Interest in joining a smart energy project

In the big tech-dominated era, data has been commercially exploited for so long that it is now hard to imagine that data sharing might also benefit the community. Yet that is what a collective of businesses, governments, social institutions and residents in Amsterdam aim to do with the Data Commons Collective. Sharing more data to better care for the Amsterdam Region. On Demoday #23, Lia Hsu (Amsterdam Economic Board) and Simone van der Burg (Waag) led an interactive value workshop to discuss which values are important when it comes to sharing data from the perspective of different stakeholders in an (agri)food use case.

What is a (Data) Common?

Commons are natural resources that are accessible to everyone within a community. Water. Fertile soil. Clean air. Actually, everything the earth has given us. We as humanity have increasingly begun to exploit these commons in our pursuit of power and profit maximisation. As a result, we risk exhausting them.

Data is a new, digital resource: a valuable commodity that can be used to improve products and services. Data can thus also be used for the common good. However, there are two important differences between a common and a data common: data in commons never run out, and data in commons is not tied to any geographical location or sociocultural groups.

Four principles for Data Commons

Each Data Common serves a different purpose and requires a different implementation, but there are four principles that are always the same:

1. The data common is used to serve a public or community purpose;
2. The data common requires cooperation between different parties, such as individuals, companies or public institutions;
3. The data common is managed according to principles that are acceptable to users and that define who may access the data commons under what conditions, in what ways they may be used, for what purpose, what is meant by data misuse;
4. The data common is embedded to manage data quality, but also to monitor compliance with the principles and ensure that data misuse is also noticed and that an appropriate response (such as a reprimand, penalty or fine) follows.

The (Agri)Food case

The Data Commons collective is currently working on different applied use cases to understand how Data Commons can help with concrete solutions to pressing societal problems in the areas of energy, green urban development, mobility, health and culture. This Demoday, we discussed the (Agri)Food Data Common use case.

The agricultural sector is facing significant challenges. A growing world population means more mouths to feed. However, that food must also be produced in a way that reduces the burden on the environment. One way to do this is by local food production and shortening supply chains. For effective cooperation within short supply chains, digitisation and data are crucial.

The University of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences have the ambition to source their cafeteria food locally and sustainably. The availability and application of data are essential for the realization of such a local and sustainable regional food system. Moreover, there is a great need for a form of data sharing among the relevant stakeholders.

From individual to common interests

During the session, various stakeholders were identified: farmers, consumers/students, data specialists, and governments. The participants engaged in discussions about each other's interests and whether they can be reconciled into a common interest. This is an important first step towards a Data Common.

One of the main values the participants discussed was trust. In the agricultural sector, there is a deeply rooted feeling of mistrust from farmers due the nitrogen strategy and transformation of rural areas by the government. Farmers highly value their autonomy, and are therefore often not eager to share their data with the government. Therefore transparency about individual interests, but also about the purpose of sharing data, is essential. Another value the participants discussed is fairness and creating a level playing field for smaller entrepreneurs through the Data Common.

Do you have input for the Data Commons Collective?

Amsterdam Economic Board will remain involved in the Data Commons Collective in a coordinating role and work on use cases to understand how data commons can work for society. The Data Commons Collective is still looking for additional use cases to test Data Commons in practice. Do you have a suggestion for Lia and Simone? Please feel free to reach out to me via sophie@amsterdamsmartcity.com, and I’ll connect you!

On Thursday, April 18, Amsterdam Smart City partners came together for the 23rd edition of our Demoday. We were welcomed by Ru Paré. Ru Paré is a community-driven space that is home to a lot of different small businesses. They share their space and their knowledge. Inclusiveness and cooperation are at the heart of Ru Paré. These values align closely with our own values at Amsterdam Smart City.

In this article, we’ll give you a quick overview of the Knowledge Session, Work Sessions and Pitches. Interested in learning more? Read the full reports by our Programme Managers Noor, Pelle and Sophie (linked below).

About our Demodays

The Demodays are one of the tools we use to stimulate innovation and encourage connection between our partners and community. The purpose of the Demodays is to present the progress of various innovation projects, ask for help, share dilemmas and involve more partners to take these projects to the next level. More information about the Demodays can be found here.

Knowledge Session: Socratic Design

Ruben Polderman told us more about the philosophy and method of Socratic Design. It's important for a city to collectively reflect on a good existence. Socratic Design can be a way to think about this together, collectively. You work on your own presuppositions, enhance your listening skills, and deepen your understanding of our current dominant narratives to create new narratives and practices. Ruben guided us through examples and exercises to help us understand what narratives and presuppositions entail. Read Pelle's full report here.

Work Sessions

Mobility – Mobility Injustice

Being able to move from point A to B contributes to your sense of freedom. But there are also people who cannot do that as easily as most people; be it because of financial, physical, vehicular, or other reasons. On behalf of Provincie Noord-Holland and in collaboration with Amsterdam Smart City and Amsterdam Centre of Expertise, a group of students working on their graduation project tackled this topic at the latest Demoday of 2024. Read Timo’s full report here.

Digital – Data Commons & the (Agri)Food Case

In the big tech-dominated era, data has been commercially exploited for so long that it is now hard to imagine that data sharing might also benefit the community. Yet that is what a collective of businesses, governments, social institutions and residents in Amsterdam aim to do with the Data Commons Collective. Sharing more data to better care for the Amsterdam Region. Lia Hsu (Amsterdam Economic Board) and Simone van der Burg (Waag) led an interactive value workshop to discuss which values are important when it comes to sharing data from the perspective of different stakeholders in an (agri)food use case. Read Sophie's full report here.

Energy – Co-creation with residents in the heat transition

Municipalities and neighborhoods are actively engaged in the heat transition, but residents are often involved late in the planning process, leading to dissatisfaction. Kennisland is developing a plan to involve residents early in neighborhood heat transitions, aligning with local interests. This plan has been discussed with various organizations and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.

Dave van Loon and Marieke van Doorninck (Kennisland) have dived into the problems surrounding heat grids and come up with a plan. In this Demoday work-session we looked into the problems surrounding heat grids and their plan to solve this. The session was moderated by our own Leonie van Beuken. Read Noor's full report here.

Pitches

Before we divided into separate work sessions, we had time for some inspiring presentations. The topics presented are listed below. You can click on the links to visit the dedicated project pages.

• Circular: True Price Lab – Are consumers willing to pay the actual cost of their products? Would they pay extra for the environmental impact of their products? (Sjoukje Goldman, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) Read more here
• Energy: Sharing Energy in the Neighborhood – Currently, we heavily rely on major energy suppliers. In the Netherlands, we face issues with net congestion. We cannot continue just adding more energy consumers and sources. In his pitch, Hugo discussed an innovative approach to tackle this issue by learning from our neighbors. (Hugo Niesing, Resourcefully) Read more here
• Mobility: Oui - Think outside the box! Or rather, think of a box. This new concept for a compact, circular vehicle is called the Minimal Car. Designed like a box with seating for four, it primarily targets urban mobility. This car bridges the gap between a cargo bike and a standard car. It is spacious enough for moving houses yet small enough to prevent city congestion. (Barend Koolhaas, Minimal Car) Read more here

Our next Demoday will take place on the 20th of June. Do you have an inspiring story or project you want to pitch to the Amsterdam Smart City network? Let us know via Sophie sophie@amsterdamsmartcity.com (Digital), Pelle pelle@amsterdamsmartcity.com (Mobility) or Noor noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com (Energy & Circular)

The heat transition is in full swing. Municipalities want their residents off the gas and want them to switch to renewable sources of heat. Unfortunately, heat grids have often led to frustrated residents. Which in turn has led to delayed or cancelled plans for the municipality.

Dave van Loon and Marieke van Doorninck (Kennisland) have looked into the problems surrounding heat grids and came up with a plan. In this Demoday work-session we dived into the problems surrounding heat grids and their plan to solve them. The session was moderated by our own Leonie van Beuken.

Why residents get frustrated with heat grid plans

Involving residents in the planning of a heat grid is difficult. It takes a lot of time and effort and the municipality is often in a hurry. This is why they choose for a compromise in which they already make the plan, but try to involve citizens at the end part. However, this leads to residents not having anything to say in the plans. They can block the plans, but they can’t really make changes. This leads to a lot of dissatisfaction.

This top-down approach doesn't seem to be ideal for involving residents in the heat transition. That's why Kennisland is working on developing a plan for early collaboration with residents in the heat transition of neighbourhoods, with a focus on connecting with the community's concerns.

They have seen that this kind of approach can be successful by looking at the K-buurt in Amsterdam-Zuid-Oost. In the initial stages, the first plan for the K-buurt didn't gain much traction. However, when they shifted towards a more collaborative approach, people felt empowered to engage, leading to a more meaningful participation process. Instead of traditional town hall meetings, discussions took place in community spaces like the local barber shop. This shift towards genuine participation and co-creation has resulted in a much-improved end product, one that residents truly support and believe in.

The plan for co-creation in the heat transition

The plan that Kennisland came up with consists of a few key points that are necessary for success:
• Engage with residents early on in the process.
• Also consider other issues in the neighbourhood. There might be more pressing concerns for the residents themselves.
• Ensure accessibility for everyone to participate.
• Truly collaborate on developing a list of requirements.
• Harness creativity.
• Work in a less compartmentalized manner.
They aim to form a neighbourhood alliance and organize a community council. Together a plan can be made for the neighbourhood that all residents can get behind.
This plan might take a bit longer at the start, but that investment in time will pay itself back in the end.

SWOT analysis of co-creation plan

After Dave and Marieke explained their plan we did a SWOT analysis with the group. We looked at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the plan.

The main strength that was pointed out was the ability to make a plan together with the residents. The residents experience the neighbourhood differently than a government official, which makes the final plan more beneficial to everyone.

The weaknesses the group saw in the plan were mainly that this could potentially slow down the process. Should we maybe do less participation instead of more and use force to get this heat transition going?

There were a lot of opportunities identified for this plan. The quality of the plan (and the neighbourhood) can greatly increase. By slowing down at the start we can actually accelerate and improve the neighbourhood on many levels. This plan also offers a great learning experience.

Finally, we went into the threats. One of the big threats that was pointed out was the lack of trust. If residents don’t trust the municipality and the process then it will never be possible to let this plan succeed. The explanation to residents also needs to be understandable. The explanation around a heat grid can get technical very quickly, and residents often don’t have the background to understand everything. The last threat that was pointed out was that if you get a lot of input from the residents for the plan, you also have to do something with that, and still be realistic. You have to work hard to manage expectations.

We completed the session by asking the participants if they knew any partners and places to collaborate with for this plan, or if they had any other ideas to make this plan successful.

We would now like to ask the same questions to you! Do you know someone who would like to partner up with Kennisland, do you know a place where this plan can be tested, or do you have any other ideas? Let us know by contacting me at noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com.