#Digital City
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Marineterrein Amsterdam Living Lab (MALL) was launched in June 2019 as a collaboration between project partners Bureau Marineterrein, AMS Institute, Amsterdam Smart City / Amsterdam Economic Board and NEMO. A year later, Pim Stevens and Leendert Verhoef reflect on the challenges and achievements in establishing an open innovation environment where all kinds of parties can develop and test scalable solutions to global urban challenges.

Find out more in this article (in Dutch): https://www.marineterrein.nl/1-jaar-marineterrein-amsterdam-living-lab/

Photo credit: Thomas Schlijper

Artificial Intelligence (AI) en blockchain zijn geavanceerde technologieën die al enige tijd sterk in de belangstelling staan. Het worden langzamerhand belangrijke bouwstenen in tal van omvangrijke en complexe projecten, zoals smart cities. Marloes Pomp, internationaal bekend expert op het gebied van AI en blockchain, spreekt met Vincent van Mierlo, strategisch accountmanager bij Eurofiber Nederland, over deze twee technologieën en de behoefte aan solide digitale infrastructuur.

In Amsterdam hebben we veel oude historische bruggen en kademuren, die nodig aan onderhoud toe zijn. Omdat uit onderzoek blijkt dat een aantal aan het eind van de levensduur is, willen we fors inzetten op het monitoren en bewaken van de bruggen en kademuren. We zijn op zoek naar nieuwe meettechnieken om sneller inzicht in de technische staat te krijgen en mogelijk falen van een constructie in vroeg stadium te signaleren zodat we op tijd kunnen ingrijpen.

Beter, slimmer, sneller bruggen en kademuren monitoren!

Met het programma Bruggen en Kademuren willen we meer inzicht in de staat van het areaal om zo te kunnen beslissen of er veiligheidsmaatregelen genomen moeten worden en of we versterking of vernieuwing moeten plannen. Het gaat om 829 bruggen en 205 km kademuren. Een opdracht van deze omvang vraagt een slimme, efficiënte aanpak. We rekenen op Ondernemend Nederland voor innovatieve meettechnieken om in kortere tijd meer en betere metingen uit te kunnen voeren. Daarnaast zijn we op zoek naar nieuwe methoden om specifiek risicovolle objecten hoogfrequent te kunnen bewaken.

Wat is de innovatiecompetitie?

Met deze SBIR oproep dagen het ministerie van EZK, RVO en de gemeente Amsterdam marktpartijen uit om ons te laten weten hoe hun innovatie bijdraagt aan onze opgave. Stuur het voorstel in voor 22 oktober. Uit een eerste selectie komen 8 bedrijven die € 12.500,- krijgen om een haalbaarheidsonderzoek te doen. Wij kunnen daarbij helpen en zorgen voor proeflocaties. Dan volgt een tweede selectie waaruit 4 bedrijven over blijven. Zij krijgen een budget van maximaal €100.000,- om de innovatieve techniek te testen, te valideren en marktklaar te maken.

Meer weten of vragen?

Bekijk dit document of kijk op TenderNed: https://www.tenderned.nl/tenderned-tap/aankondigingen/200836;section=7.
Op 9 september organiseren we van 10.00 tot 12.00 uur een digitale bijeenkomst om meer informatie te geven en vragen te beantwoorden. Meld je aan: <https://amsterdamsmartcity.com/events/informatiebijeenkomst-innovatiecompetitie-monitori>

Vragen over de oproep kunt u sturen naar markteninkoopbk@amsterdam.nl. Alle vragen en antwoorden komen in de Nota van Inlichtingen. Via dit mailadres kunt u zich ook vast opgeven voor de bijeenkomst. In de loop van de maand augustus volgt meer informatie. Op de site amsterdam.nl/bruggenkademuren staat informatie over het Programma Bruggen en Kademuren.

Een prachtige kans om een goed idee verder uit te werken en geschikt voor de markt te maken, nieuwe samenwerkingsverbanden op te zetten en PR voor uw bedrijf in de wereld van innovatie.

Hartelijke groet,
Het team voor deze innovatiecompetitie

'The early focus on contact tracing apps for covid-19 was understandable: a vaccine is still many months away, assuming we can even find one that will work. Apps stepped into the breach as a potential panacea—even though many insiders have consistently argued that they are only one of a number of tools we have to fight the virus.'

And are they working? Will people use it? The article shows that France and Australia have some struggles in making the technology work while also trying to get people adopt the app. Eventually, technology will work. Success is however dependent on the willingness of usage by the people.

Join the discussion!
Are you interested in the Dutch plans for a covid-19 contact tracing app? What kind of ideas do they have to enthuse people to use the CoronaMelder? Or would you like to know how other cities and countries convinced people to use such technology? Join us on the 3rd of September 2020 in an online session! More info: https://amsterdamsmartcity.com/events/how-to-get-people-to-actually-use-contact-tracing

One very exciting smart city initiative we’re working on is called ModelMe3D - a brand new city information modeling platform for future city makers. As a virtual white board, MM3D empowers designers and stakeholders to plan, collaborate & share. Since its entirely web based you can create your first project in seconds, and each scene comes with data rich 3D context of real city locations. Interested? Grab a sandwich and join us Friday 04 September @12:00 for a live demo here: https://bit.ly/MM3D_Webinar

Request below from the Dutch Embassy in Singapore

Background / Description
To develop, test-bed and commission advanced electricity meters capable of providing remote meter reading that is secure, reliable, and cost efficient. The advanced meter should be able to connect to a telecommunications company’s (“Telco”) Narrowband Internet-of-Things (“NB-IoT”) network, and GovTech’s Device Control and Data Acquisition (“DECADA”) platform as the Network Management System (“NMS”).

Current Situation
Currently, electricity meters are procured, installed and maintained by SP PowerGrid Ltd (“SPPG”) for and on behalf of SPPA. SP Services Ltd (“SPS”) reads electricity meters and bills consumers buying electricity from SPS and provides the consumption data to electricity retailers and the market operator.
There are two types of electricity meters. Cumulative meters, which are manually read by SPS’ meter readers on a bi-monthly basis, and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (“AMI”) meters, which are remotely read using SPPA’s AMI system based on Wireless Smart Utility Network (“Wi-SUN”) technology.
To support the Government’s push for a singular network standard in Singapore for IoT sensors, EMA is working with other agencies to explore the feasibility of using NB-IoT network as the communication network for electricity AMI meters.

Technical Specifications
For detailed requirements and specifications, please refer to the Gov-PACT website here.
All proposals must be submitted via the Gov-PACT website by 29 Sep 2020, 2359hrs.
Briefing for Interested Participants and Additional Enquiries
Interested participants are required to attend an online briefing on 28 Jul, 3pm. Please email joel_loong@ema.gov.sg with the particulars of the attendees by 24 Jul, 3pm.

Preferred Business Model
R&D Collaboration

Further information:

Liz Ng
Senior Trade Officer/Trade Section
............................................................................
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
541 Orchard Road #13-01| Liat Towers | Singapore 238881
............................................................................
Office : (+65) 6739 1113 (office)
Email : Liz.ng@minbuza.nl | Website : https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/

What makes a city smart? Last Monday, the 29th of June 2020, the sixth edition of the Tech for Society series was launched in Pakhuis de Zwijger: a livestream series about the role of technology in a society that is currently under pressure of the COVID-19 crisis. The central theme of this edition: “the search for the real smart city”.

First up in this edition is Pallas Agterberg, Director of Strategy at Alliander and co-founder of Amsterdam Smart City. Pallas started her search for the real smart city by working on the energy system of the future: “With renewables new kind of questions are raised like: where do we produce, where is it needed and who are the ones using it. We have to encounter more than just the energy domain: the build environment, mobility, industry, etc. In which digitalization plays a crucial and central role.”

What kind of Smart City do we want to build? Is it inclusive or exclusive? Is it open or closed? Pallas: “We can build an open city for everyone or we can build a closed city for the happy few. With closed meaning that you can only participate if you meet certain criteria, something you see more often in the Middle East. In Europe it’s self-evident that we want to build open and inclusive cities, but in many other parts of the world it is not yet so.”.

A Smart City is a collaborative one

10 years ago, Amsterdam Smart City started with the Climate Street. The Utrechtsestraat was transformed into a sustainable shopping street where innovative technologies were tested with the local entrepreneurs. Palllas: “Smart energy meters were tested together with the entrepreneurs and residents of the street. The smart meter gave insight in their energy usage and showed what interventions lowered their usage. But most importantly, the questions raised by the entrepreneurs and residents in the Utrechtsestraat were mostly focused on privacy issues like: can someone hack the data and see if and when I’m home?”. It’s not just an energy project anymore, digitalization and privacy played a key role in the success or failure of this project. Furthermore, the testing with and the active participation of the local entrepreneurs and residents revealed clearly the cross-over between the privacy and energy domain. So this legitimizes early involvement and co-creating between different actors at an early stage. These kind of collaborations were still quite rare and unique at that time.

What is the essence of a Smart City? Pallas: “The essence of a Smart City is that you cannot do it alone. Smart means that you have to do it together. The big transformation issues we are facing today – whether it is in the energy sector, circular economy, digitalization or mobility field – cannot be solved alone.”.

Trees as Infrastructure

The second speaker of the evening is Joost Beunderman (Director of Dark Matter laboratories). Joost agrees with Pallas: “Now it’s more important than ever for Europe to be aware of its unique position and view on the open and inclusive Smart City.” He is currently involved with the ‘Trees as Infrastructure’ project: an open source model to support municipalities in transitioning towards resilient urban forest management practices. Joost: ity governments cannot do this alone, it requires a new institutional infrastructure. With Trees as Infrastructure there are two main themes: the investment side and the cultural side:

1. In order to get things going on a large scale we need to attract many actors to invest in the urban forest (trees). But they need good reasoning before they can make a legitimized investment decision. Reasons could be: reducing air conditioning costs, positive health effects or combating climate extremes by heavy rainfalls. In order to prove the reasoning mentioned, technology (like censoring) and data is needed.
2. There is also a cultural challenge in a city with much more greenery. There should be a new balance and relationship between residents and nature within the city. In Melbourne they experimented with giving each tree their own personal e-mail account and residents even ended up writing love letters to the trees with their appreciation.

But how can we ensure that these learnings can be scaled, shared and standardized?

Lessons learned by a technical philosopher for city officials

The last speaker of the livestream is Lotje Siffels (PhD candidate on technical philosophy). Her PhD is part of the ‘Digital Good’ project and investigates the googlization of health. Consumer tech companies are increasingly involved in the health domain. There is a trend of new kinds of collaborations between these companies and health researchers or physicians using big data to work towards more personalized and efficient health care. But this comes with a risk when thinking about our public values. What values do we want to incorporate? And how do we ensure that democratic participation remains feasible?

Lotje sums up her advice for city officials: “City governments must ensure knowledge development in the data sector within their office, should think about what values should be incorporated, what conditions & regulations are needed, have a plan in place to monitor this and make the process democratically.”

But how to keep our cities democratically governable? Pallas: “It shouldn’t be that complicated, but there are a number of steps to consider. In order to have an actual Smart City is to have an open and inclusive city. This means that we should be careful with data and the ownership of data, because this creates monopolies. If we don’t make the right agreements now, things can go wrong in the future.”

According to Amsterdam Smart City, the discussion of this evening is exactly the discussion that needs to take place. A Smart City is an open and inclusive city in which collaboration with all actors is key. Something we work on every day. Amsterdam Smart City always puts public value first: innovating together and transparent, using each other’s expertise, with the resident at the centre.

Do you want to watch the full episode? You can watch it here (in Dutch): <https://dezwijger.nl/programma/smart-cities-2>

Marineterrein Amsterdam Living Lab is pursuing the development of 'Amsterdam Drone Lab', an UAV operations testing facility located in the heart of the Amsterdam city centre. Here, drone applications such as structure inspections or medical transports could be tested within a dense metropolitan area under credible circumstances.

We currently gauge interest among drone operators for testing drone operations within the innercity of Amsterdam. Our premises will ideally feature a plateau to take off and land, a workshop to alter and recharge UAVs, and excellent facilities within close proximity.

For more information, and to submit ideas/input: https://www.living-lab.nl/dronelab

In sustainability studies the 'rebound effect' explains why people use clean devices such as smart heating longer – it is economical and clean so leaving it on won't hurt. As a result, one could end up using the same amount of energy as with your old, inefficient heating. But also in 5G, the rebound effect is expected to occur – both in ways related to sustainability and 'smartness'. Should we throw ourselves enthusiastically into 5G, without thinking about how we use our internet connections in the future? A mini essay by Socrates Schouten (in Dutch).

In our daily lives, we became dependent on just a few tech companies, usually located in the USA or in China. Should we become independent and develop our own tech sector? Last Friday, the 19th of June 2020, the fifth edition of the Tech for Society series was launched in Pakhuis de Zwijger: a livestream series about the role of technology in a society that is currently under pressure of the Covid-19 crisis. The central theme of this edition: ‘the European Tech Sector’.

Why is it so important to have a tech sector ‘of our own’? Sander van der Waal, Future Internet Lab Lead of Waag explains the role of technology. He uses the metaphor of an iceberg. At the top, there is the technology people see in their daily lives. Phones, wifi, internet, they are there and work fine. Beneath this citizen perspective are a lot of layers we can’t see. There is a technology stack, in which you’ll find the infrastructure, the internet cables, GPS, datacenters, operating systems and more. Below the stack you find the development process, the choices companies made. After that is the foundation. This is the part with assumptions, values and peoples’ rights. The figure shows that technology is a lot more than we think. It has a lot of layers and what to put in the layers, makes sense.

Zooming in on the stack, you can define three variations. 1: a private stack, dominated by tech companies driving by profit and the people as consumers. 2. A state stack, closed tech, dominated by states and surveillance of citizens. 3. A public stack, putting European values into practice, make technology open, with a participating role for citizens. Sander doesn’t think it is necessary to develop a European tech sector. There would be risk we would develop a European private sector and one can doubt if that is really a step ahead. Maybe a little one because we won’t be dependent on US companies, but in this case people still don’t play an active role.

Source: Waag

The big five

The biggest companies we are depending on, are called the big five. Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft dominate the tech industry. Most of them collect our data and make them into a business model. According to Jochem de Groot, director Corporate Affairs, Microsoft does search for the societal debate about technology. They are talking about the public value of their technology. For example in AI, Microsoft calls for more rules and regulations. This way they also hope that it is easier for citizens to hold sovereignty. Microsoft also launched an open data campaign.

Sander: ‘Open data can be a step in the right direction. However, be careful with it. Data are often relatable to people. There is more open data available, but we have to be careful if we can find out to whom te data belong. Once leaked, data never go back. When it comes to tech, Europe is mostly known for the GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation. This is a standard and also important in the USA. More current technological developments put the citizen central. And also the developments of open source are getting bigger. Open source helps to decrease the dependency of individual companies.’

Paul Tang is member of the European Parliament for the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). He just came back from a demonstration at the office of Facebook against personalized adds. In the European Parliament a majority says these personalized adds should be forbidden. Paul: ‘Someday this is should be a law, because the European Parliament has legislative power. Sometimes these decisions can take a long time, because of member states, lobby organizations and various interests. The good thing of this power, is the influence it has on Europe, but also on the rest of the world. However, sometimes I am shocked by all the work that still has to be done. We set up criteria for the usage of algorithms a while ago, but they are not yet put into practice. When it comes to the digital playing rules, we have a lot of work to do.’

Opportunities for Europe

If the lack of tech giants in Europe is an issue and we want to create a European tech sector as a solution to our dependency on American tech giants, are there developments going on that might be opportunities that might contribute to a European tech sector? ‘Quantumcomputing’, Jochem from Microsoft says. ‘Here we really have an opportunity to create an ecosystem and be unique. As Microsoft we would like the Dutch government to invest in this.’ According to Paul Tang, ‘the market for personalized data is fully dominated by the American giants. There are possibilities in the EU for non-personalized data. For example, in the Internet of Things. Bianca Wylie, open government advocate and Tech Reset Canada co-founder: ‘When I advise companies about their future, I always tell them to get away from behavioural data. Go for clean tech, robotics, infrastructure or health tech, but don’t make your business depend on the surveillance economy. Grow other sectors with an alternative vision.’

Bianca also spoke about the opportunities Covid-19 bring to the tech sector. ‘There is an opportunity but a threat as well’, she says. ‘We have to watch the emergency that is taking place now when it comes to procurement. Keep an eye on the democratic process. But this time is also an opportunity to get rid of the tech that is not successful but costs a lot. Check the existing infrastructure. Not working? Let it go! And value human capital. We need teachers, doctors, people who do contact tracing. Build tools that help them.’

Paul: ‘The personalized ads ask for the collection of more data. We have to ban this. I think that selling products is a different business model. It shows a clear relation between producer and consumer. The system in which the people give data, get free products with advertisements is vague and manipulative. Skip this business model and make space for new ones.’ Jochem (Microsoft) doesn’t want to comment on this, because this is mainly about his competitors. He does stress that is important to create space for a market in tech, there have to be possibilities to compete. The government has to set the framework. For example with GDPR. Values for AI could use such a framework as well.’

Data sovereignty is a long lasting wish of a lot of countries. GAIA-X could play a role in this. GAIA-X is an initiative by France and Germany to strengthen the digital sovereignty of Europe. It will make Europe less dependent on China and the USA. Sander is also critical: there is a risk of copying existing models. But we need a completely different data strategy, the system is no good.

About the steps we have to take, the three men agree: we need more influence of Europe, all from another angle. According to Paul, Europe has to win back soeverignty and call a halt to their development. Jochem wants European unity to become a powerful block that can set a framework. Sander: ‘Only with the cooperation in Europe we can build alternative data models’.

According to Amsterdam Smart City, the discussion of this evening is exactly the discussion that needs to take place. Collecting data is very useful to work on the challenges in our cities. But we have to be aware that these data are in the hands of the private sector. And that free usage comes with a price. Can we work on public values with the data? This asks for a collaboration between the public and

private sector, something we work on every day. Amsterdam Smart City always puts public value first: innovating together and transparent, using each other’s expertise, with the resident at the centre.

Do you want to watch the full episode? You can watch it here (in Dutch):

[##### Tech for Society #5: Waar is de Europese techsector?

Waarom zijn er geen Europese techreuzen meer?

Pakhuis de Zwijger](https://dezwijger.nl/programma/waar-is-de-europese-techsector)

The world is turned upside down since the corona crisis. This gives us the space to think about a complete ‘reset’. How can we restructure existing dysfunctional systems? In this RESET series, Pakhuis de Zwijger will showcase the perspectives of a variety of thought leaders who will reflect on this present-day situation.

Marleen Stikker, director of Waag, is sharing her insights about the future of our digital information systems. How can we restructure existing dysfunctional systems? Together with Sander van der Waal of the Future Internet Lab at Waag, they debate how citizens should be more informed and get more involved with the ongoing digital revolution that takes place all around us. Later in the programme Bianca Wylie, Open Government advocate and co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, joins in and talks on video about her recent experience with people getting involved in Toronto’s digital development plans. The panel is chaired by Jurgen, who makes sure some very important issues are discussed.

The system is broken
Marleen states that the current system doesn’t function properly, we must come up with other systems. All kind of technology is surveilling us. There is this idea you can solve any problem with technology, that technology is the solution. But look at the Corona crisis, an app cannot solve a problem. They collect all this information and trade privacy for technology. They try to take control over our lives, to control the data. But we have to decide about our privacy. We do not need all this tracing. It is a false trade off to say, ‘I have nothing to hide’. It’s wrong to give up privacy in return for technology.

Sander van de Waal joins in and explains that people need to get involved and get back their trust in technology. For this, it’s important to inform people and specially to help members of parliament get a better understanding about all this technology behind the digital roadmap. Compare it with an iceberg: we can only see the part above the surface. But what is happening underneath the surface? There are all kinds of technology layers underneath, hardware, backdoors, data, the whole stack. It is not just the app itself but underneath is a design process. Who is working on that? What is the foundation? Where are we optimising for? How are we going to gover in? And how are fundamental rights and values part of process? This should be implemented in the design from start. Look at surveillance: it is a business case for big Silicon Valley companies. The business models are built on collecting data and invading privacy. How can we avoid that? We should have an inclusive process.

Technological Stack
Sander further explains the foundation beneath all this digital technology, the Technological Stack. With its many layers underneath the surface, this public stack has different layers that need to be understood by the public to be able to make the right decisions about data, privacy and who controls these processes.

Sander continues to explain the importance of all related data, metadata, and the use of algorithms. Who controls it? Same for the Protocols and Standards. Who decides? Next is Security. An increase in infrastructure also needs an increase in cybersecurity. The technology needs to be secure. Last is when we go again back to the surface, the part that is above the iceberg: the service itself. We should choose implementations that put the user at the centre. When we use a service, we should be able to look inside the black box. We should be able to see what goes on inside. The visible tip of the iceberg is the citizen perspective: the user experience. We can only get a grip on digitalization if we see the design as a collective responsibility. This is ourcall to action: people should be informed and be aware of the entire PUBLIC STACK.

Open standards
Marleen then replies and points at the need for people to know what is going on and get involved. It’s important that we have a debate, make sure we have technologies that people can TRUST. Even politicians not always know enough about this structure.

Marleen continues: to have informed citizens. We need to make sure the technologies we use are safe and kept to standards. We spend a lot on IT, but we need to spend it differently, set standards to vendors to abide by public standards and spend research and innovation money ONLY if the technology is Open Source. The money should be invested in open, common space. It should not be invested in patents and intellectual property, but in a common good. Using public money to build a public internet. This whole movement for the next generation internet, is part of the 21st century economics. Where you move away from extractive economic models and move towards regenerative models. It is part of a much larger, sustainable development movement.

Tech Reset Canada
An example is how Bianca Wylie, Open Government Advocate and co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, mobilised citizens to oppose plans to let Google be in control of Toronto’s Smart City plans. Marleen and Sander then continue to discuss related topics like the lack of democratic oversight, how private companies usually have a goal of maximizing profits for just their shareholders, how private companies should not control public space.

Collective Power
So, the question is: How can we develop smart cities in a democratic way? People should be aware that they DO have collective power. Marleen’s greatest fear is that people forget that they have this power. I think we are at a critical time to rebuild our institutions. You do not need to be an activist, but act as a participant, a designer, step in and take your responsibility. In helping to define the future. Take for example the NHS ‘Corona’ app, which turns out to share collected data behind everyone’s back to the new data company of PayPal founder Peter Thiel. Isn’t this a real example of how NOT to trust your own institutions? Technology needs to be handled by trusted partners within the community. It needs to be well tested. What about misuse of collected data, even in a later stage? Who is watching? And then there is the issue of function creep: what was designed for just a temporary, single purpose use can later develop into something more, other uses, or over longer time then initially intended. Who controls this?

Do you want to watch the full livestream? Visit the website of Pakhuis de Zwijger: <https://dezwijger.nl/programma/from-now-on-according-to-marleen-stikker>

The discussion of this evening is exactly the discussion that needs to take place. Amsterdam Smart City beliefs in innovating openly and transparent, with always placing people and citizens central in our approach. We do this together with partners like Waag and Pakhuis de Zwijger, who have the expertise to not only engage but co-create with citizens.

Friday 5 June 2020, the fourth edition of the Tech for Society series was launched in Pakhuis de Zwijger: a livestream series about the role of technology in a society that is currently under pressure of the Covid-19 crisis. The central theme of this edition: ‘Dataism’, defined as the believe that the world can be captured in data and algorithms. This concept makes us question its practical possibilities and how we could understand the world around us using data. How should we?

Miriam Rasch, researcher and teacher, wrote the book ‘Frictie. Ethiek in tijden van dataisme’. The book talks about dataism, which Miriam describes as a belief that everything in the world can be captured with data. It is the idea that collecting data shows you certainties and predictions about the world and this way, directs people and the society as a whole . Miriam calls it a ‘religion’, since ‘dataism could exclude other views.' Data look objective and neutral. Believers of this concept, therefore, see it as a necessity to make decision-making processes data-driven.

Martijn de Waal, researcher in the Lectorate of Play & Civic Media of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, recognizes this dataism in the world. As a kind believer of dataism himself, Martijn looks at the concept as a way to organize information and shape the world around us. ‘However, the central role of collecting data now, as done by platforms such as Facebook or Amazon, is too big. It is pretended as if data are objective and truthful. But collecting data is done via platforms with all kinds of underlying values, that are not always visible.’

Which kinds of values? And are these public values? Can the data work for people?’

At the Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture in Shenzhen in China, Martijn attended the exhibition ‘Eyes of the City’, where he found three interpretations on the usage of data:

1. Using data to map the lives of people and with the data, force them to live life according to rules and punish them if you do not oblige the rules. One of the main examples is face recognition in China.
2. Luxurious capitalism. Collecting large amounts of data on citizens and use these to offer services. Even services people don’t know they need until they are offered to them. For example, offer a coffee to people on the streets at the moment you know they would like a cup of coffee due to the data that you collected about them. There is a downside for people working in the platform economy who have to be available, according to the data.
3. In Shenzhen, companies got into contact with migrants living in a certain area. Together they collected data about bottlenecks in their lives. It helped people to show authorities they exist. The data collected are not objective, but it could be a starting point for discussion.

Policy based on data, data based on policy

In research, the usage of data is really important. Even more when policies are based on the data obtained during these studies. However, according to Caroline Nevejan, Chief Science Officer at the City of Amsterdam, you have to be transparent about the sources you used, data that are collected, and start a discussion about which statements could be seen as true or false. In a democracy everybody has to take a part in this process, which is of extreme importance in a world full of propaganda and fake news. In one of her researches, City Rhythm, she analyses the real world and the digital world and the interaction between these two. She addresses questions such as; can we trust data and can we use data for good? How can the digital world can become a part of the physical world? An example of this is, can people who like gardening can use the help of people who don't like gardening, but do like measuring and predicting growth of plants?

Arjan Widlak, director of the Kafka brigade, researches bureaucratic dysfunctioning: ‘Bureaucracy is a great asset, it ensures that all kinds of values materialize - such as legal certainty, integrity, but often this goes the wrong way. Some organizations do the opposite of what they should do. There is indifference without a much needed check.' The Kafka Brigade wants to come to manageable knowledge and people that care about bureaucracy. What kind of system are we creating when we digitalize the government? We are caught in a system of possibilities and impossibilities, where principles of responsible IT should be defined and carried out.

How do we make sure that these principles are put into practice?

Arjan: 'For example, when you drive too fast, you will be flashed. This is done automatically, as is the determination of the fine and the envelope that will be sent to you. It seems like there are no humans involved in the process. Although we might not all understand how this system works, we have a high trust in the way it functions. You have done something wrong and result is a fine. The confidence in the operation of the system is great because it functions without people and people are unreliable. But ultimately people are involved. There is a policy behind this process and people decide what is legal and what is not. Certainly, due to affairs and scandals, it is not certain whether the confidence in these techniques is still so big. So data are not objective. These are human creatures. You cannot take the people out, then you will lose ethics and the discussion about what is wrong or right.'

Constutional state and education

Caroline: ‘Data collecting functions in the constitutional state, in the city. Collect, acquire, return data has to be done according to certain laws. You can also go to court if this is done wrong. The European Rules for Data Protection (GDPR) are essential for the protection of personal data collected by companies. Companies now say, give us more rules because this works for us. We can do better business. So business runs better in a democracy’ .

Caroline continues: “Another aspect we have to look at is how data scientists are trained. What do they learn? It is staggering to see how data science education in university only has one course on responsible innovation. In collecting data we only talk about ethics, never about the rule of law. Business is always about social entrepreneurship, never about trade unions. In education, we create data scientists who have only one side of the knowledge, but get all the power. Because we did not teach the system designers how to think about democracy, power and the inequality of power.”

Martijn: ‘Yes, people in Silicon Valley work in a one-dimensional way. But this will change. There is more and more attention for ethics because students also ask for it. They want to contribute to society.’

Arjan: 'It is interesting how this also goes for the background of civil servants. This has a major influence on how the government functions. A long time ago, as a civil servant it was common practice to know something about constitutional law. You had to understand that values get meaning to each other.' Caroline: ‘Place this standards frame to the forefront again. Democracy and privacy by design. This makes it possible to discuss the interpretation of meaning.’

What can the current timeframe learn us?

Miriam: ‘We learned the value of not using tech all day. I hope we can remember it.’

Caroline: ‘Ask more questions every day. Even if you take something for granted.’

Arjan: ‘Yes, ask more questions. We can strive for privacy by design, but what does that mean? I plea for critical citizenship.’

Martijn: ‘This time showed us a revaluation for public space and values. Public space is suddenly used a lot more. What can that look like online?’

According to Amsterdam Smart City, the discussion of this evening is exactly the discussion that needs to take place. Collecting data is very useful to work on the challenges in our cities. But we have to be aware that these data are not neutral and we have to have a discussion about the issues and if the data are necessary to help solving the issues. Can we work on public values with the data? This asks for a collaboration between the public and private sector, something we work on every day. Amsterdam Smart City always puts public value first: innovating together and transparent, using each other’s expertise, with the resident at the centre.

Do you want to watch the full episode? You can watch it here (in Dutch):

[##### Tech for Society #4: Dataïsme: Is de wereld te vangen in data?

Wie heeft gelijk als de computer het fout heeft?

Pakhuis de Zwijger](https://dezwijger.nl/programma/dataisme-is-de-wereld-te-vangen-in-data%20%20%20)

De tijdelijke commissie Digitale Toekomst presenteert vandaag haar advies aan de Tweede Kamer. Waag adviseerde de commissie & werkte nauw samen in het opstellen van de 'Routekaart Digitale Toekomst'. Die is nu gratis te downloaden via: https://waag.org/nl/article/waag-adviseert-tweede-kamer-over-digitalisering

Nederland digitaliseert in hoog tempo. Waar in de vroege dagen van het internet slechts een enkeling online was en technologie voorbehouden aan specialisten of pioniers, heeft tegenwoordig iedereen te maken met technologie en werkt digitalisering door in alle hoeken van de samenleving. Om beter sturing te kunnen geven aan de digitale ontwikkelingen besloot de Tweede Kamer vorig jaar tot de oprichting van de Tijdelijke Commissie Digitale toekomst. Onder leiding van Kathalijne Buitenweg (GroenLinks) werkte de Commissie de afgelopen maanden aan onderzoek en de ontwikkeling van voorstellen voor de rol van de Tweede Kamer rondom digitalisering. Vandaag presenteert ze haar bevindingen in een rapport onder de titel: Update vereist, grip op de digitale transitie. We zijn blij dat Waag in verschillende vormen heeft kunnen bijdragen aan dit onderzoek.

In opdracht van de Tijdelijke Commissie ontwikkelde Waag de ‘Routekaart Digitale Toekomst’ die nu voor iedereen te downloaden is. De routekaart geeft een kompas om te navigeren door de wereld van digitalisering en technologie. Deze technologie heeft een zichtbare buitenkant, maar wat gebeurt er achter de schermen? De gemiddelde gebruiker beleeft technologie alsof zij naar een ijsberg kijkt: het topje is zichtbaar maar het grootste deel blijft onzichtbaar. Onder water wordt technologie bedacht, ontworpen, aangestuurd en geoptimaliseerd.

Omdat zo’n groot deel van de werking van technologie onzichtbaar is, kan het soms voelen alsof het ons overvalt; alsof technologie iets is dat zich op magische wijze ontwikkelt zonder dat we er zelf grip op hebben. Maar elke laag van die ijsberg hebben we zelf gemaakt: uiteindelijk is alle technologie ontwikkeld door mensen. Daar ligt ook de sleutel tot het verkrijgen van meer grip op deze ontwikkelingen: we moeten niet alleen kijken naar het topje, maar met elkaar de hele ijsberg zien. Vervolgens kunnen we dan met iedereen die het aangaat de technologie ontwerpen volgens de waarden die voor ons belangrijk zijn.

We zien de Routekaart als een concept dat verder uitgewerkt en toegepast kan worden. We doen dit als onderdeel van het onderzoek naar de Public Stack. Hierin verkennen we de mogelijkheid om de verschillende lagen van de technologie-stack in te richten gebaseerd op een fundament waarin publieke waarden centraal staan.

Download de routekaart hier: https://waag.org/sites/waag/files/2020-05/routekaart-digitale-toekomst-v0.3.pdf

Last Friday, the third edition of the Tech for Society series was launched in Pakhuis de Zwijger: the livestream series about the role of technology in a society that is under pressure of the corona crisis. In this edition the panel discussed about various aspects in vital networks in our society. Because one thing the corona crisis made clear, we are depending on a lot of networks: electricity, heating, internet. And what happens if they disappear or break down?

Martijntje Smits, technology philosopher kicks off the livecast by explaining how there are a lot of vital networks in our society. We are not even aware of the amount. People only realize this when they disappear. In history we set up our own networks, such as heating our houses or growing our own food. However, humanity decided to outsource these systems and make a big system. At the end of the 19th century we decided to give governments control over these systems, so that they would be accessible for everybody.

Democracy of networks

Pallas Agterberg, strategy manager of grid operator Alliander and part of the steering committee of Amsterdam Smart City: ‘This decision is still visible in our energy grid. The electricity grid is owned by public organizations, provinces. However, data networks have private owners. For smart metering an exception was made, and there are more exceptions, for example the police and defence have their own non-public networks. However, to set up a separate organization for every vital connection is way too expensive.’

But the fact remains that we are fully dependent on the private sector when it comes to the digital infrastructure. For example, there are no optical fiber connections in Amsterdam because this is commercially not interesting. Why wouldn’t we make the government owner of the hardware and cables in the ground? Then we have democratic check. All the data traffic can be done by private companies, just like the energy networks. Alliander, a utility company, controls the grid and other companies such as energy suppliers, can arrange data services. This way the stability of the grid is guaranteed and people can choose the suppliers they want.

Limitations to the network

Very often, we didn’t know we needed an innovation until it was developed. We didn’t know we needed cars and now we can’t imagine the world without a car industry and traffic jams. There are limitations to the infrastructure. Physically that is very clear, with the traffic jams and the impossibility of cutting more trees to build roads. Pallas: ‘In the energy grid, the same developments are going on. The grid was designed in 1870. If we install too many solar panels, the system will be stuck. Expanding the grid is possible, but not unlimited. Therefore it is more wise to install solar panels on your roof instead of making big solar fields. Then the grid doesn’t have to expand to these fields (which costs a lot of time and money).’ In technology however, the situation is different. It seems as if digital networks don’t have any boundaries. Martijntje: ‘There is this utopia of setting up a digital world, a belief in arranging everything digitally. But we pay a price for this, we need an enormous amount of energy and natural resources. Networks cannot grow uncontrolled, even though they seem to.’

Joshua Serrao, of the taskforce Digital Safety of the City of Amsterdam, explains how the city is preparing for the limitations of the digital network: ‘We think about the limitations and vulnerabilities of the networks and anticipate on the risks. We even developed a simulation game, in case our systems get hacked. We have to take into account the possibility of not being able to use electricity for a while, data from citizens can get stolen or communications layers will be switched off.’ We are often not aware of the vulnerabilities because we cannot see the crucial infrastructures. Joshua: ‘It is really important for Amsterdam to collaborate more with the private sector and set up a basic level of security, maybe set up security by design in all kinds of processes.’ Martijntje: ‘To have a robust infrastructure, means we also need alternatives. We cannot control everything and manage all risks. So to protect vital networks, we basically need two things: 1. prevention, set up independent networks and 2. Risk management. Set up back-ups or think of (analogue) alternatives. And a robust systems needs a vision on democracy. Big, efficient systems are vulnerable, what does society need from these systems?’

Zoom in on policy

Marietje Schaake, president of the The Cyberpeace Institute and former member of the European Parliament has this vision. According to her, digitalization and privatization led to new vulnerabilities. A lot of organizations in the public sector, for example hospitals, use old versions of commercial software. They don’t update these because that is not their priority. And it usually costs a lot of money. But this makes our public sector defenceless and weak. And certainly in these times, they are extremely important. We have to strengthen them. Marietje: ‘We discussed this often in the European Parliament, but member states usually don’t want to share these responsibilities. They want a digital market with good connections, but take decisions on risks and safety on a local level, because this is their national security. We need more collaboration on cybersecurity. But this will take a long time, if capital cities don’t want it, the EU can’t do anything.’

‘In the European Union we are looking for laws and regulations to protect the states in the digital domain. We need a vision on the collective interest, on digitalization and AI. And hopefully we will see this in the policy as well. Today it is not clear how to apply existing laws and regulations on digitalization and what new laws should do. How to control AI? Who is in the end responsible for developments in the digital domain? And which vital networks should be into the hands of the public sector? This should be more clear. Start with transparency’, she concludes.

According to Amsterdam Smart City, the discussion of this evening is exactly the discussion that needs to take place. We are all so dependent on vital networks, the owners of these networks should be transparent about them. This asks for a collaboration between the public and private sector, something we work on every day. Amsterdam Smart City always puts public value first: innovating together and transparent, using each other’s expertise, with the resident at the centre.

Do you want to watch the full episode? You can watch it here (in Dutch):

[##### Tech for Society #3: Vitale netwerken

Van wie is de technologie waar we op vertrouwen en is dat wel terecht?

Pakhuis de Zwijger](https://dezwijger.nl/programma/vitale-netwerken)

Last Friday, the second edition of the Tech for Society series was launched in Pakhuis de Zwijger: the livestream series about the role of technology in a society that is under pressure of the corona crisis . With this time a special focus on the contact-tracing apps. What do you think: can an app save the world?

Last Friday, the second edition of the Tech for Society series was launched in Pakhuis de Zwijger: the livestream series about the role of technology in a society that is under pressure of the corona crisis. With this time a special focus on the contact-tracing apps. What do you think: can an app save the world?

Why is tracking, contact-research, of an infectious person so important in times of corona? Mariska Petrignani, infection control doctor at GGD (public health service), explains: “GGD’s most important work at the moment is finding out who’s been in contact with an infected person to prevent rapid spreading of the infection. We do this by relying on the memory of the infected person. But there are always contacts you can’t recall or don’t know by name, for instance people you saw in the supermarket or public transport. But the question we have to ask is: to what extent are these people at risk for exposure and on what level do they contribute to the transmission of the disease?" There’s a lot of scientific discussion surrounding this topic.

According to Mariska, GPS-tracking, which can be recorded via an app, can help but doesn’t cover all relevant information. Is there a wall between you and the person you are in contact with? That is the type of information you need to know as well.

Michiel Heidenrijk, director of the Amsterdam Health & Technology Institute, adds to the discussion: “Can an app save the world? There is not one silver bullet, you need a combination of different therapies/solutions. Technology and data can offer parts of the solution.”. Mariska adds: “A common problem is that people can’t recall exactly where they have been. Technology can help. There are many ways to support this and it doesn’t have to be a contact-tracking app. For instance you can use your phone as a digital agenda to log your movements. We should think about other smart, digital solutions.”. Michiel: “We should embrace technology, use data, but it should be used in a sufficient and reliable way.”.

Hannes Grassegger, tech-journalist based in Zurich, sketches the European perspective. After a two week testing period of a contact-tracing app in Zurich, the app will be launched mid-June in Swiss. It’s completely voluntary, but hosted by the federal government, which is highly trusted by the public.

But isn’t it time for a broader European strategy? Hannes explains that coming week E-health will publish guidelines for the European common strategy for contact-tracing apps, to align the European members. E-health does not see the app itself as a major tool to bring back the freedom of movement between the member states, but they try to develop a framework to avoid the app becoming an obstacle to reintegrating the freedom of movement within Europe. Hannes: “If we have different states within Europe using different apps, there is need to have a set of common ground rules.”.

Lotje Siffels, philosopher in technology, conducts research on the influence of big-tech companies in the healthcare sector. She wants to stipulate two important discussion points: i) Technology is often seen as THE solution to the whole problem, while the problem is a lot more complex. It almost seems like the exit strategy is entirely depending on the use of contract-tracing apps. While this is certainly not the case; ii) Privacy is broadly mentioned within the discussion, but there are so much more social values that have to be discussed as well. Think about autonomy or democratic values. As an example Lotje mentions the ‘zwaai-app’: “If you meet someone or accidentally bump into someone, you wave with your phone and the data of the other person is saved. This helps you log your movements while being conscious of the data that is stored. You give a level of autonomy back to the people, because they are the ones consciously keeping track of their own encounters.” Active participation can also be part of the solution.

Lotte Houwing, policy advisor at Bits of Freedom, is the last speaker of the evening and raises questions surrounding the necessity of such an app. Do we actually want this app? What exactly is the problem we need solved? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What is the impact on our society? She adds that these questions need to be answered first before we can assess if an app is indeed the right tool to implement.

The discussion of this evening is exactly the discussion that needs to take place. Amsterdam Smart City beliefs in technology as a means, never as a goal. Before thinking about contact-tracking apps, the right questions need to be raised and answered. Amsterdam Smart City always puts public value first: innovating together and openly, using each other’s expertise, with the resident at the centre.

Do you want to watch the full episode? You can watch it here (in Dutch): <https://dezwijger.nl/programma/kan-een-app-de-wereld-redden>

How can digital techniques help us to get our societies back on track safely? What can we learn from other countries already using digital tools during Covid 19? With a special focus on the contract-tracing apps. This was the topic of the first online edition of “Worldwide Data Dilemmas”, hosted by Amsterdam Smart City and DataLab Amsterdam on April 23.

According to experts, in addition to large-scale testing, contact tracing will be a key tool for reopening our economies and preventing a second wave of infection. Typically, public-health workers map out where a person who tests positive for Covid-19 has been during the time they could have been contagious. Possible contacts are then notified so those people can be tested for the virus and/or self-quarantine. Contact-tracing apps promise to speed up and improve this process. Digital surveillance tools, including contact-tracing apps, were first launched in China and are now being considered all over the world. In the Netherlands, the Ministry of Health announced that it was considering using two apps: one for monitoring symptoms and one for contact-tracing. The announcement lead to broad public debate about how such apps should be designed and implemented.

How can digital techniques help us to get our societies back on track safely? What can we learn from other countries already using digital tools during Covid 19? With a special focus on the contract-tracing apps. This was the topic of the first online edition of “Worldwide Data Dilemmas”, hosted by Amsterdam Smart City and DataLab Amsterdam on April 23.

Leonie van den Beuken, Amsterdam Smart City program director, welcomed the participants and opened the online get together: “A world in transition requires an independent place where change makers can meet, interact and collaborate. Amsterdam Smart City is that independent place. We are an open innovation platform that brings together proactive citizens, innovative companies, knowledge institutions and public authorities to shape the city of the future. Now during the Covid-19 crisis, we encounter an unique situation where cities all around the world simultaneously experience the same challenges. Now, even more than ever, knowledge and experience exchange is key. That’s why we will take the coming hour to explore different perspectives from South Korea, Sweden, USA, and Canada, followed by a discussion about the situation in the Netherlands.”

South Korea: Self-quarantine Safety Protection App

Mirian Song of Winitech introduced the “Self-quarantine Safety Protection App” developed for the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. The app is used by people who test positive for Covid-19 and those returning to the country. They are required to install the app and undergo a fourteen day quarantine. Those who leave the quarantine area without permission face fines and imprisonment (or deportation in the case of foreigners). GPS is used to keep track of users’ locations and the data is stored in on a centralized government server. While the app is not used for contact tracing per se, the Korean government leverages a number of other technologies and personal data, including citizens’ credit card records, cellphone GPS data and the wide-ranging network of security cameras to track and trace contacts of infected patients. In combination with aggressive testing, these digital solutions have helped South Korea get the pandemic under control and prevented a lock-down. While Korean people generally trust their government, some experts warn that Korean-style surveillance methods come at a potential cost in civil liberties.

Sweden: Avoiding a Cure that is Worse than the Disease

The situation in Sweden stands out in Europe, for not having imposed a lock-down. John Dekker of the Netherlands Innovation Network (Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Stockholm) introduced the situation. There is no lock-down because of concerns that this cure could have greater economic and social consequences than the disease itself. Still, most shops are closed and the streets are quiet, because Swedish people take recommendations from the government seriously and want to act responsibly. John explained: ‘People place a lot of trust in experts and policies are driven by independent health agencies. If they say, you should use an app, people will do it.’

Technology-wise, Swedish authorities have used aggregated and anonymized telecom data to monitor areas of activity. In the short term, the government is developing a health monitoring app, which will store data locally on the phone. A “proximity” or contact-tracing app is being discussed, but such a solution requires substantial consultation with experts and the public.

United Sates: A Fragmented Approach

While people in South Korea and Sweden place a lot of trust in experts and the government, this is not the case in the United States of America, as explained by Nigel Jacob, Chief Innovation Officer of the City of Boston. Trust in government – especially federal government – is low and the response to the crisis is led primarily by local and state authorities. At the local level, the City of Boston is focused on protecting the most vulnerable, for example by distributing meals to homeless people and educating the public how tracking can be of help. And the State of Massachusetts is building a manual contact-tracing plan using volunteers who will call the contacts of people testing positive for Covid-19.

On a technology front, Nigel explained there are three large efforts for contact tracing. Safe-Paths, lead by MIT and Covid Watch, lead by Stanford are based on Singapore’s TraceTogether app and are Bluetooth-enabled. Both initiatives are working closely together and are based on decentralized architecture, storing data locally and anonymously. The third effort is the Google-Apple collaboration to create a cross-platform contact-tracing API. So far, this process is not transparent.

Canada: Balancing Individual Privacy and Public Health

Dan Glikstein, a researcher from Montreal, introduced the situation in Canada where contact-tracing falls under provincial authority while quarantines are the responsibility of the federal government. Both federal and provincial representatives view contact-tracing as key to re-opening the economy and they see a role for technology in halting the pandemic. So far, the Ministry of Health has worked with Thrive Health, a private company to deploy a symptoms tracking app that does not perform contact-tracing. A similar app is used by the government of British Columbia. The data collected in both apps are encrypted and stored in Canada. Other provinces, as well as the City of Ottawa are developing or testing contact tracing apps while making assurances that the data will not be sold or used for purposes other than healthcare. In response to these developments and pressure from privacy groups, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada published a guide for Assessing Privacy-Impactful Initiatives in Response to COVID-19. The guide lays out nine principles to help balance individual privacy and public health when assessing possible solutions in response to the crisis.

The Dutch Experience: Open Process Leads to Valuable Insights

Following these international perspectives, we turned our attention to the Netherlands. Tom Demeyer, Waag’s Chief Technology Officer, introduced the chronology of events since April 7 when the Health Ministry first announced it was considering the use of two apps, one for health monitoring and one for contact-tracing. Shortly after, Waag, Bits of Freedom and other concerned parties initiated the Safe Against Corona Manifesto consisting of ten criteria for privacy-preserving contact-tracing. In doing so, the consortium wanted to combat the so-called false choice between privacy and health. A few days later, the Ministry announced an open call for companies and organizations to provide "smart digital solutions" to support health authorities in their contact tracing efforts. More than 700 submission were received and eight solutions were invited to participate in an “Appathon” over the weekend of April 18-19. The Appathon allowed experts and the public to scrutinize the seven participating solutions. One of the key outcomes of the Appathon was the realization of the high risk of overloading health care workers due to false positives – a main disadvantage of Bluetooth-based solutions. And, while none of the seven solutions met all privacy and security requirements, the Appathon helped stakeholders better understand the key criteria for contact-tracing apps. Ultimately, there was broad support for the open and constructive approach and calls to apply similar consultation processes for future public ICT projects.

What have we learned?

After a brief Q&A with the participants, Leonie asked the speakers to reflect on the role of digital technologies in responding to the crisis. What have we learned so far from the experience with contact-tracing apps that we should leverage when considering other technological solutions? Tom urged the audience to not automatically jump to technological fixes, overlooking potential analog solutions (ie.low-tech facemasks might do more to help us reclaim our streets than high tech crowd-monitoring solutions). Nigel echoed the importance to consider analog solutions and wished for more training and dialogue so that civil servants and the general public could better understand the risks and benefits of new digital technologies. John and Dan emphasized the need for transparent processes in debating and evaluating solutions in liberal, democratic societies. Mirian emphasized that by using big data the Korean government managed to reduce the time spent on contact tracing from one day to ten minutes on a case-by-case basis, and stressed the need to safeguard personal data with a trusted government authority rather than private companies.

Follow-up event

What do you think? How can governments use responsible digital tools alongside analog solutions to transition to the 1.5 meter society? We are looking for ideas to explore in a follow-up event. Share your comments below or send an email to <cornelia@amsterdamsmartcity.com>.

Livestream recording

We apologize for technical issue which resulted in the first 15min of the session not being recorded. You can look back on most of the session via the livestream recording:

[►

Livestream | Worldwide Data Dilemmas: contact-tracing apps during corona times

note: the first 10 minutes of the online webinar are missing. So, the opening of Leonie van den Beuken (Amsterdam Smart City) and the perspective of Mirian Song (South Korea, Winitech). Worldwide we are seeing digital technologies implemented in response to the corona crisis. Contact-tracing apps

amsterdamsmartcity YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TONzXLLeOw&feature=youtu.be%20)

Calling for smart health companies with international ambitions! The internationalisation program ‘The Globaliser’, with a special focus on smart health companies (startups, scale-ups and SME’s), starts in the Amsterdam region in October. During this 10 week program, companies will work on their internationalisation strategy. The program, put together with experienced entrepreneurs, contains the most valuable lessons learned, individual coaching, expert views, interactive sessions and utilizes useful tools for market selection, building the Go-to-Market strategy and the international roadmap. Afterwards, participants will have a validated international roadmap, which gives focus and helps you to roll out your smart health solution internationally. Do you want to know more? Get in contact with Ellen van der Vossen, (e.vossen@amsterdam.nl) or Daan Donkers (d.donkers@amsterdam.nl), who are trade developers for Amsterdam Trade and Innovate.

For more information about the Globaliser, check out https://www.dutchbasecamp.org/globaliser!

Na aankondiging van het kabinet om tracking- en tracingapps in te zetten ter bestrijding van het coronavirus, tekenen diverse partijen uit de regio het manifest Veilig tegen Corona. Veel problemen worden opgelost met data en nieuwe technologieën, maar hoe blijft onze privacy intact? Hoe creëren we een veilige digitale samenleving waar iedereen van profiteert?

Marleen Stikker: "Dit soort data moet je niet laten verzamelen door private partijen, zoals Google. Het moet transparant en er moet goed toezicht op mogelijk zijn."

Lees verder:
https://amsterdameconomicboard.com/nieuws/bescherm-onze-gezondheid-maar-ook-onze-privacy

Tune in this afternoon for the second edition of the European Commission’s Intelligent Cities Challenge webinar series in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Presenting alongside Barcelona, The City of Amsterdam will share its Wij Amsterdam (We Amsterdam) platform for crowd-sourced social initiatives combating the crisis. The platform was built by repurposing open-source code developed in previous innovation projects. Since its launch on March 27, more than 290 social initiatives have been shared on themes such as care, loneliness, education, and work.

For more information and to register visit https://www.intelligentcitieschallenge.eu/covid-19-webinars

The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) invites companies and experts to think along about the development and use of apps in tackling the corona crisis. Proposals can be submitted until Tuesday, April 14, 12:00 hrs and must meet a series of specific requirements. All conditions and information about the procedure can be found at https://www.tenderned.nl/tenderned-tap/aankondigingen/192421