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Een slim idee is pas een echt een slim idee als het ook uitgevoerd wordt en operationeel kan doorgroeien. Dat geldt voor start-ups maar ook en vooral voor smart cities en smart governments. Het gaat hier echter niet alleen om een panoplie van goede ideeën, maar ook om een inpiratiebron die gevoed wordt door meerdere stakeholders, van academi, beleidsvoerders, ondernemers, politici én in toenemende mate ook burgers. Een sterk uitgebouwde langetermijnvisie, gebaseerd op menselijk vernuft en technologie moet, of liever kan leiden tot een betere dienstverlening voor alle burgers. Innovatief denken maar ook innovatief verwezelijken is de leidraad.

Op dit event ‘Smart Cities of things & Smart Government’ willen we de ‘smart ideas’ van diverse betrokkenen, zowel op overheids- als op aanbodniveau verwoorden. ‘Smart’ is inderdaad het sleutelwoord maar dan wel met een duidelijke oproep tot actie. Het gaat immers niet alleen om Smart Government, maar ook om Smart Environment, Smart Living, Smart Mobility, Smart Economy en uiteraard ook over u, Smart People.

Met ruim 40 sprekers tracht dit congres een antwoord, mogelijk zelfs een oplossing te bieden op de prangende vragen rond een leefbare en dienstbare samenleving en hoe innovatieve technologie daarbij een rol kan spelen. Daarom combineert deze bijeenkomst ook voor het eerst Smart Cities met Smart Governments. Beiden zijn immers verbonden: de burger, wij dus, staat centraal, zoveel is duidelijk.

www.SmartCities-Community.com

EU Green Week is your annual opportunity to debate and discuss European environmental policy. Organised by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment, this key event in the environment policy calendar attracts policymakers, leading environmentalists, stakeholders and other interested parties from across Europe and the globe.

EU Green Week 2017 will take place from 29 May to 2 June with the theme of 'Green jobs for a greener future'. The deadline for registering events is 15 April.

In addition to a high level conference in Brussels, the programme will also feature a series of partner events and actions taking place across Europe. As well as being invited to take part in person, stakeholders and the general public are encouraged to become 'virtually' involved by participating in a wide range of on-line and social media activities.

Conditions:
- event takes place in May-June 2017
- focus on green jobs and skills, 'working for a greener future'
- e.g. job fairs and career days; seminars, workshops and conferences; awareness raising events for children students and adults; open doors days and guided tours; training and networking events.
Covering elements such as apprenticeships, green entrepreneurships, future trends, training, new skills development and education, green enterprises and green sectors, sustainable development, environmental protection, resource efficiency, and so on.

The Partner Events will be selected from applications that need to be submitted before the deadline, which is 15 April 2017.
Any job fairs or career days that take place during the month of July will also be promoted.

‘The Internet of Things’ is the new buzzword and is becoming a big international phenomena. Global Guide Systems has developed its own platform that uses this technology to solve real business and operational challenges. Check the Startup in Residence project here!

Afraid of the fast growth of cities? Don’t worry — the ability to create more livable urban spaces and care for the environment are the main benefits of becoming a tech city, like Barcelona, Singapore and last but not least Amsterdam.

Nice read by Startup Grind!

Report Smart Data, Smart City #1. A summary of the Citizens & Data event 23 March.

The digital revolution allows organizations to gather information and to do something tangible with that data in the city. How can organizations use this data? And should citizens be incorporated in this process of data gathering? Those were the central questions at the Smart Data, Smart City – Citizens & Data event, organized by Amsterdam Smart City and Datalab on 23 March. Different keynotes elaborated on these questions and had a mutual agreement on that citizens should be incorporated. However the angle of approach was different.

What if you could recruit thousands of citizens to gather data with devices they already own? René Post, head of program citizen science, elaborated on Waag’s project to use digital devices to measure gamma radiation. In case of a nuclear meltdown thousands of citizens are able to measure radiation levels in their neighbourhoods. By increasing the scale of measurement the prediction becomes more accurate. Simply by blackening a camera lens with a piece of duct tape, special software can calculate the degree of radiation. This approach perfectly resonates with Waag’s motto ‘If you cannot open it, you don’t own it’. Beside using citizens to measure data, you could also use the data citizens create.

Using citizen’s data is exactly what Daniël van Motman*, expert advisor traffic management at City of Amsterdam* does. He gave some insights in how the City of Amsterdam used data to manage the crowd at SAIL 2015. By combining smart cameras, Wi-Fi sensors, GPS devices and social media data, software is able to visualize and predict crowd flows. The smart cameras used in this project can distinguish pedestrians from cyclists and count how many pedestrians there are. Also these cameras can recognize to what direction the pedestrians are heading. That output can be used to increase public safety and to provide the public with alternative routes. The idea from the audience to make that anonymized data available for public use in the future , gave Daniel some inspiration; this might be done in the future. Besides data on crowd flows and the number of people at the venues is it important to estimate the public’s mood. That is why social media data are an important parameters.

After the keynote speakers there was room for some pitches. Members of the Amsterdam Smart City community could sign-in to pitch their project. Joost Brinkman was the first to sign-in to pitch.

The motto of this project Toogther would probably be:
“You don’t need to be a CEO to have your own driver.” The project is aimed at Amsterdam’s business district ‘Zuidas.’ Toogethr is a platform where co-workers can share a ride based on a set of variables. Questions such as ‘Will this app change travel behaviour?’ And ‘What will be the impact of self-driving cars?’ were answered very easily: ‘Carpooling is the first version of the self-driving car!’

> ##### 'A very dynamic community with interesting projects: from blockchain to intelligent sensors; from start-ups to innovation labs; from open-data platforms to health tech innovation. I am looking forward to joining your future meetings.'

ALab’s Blockchain Lab for the Public Good offers a workspace and a place for inspiration for creatives and innovators. Since ALab stands for its motto that the Blockchain should be open for everyone, Musicians, content creators and other creative industry people can safely transfer content without an intermediary. This allows creatives more freedom and more security for their business models. ALab is looking for more initiatives to implement blockchain solutions.

Manon Eekelder, brand new curator on amsterdamsmartcity.com, is working on the health of the city. How healthy is the city really? Manon emphasizes a smart city is more than technology, it is also about fair and sustainable food, citizen’s health in general and the amount of greenery in a city. The 6th of April De Gezonde Stad will organize an event on this theme, different workshops, pitches and experiences will give you new insights. Get your hands dirty and sign-in!

Another initiative in the field of healthy city but with a different approach is: Maak je stad! The European Commission awarded Amsterdam as iCapital 2016, the most innovative city in Europe. 600.000 Euro prize capital is used to support ongoing initiatives in the field of talent and health. If you are involved in such an initiative you can apply for €5000,- to €20.000,-. The deadline to apply is April 14th.

> ##### 'A very nice event! Great to see so many people working on the future of the city! We got a lot of nice reactions to our project and I managed to get some nice new connections!'

In short, a lot of different approaches to incorporate citizens in the smart city. We felt the ambitious vibe in the audience to co-create a future proof city. It was clear that not only advanced technology projects, like the monitoring of the crowd, use data to benefit citizens’ needs but also small low-tech bottom-up initiatives. Want to meet our community as well and discuss smart city solutions? Join our next collaborate session with DataLab April 13th on Data for Mobility.

Sign the petition to get rid of the Hemweg coal power plant via https://energie.vandebron.nl/hemweg-typ?submissionGuid=cb960e63-c901-4067-92a9-e882539df828

In 10 years the Evangelische Schule Berlin Zentrum (ESBZ) has developed into a living community of 1500 learners and 100 teachers. Students have ample room for exploration. Self-management doen not only characterise the learning of the students, but the behavior of the teachers as well. In both respects the ESBZ might be a source of inspiration for our schools.

Great open call. Share your innovative concepts, bright ideas and solve this challenge.

What about Amsterdam?

Startupbootcamp, the global accelerator for Smart City & Living startups has announced the 11 startups that will join its acceleration program in Amsterdam this April. The 11 companies were selected from the Top 18 teams that made it to Startupbootcamp’s Selection Days in Amsterdam on 21st and 22nd of March, after a 3 month-long scouting phase and the evaluation of over 400 applications from FastTrack events across Europe and the Middle East.

The 10 selected startups and a Startup in Residence cover various aspects of the Smart City & Living sector including Smart Mobility, Smart Working, Waste Management, Smart Society, and Urban Planning. They will go through three months of rigorous mentorship and training in the Startupbootcamp Smart City & Living accelerator program and join 404 startups that have already been accelerated by Startupbootcamp programs globally.

The intense 3-month-long program beginning in April will provide startups with a structured mentorship, masterclasses, partner days and strategic guidance regarding their investment and business opportunities. Throughout the accelerator program, the startups will benefit from partnerships with Cisco, Vodafone, Schiphol, Centraal Beheer, Eneco, Delta Lloyd, ING, PwC, TomTom, Ricoh and Unica, which will allow them access to potential customers, industry data, and investments, with the ultimate goal of becoming industry-leading companies on their own.

The accelerator program will culminate on the 20th of July with a Demo Day, where the 11 teams will be invited to present their work to 400+ investors, mentors, partners and media.

As a global supporter of Startupbootcamp, Cisco supports the structural acceleration of innovation and helps to contribute to a better startup ecosystem. According to Hendrik Blokhuis, the Program Director of Cisco's Digitale Versnelling Nederland (Digital Acceleration, The Netherlands): "More investments will be made in the form of expertise and resources to stimulate this acceleration even further."

“Smart technologies are those based on chips or Artificial Intelligence that can behave in intelligent ways. The future economic potential of such technologies is enormous, especially in industries such as education, health, and urban planning. Our new startups are breaking new grounds in these fields,” said Marc Wesselink, Managing Director of Startupbootcamp Smart City & Living.

Patrick de Zeeuw, co-founder of Startupbootcamp Global said, “We’ve been empowering innovators since 2010 and it is great to be able to welcome a new cohort of Smart City & Living startups here in Amsterdam. We see a massive potential from this area of technology startups.”

Startups Participating
Coavmi (France) - Coavmi is a flight-sharing platform to connect private pilots with passengers willing to share the same flight and its costs.
KAKIS positive sanitation (Slovenia) - KAKIS positive sanitation offers outdoor wooden composting toilets that are very user-friendly and that provide a perfect natural circle without waste.
Leave Your Luggage (Netherlands) - Leave Your Luggage facilitates an easy online solution for travelers who don’t want to drag their luggage with them to the airport.
Mahlzeit (Germany) - Mahlzeit is an application service that helps canteens to reconnect with their daily guests and improve their gastronomy experiences.
Mr. Clouseau (Netherlands) - Mr. Clouseau utilizes a wireless IoT data network to provide our future customers with a carefree and low-cost product to track their bicycles and other valuables.
Onh (Israel) - Onh is a web platform providing control over facility maintenance for inspectors and contractors by supervising maintenance checks.
Orkestro (United Kingdom) - Orkestro connects online retailers with local on-demand couriers which helps businesses assign and track their local deliveries and rapidly scale delivery operations.
Porter (Portugal) - With Porter your smartphone is the new digital keychain, replacing all your keys and keycards.
Rolling Promotion (Latvia) - Rolling Promotion facilitates transparent advertisements in the city by placing banners on bikes and providing detailed reports of the recorded GPS data.
SharePeople (Netherlands) - SharePeople offers entrepreneurs the possibility to have cheap access to incapacity income, combined with a fun way of personal development.
Xseed, Startup in Residence (Netherlands) - Xseed developed a self-learning algorithm that protects your business projects against the errors that always infect, drive up costs and push back delivery dates.

Looking for support to get funds for this great idea, patents over 40 countries
including Africa, UAE, India and China

call me on 0031 -06 532 40 595

Making Smart Cities Green, from you balcony in Amsterdam towards the dry garden plots in Dubai, from wet sand and dry desert sand

results changing sand to fertile soil with us:
-education and agricultural jobs with Universities
-less water needed to grow plant and crop roots 400% faster
-more trees for transforming carbonoxide to oxygen
-more fruit and vegetables for poor people
-better compost, more energy opportunities
-opportunity for growth saltwater and sweetwater plants
-nanoclay can be used for plants outdoor and indoor at schools, roof gardens, parks and beaches
-non toxic method for faster organic growth
-legal in all areas
-patented for more than 20 years
-sustainabillity fro farmers, greenhouse and land turnkey projects
-market size more than 50 Billion $ market for agricultural support and solution to world wide access of better soil
-ROI is huge for every 1$ the return of fertile soil and crops for trade are 2$ gross profit
(1:3) sales conversion

Dear startuper,

You have created an innovative product or service related to parking in urban areas? No more hesitation, the ALD Startup Challenge is made for you!

The winning startup will sign a partnership contract setting a minimum value of 20 000 euros to experiment its project in one of the 41 countries where the group ALD Automotive is established.

https://www.agorize.com/en/challenges/ald-startup-challenge

Bedrijven en kennisinstellingen kunnen tot 1 mei subsidie aanvragen voor projecten die innovatie bevorderen. Binnen het Europese innovatieprogramma voor de Metropoolregio Amsterdam is een budget beschikbaar van 8 miljoen euro.

De call is onderdeel van het EFRO-programma Kansen voor West, dat zich richt op het versterken van de regionale economie.
De projecten die in aanmerking komen voor financiering moeten het innovatiesysteem in de metropoolregio versterken en verbreden en zich focussen op kennisvalorisatie. Ook fieldlabs zijn een speerpunt. Dit zijn praktijkomgevingen waar bedrijven en kennisinstellingen innovatieve oplossingen ontwikkelen en testen.

Samenwerking staat centraal, niet alleen tussen bedrijven en kennisinstellingen, maar ook tussen sectoren. Crossovers in bijvoorbeeld agro & food, creatieve industrie, energie, life sciences & health, kunnen innovatie kansen opleveren die bijdragen aan maatschappelijke uitdagingen in de regio.
Voorbeeld van een gesubsidieerd project is het Green Innovation Cluster, dat als doel heeft innovatie in de tuinbouwsector rondom Amsterdam te stimuleren. Er zijn 12 concrete projecten ontwikkeld voor het duurzaam versterken van deze sector.
Een ander voorbeeld is het Imaging Center Amsterdam. Het VUmc is gestart met de bouw van het center, dat onderdak biedt aan een hightech radio-chemisch laboratorium dat geneesmiddelen en therapie op maat ontwikkelt. Het project Tracing & Trading brengt de universiteit samen met het bedrijfsleven in dit laboratorium.

Organisaties kunnen tot 1 mei 2017 een subsidieaanvraag indienen. Een onafhankelijke deskundigencommissie beoordeelt de aanvragen inhoudelijk op een aantal criteria. De commissie kijkt niet alleen naar de projecten zelf maar ook naar wat er daarna gebeurt: Is er een daadwerkelijk marktperspectief? Hoe ziet de business case er werkelijk uit?

Met het EFRO Programmabureau Amsterdam kunt u uw projectidee bespreken.
U kunt bij hen terecht voor het toetsen van een idee of de beoordeling van concept projectinitiatieven. Het e-mailadres is KansenvoorWest@ez.amsterdam.nl.

People in staff functions in business feel they need tailer-made education. It will not take long before people engaged in smart city governance and management will feel the same need. As fas as I know, an educational institution in Slovenia is the first who is offering a dedicated master program in smart city management. I wonder whether a program like this will inspire other institutions. Personally I rather prefer that educational institutions in European smart cities develop and deliver one program together. Of course, such a program should be smart too by deploying advanced e-learning and by collaborative projects by learners from several countries.

Interesting read on the social en economic value of building intelligent urban spaces #adamsmartcity

On Monday afternoon, April 3 2017, Let it Grow is organising a commercial event from 13.00-16.30 at her Greenhouse Festival. This day focuses on the future: your future! Together with start-ups who are working in new ways with flowers and plants, our futurologist and a business audience we celebrate how the entrepreneurs of tomorrow will stimulate greening of the urban landscape. Don't miss it, register now!

A nice overview of the trends, highlights and more!

Becoming a high-performance organisation without managers is challenging but can result in maximising the deployment of all member's qualities. However achieving this goal requires de-learning an re-learning. Therefore the training at March 28th in Utrecht might be a first step