizen measurement to create smart, sustainable, and inclusive cities, and how to link these initiatives to policy. On this topic the group could learn from initiative like iScape and WeCount in Dublin’s Smart Docklands District, which focus on engaging citizens in measurement projects, and linking the results to city policy. And when it comes to engaging citizens in measuring their environment, city of Dublin had another suggestions for the Dutch colleagues: leverage the existing network of public libraries to engage and involve citizens and policy makers in citizen-measurement projects.

Second International Roundtable Planned
The discussion revealed there are a lot of shared challenges, for instance in scaling smart city projects, so it's necessary that we keep sharing approaches and lessons learned internationally.  Following the success of this first international roundtable, we are planning a second session on September 30.  Dutch and international experts who would like to participate, can send an email to Cornelia Dinca via cornelia@amsterdamsmartcity.com with a short explanation of how like to contribute to the session. For more information or any other questions about the City Deal please contact Wendolijn Beukers via wendolijn@future-city.nl.

Thank You to the Participants
ASC and FCF would like to thank all the Dutch and international colleagues who contributed their expertise during the session.

City Deal Working Groups Members
·       Noor van den Brink, Policy Advisor, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
·       Marcel Broekhaar, Smart City Program Management, City of Zwolle
·       Arjan Hof, CTO, WeCity
·       Daniel de Klein, Business Development Manager Digital City, City of Helmond
·       Anita Nijboer, Partner, Kennedy Van de Laan
·       Shahid Talib, Directeur Smart City, Heijmans
·       Simone Rodenburg, Advisor CIO Office, City of Enschede
·       Henri de Ruiter, Environmental Advisor, RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment
·       Jeroen Steenbakkers, Owner, Agaleo

International Peers
·       Ulrich Ahle, CEO, FIWARE Foundation
·       Jamie Cudden, Smart City Program Manager, City of Dublin
·       Bo Fristed, CIO, City of Aahus
·       Gianluca Galletto, Managing Director, Global Futures Group
·       Lea Hemetsberger, Director Projects & Network, Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC)
·       Jong-Sung Hwang, Masterplanner Busan Smart City, South Korea
·       Nigel Jacob, Co-Founder New Urban Mechanics, City of Boston
·       Gabriella Gomez-Mont, Former Director of Laboratorio para la Ciudad, Mexico City & Founder of Experimentalista
·       Jonathan Reichental, Former CIO of Palo Alto & author of Smart Cities for Dummies
·       Florian Wollen, Coordinator, Urban Innovation Vienna

Demodays are part of our innovation process and intended to boost the progress of the various innovation projects, put requests for help on the table, share dilemmas and involve others in your projects or challenges. Invitations are sent but we're always open to adding a few new names to the list.

We host them every 8-10 weeks. During Demo days, community members pitch projects and ask for input and in small groups we work on concrete questions that our partners put on the table. We organize workshops with them and other partners to get a step further in the process. All in a very positive, open and cheerful vibe.

This time on the agenda:

Pitches:

Bottlenecks in Smart Energy - Royal Haskoning DHV
Smart energy is more flexibel; use, production and storage can be adjusted according to the need or capacity of the net. To get where we want to be we need to speed thins along. Royalhaskoning DHV presents research that show the bottlenecks.

Introduction Overmorgen - Arcadis
Overmorgen will be part of Arcadis. Both companies will join forces to make even more impact in realizing a sustainable living environment. As Overmorgen also becomes a Amsterdam Smart City partner via Arcadis it’s good to get to know each other.

CODE the streets - AMS Institute
Creating an app that makes cities less busy and saver, that’s wat CODE the Streets is doing. Our region keeps growing and the same goes for our streets, neighbourhood’s and cities so we constantly need to come up with smart ways to organize mobility.

Innovation partner subsidy - City of Amsterdam
To give the region an economic and sustainable transition boost, the city of Amsterdam has extra funds available. A chance for our network to get subsidy for the plans they work on.

Workshops:

• Knowledge platform Smart Energy - MRA bureau
• Smart mobility as a part of region development  - Vervoerregio Amsterdam
• Neighbourhood participation learnings - Pakhuis de Zwijger
•. Improving energy infrastructure for cars at resting areas - Firan

Have a question? Let’s hear it in the comments!

Kun jij goed schrijven? Ben je een enthousiaste student die het leuk vindt om mensen te benaderen en teksten te schrijven? Heb je interesse in de regio Amsterdam, innovatie, technologie of duurzaamheid? En zoek je een stage op het gebied van communicatie en communities? Dan zoeken we jou!

Amsterdam Smart City is het innovatieplatform dat proactieve bewoners, innovatieve bedrijven, kennisinstellingen en overheden samenbrengt en vorm geeft aan de stad van de toekomst. Samen komen we tot innovatieve oplossingen en maken we betere straten, buurten en steden. Zo zorgen we ervoor dat de Amsterdam Metropoolregio leefbaar blijft voor iedereen. Amsterdam Smart City richt zich op vier thema’s: mobiliteit, de digitale stad, energie en circulaire economie. We werken samen met 20 partners en een internationale community van meer dan 8000 leden. Amsterdam Smart City is een netwerkorganisatie die valt of staat met contact met het netwerk. We brengen mensen op verschillende manieren bij elkaar, o.a. via het platform amsterdamsmartcity.com. Communicatie is één van onze kernactiviteiten, waarbij we jouw hulp nodig hebben!

Wie ben jij?

Jij bent een student in de richting communicatie / media / marketing / journalistiek. Je hebt affiniteit met de thema’s duurzaamheid, technologie en innovatie. Je bent enthousiast en wil graag leren. Je bent initiatiefrijk en je kunt zelfstandig werken. Daarnaast kun je makkelijk schakelen en ben je flexibel. Je kunt je communicatief schriftelijk en mondeling sterk uitdrukken. Je kunt overweg met online platforms, vindt het leuk om te schrijven, samen aan de slag te gaan en je netwerk te vergroten. Je vind het leuk om een community te ondersteunen en te stimuleren tot meer interactie. Een goede beheersing van de Nederlandse en Engelse taal is een must. Ervaring met Photoshop, Indesign en videobewerking is fijn, maar geen must.

Wat ga je doen tijdens je stage?

• Je bedenkt samen met het team welke (interactieve) content interessant is voor het netwerk. Je vindt haakjes met de actualiteit, komt met creatieve ideeën. Daarnaast ga je op zoek naar relevante content uit de community.
• Je beheert en bewerkt de content geplaatst door de community.
• Je schrijft of, als je het leuk vindt, maakt video’s en plaatst deze op de website.
• Je activeert de Amsterdam Smart City community door contact met de leden te onderhouden.
• Je beheert social media kanalen Twitter en Linkedin en zet deze actief in om onze content verder onder de aandacht te brengen.

Wat bieden wij?

• Een uitdagende meewerkstage op het gebied van communities en communicatie voor minimaal 4 dagen per week.
• We bieden je een fijne werkplek op het Marineterrein in Amsterdam, met een informele en collegiale sfeer en voldoende ruimte. Uiteraard kun je ook vanuit huis werken.
• Jouw eigen inbreng en enthousiasme zijn erg welkom.
• Wij bieden de stageplaats aan tegen een nette vergoeding volgens de richtlijnen van de Amsterdam Economic Board.
• Het is mogelijk om vanaf september te beginnen. Eerder is ook mogelijk.

Geïnteresseerd?

Vind je dit allemaal goed klinken? En past de stageplek goed bij je? Stuur dan je CV en een korte motivatie voor 23 juli naar info@amsterdamsmartcity.com. Voor meer informatie over de functie kun je een mailtje sturen naar Francien via francien@amsterdamsmartcity.com. Hopelijk spreken we elkaar snel!

Onze inzending voor ‘Missie Nederland’ van de Volkskrant (wat kan eigenlijk niet, maar wil je toch voor elkaar krijgen), oftewel een “Moonshot”, is het creëren van Bruto Nationaal Geluk met digitale sociale innovatie. In 9 punten de missie die we samen met Future City Foundation, het G40 Stedennetwerk, BTG Branchevereniging ICT en Telecommunicatie Grootgebruikers hebben ingestuurd.

Om dit te bereiken, moeten we zorgen dat íedereen kan meedoen in onze maatschappij, onze democratie. Ook de groep mensen die we nu niet horen. Met digitale technieken maken we nieuwe verbindingen mogelijk. Zodat je mee kan doen, bij kan dragen, ook als je de deur niet uit kunt, verbaal minder sterk bent of amper tijd hebt. Zo kan iedereen bijdragen aan het eigen geluk én aan dat van een ander.

In 2030 ...

… is geen enkele Nederlander meer digibeet, in plaats daarvan is elke Nederlander digitaal vaardig.

… heeft elke inwoner van Nederland toegang tot hoogwaardig internet. Dat betekent dat elk huis wordt aangesloten op snel vast en mobiel internet en elk huishouden in staat is om apparaten te kopen waarmee toegang mogelijk is. Een goede laptop is net zo belangrijk als een goede koelkast.

… wordt het internet op een nieuwe manier gebruikt. Toepassingen (software en
hardware) worden vanuit de gebruikers gemaakt. Met als uitgangspunt dat iedereen ze kan gebruiken. Programma’s en de daarvoor benodigde algoritmen worden zo geschreven dat ze ten dienste staan van de samenleving en niet van het bigtech-bedrijfsleven.

… heeft elke inwoner van Nederland een ‘self-sovereign-identity’ waarmee ze vrij, binnen de context van hun eigen grenzen, digitaal kunnen opereren en acteren.

… is nieuwe technologie ontwikkeld die de inwoners en bedrijven de kans mee te
denken en beslissen over en mee te ontwikkelen en handelen aan welzijn regio’s,
steden en dorpen.

… hebben alle Nederlandse politici verstand van digitalisering en technologisering.

… is het Nederlandse bedrijfsleven leidend in de ontwikkeling van deze oplossingen.

… zorgt dit alles voor meer welzijn en niet alleen voor meer welvaart.

… is het internet weer van ons.

Laat ons weten wat je ervan vindt in de comments. Lees ook de hele  moonshot.

As a city Amsterdam has ‘ambitious ambitions’ Jorren Bosga (city of Amsterdam) stated in his opening, as he was referring to Amsterdam’s Circular Economy (CE) Monitor. He did this in another edition of Data Dilemma’s. Here - in collaboration with Datalab Amsterdam - the biggest data-related hurdles of the great public transitions get addressed in a discussion between a panel of (international) experts and the audience.

This time, our experts talked about their experiences, plans and struggles on monitoring the circular economy. Jorren shared the cities ambition to reduce the use of primary abiotic resources (not derived from living organisms) by 50% in 2030 and by 100% in 2050. To gain insights into the progress towards the city’s top-level circular economy targets, Jorren expressed the need for both high coverage, as well as high detail of the data collected. Characteristics that seem almost mutually exclusive.

Data with high coverage and detail

A top-down approach, like Amsterdam’s collaboration with the Central Bureau of Statistics, leads to a broad general insight, but lacks detailed data of materials and is
subjected to assumptions. Working bottom-up will grant you more detailed data, but only on a small part of the system. To do the latter, Amsterdam partners with sector-wide reporting organizations or large companies, for instance in monitoring company-level waste processing.

What’s being reused and repaired?

Next up was Nina Lander Svendsen from PlanMiljø to talk about their multinational
collaboration study on the state of the circular economy in the Nordic countries. Like Amsterdam, she urged the need for more data on the ‘inner circles’ of CE, containing the reuse and repair of products and materials. Being able to influence the lifetime of materials will be most interesting to policy makers. Political strategies on stimulating the circular economy allow more specific collection of data and monitoring, in contrast to just generally gathering data. Having a stronger correlation between the circular transition and the expected impacts, will increase the influence of policy changes.

Focus on measuring what you really want to know

The call for focus on the things you really want to measure was underlined by Luc
Alaerts, researcher at the KU Leuven and Leuven 2030. It is easy to look at what you can do with the data that is available, but it contains the risk of creating a false sense of control. If policy makers only look at a small portion of the system, that portion will get a disproportionate amount of influence. It is therefore important to also focus on the data that is not available yet. A city can aim for a high amount of registered users of a car sharing-app, but if that means that people are grabbing a car instead of a bike
or using public transport, it’s debatable if it has had the effect they were
aiming for.

Importance of dialogue with stakeholders

Also, Luc touched upon the importance of dialogue with stakeholders in collecting data. Lowering reluctance by making them part of the project, focusing on the value
it creates and gaining trust before you ask for data seems the way to go. In
Leuven, they showed this in their materials bank - a project where construction
materials get a second life.

Wanted to join the session, but couldn’t? Or do you want to rewatch that one particularly good part of the discussion? Check out the recording anytime you like.