EUROPE AT THE TECHNOLOGICAL FOREFRONT OF THE SMART CITY CONCEPT: FROM CLINES TO SMARTCITYTECH

The final report of the project CLINES will be presented to the European Commission on the 31st of August. This will give way to the next stage in the progress of a technological offer shared by the main European partners, developed thanks to the support of the EU 7th Framework Programme

CLINES has succeeded in agreeing on, amongst other milestones, 5 strategic objectives aimed at the development of the European SmartCity technological skills. From these goals derive 14 distinct specific actions. All the information regarding it can be found in the Project webpage http://www.clines-project.eu/

This January, the SMARTCITYTECH consortium was primarily constituted to warrant the sustainability of the proposal and to develop the outlined projects. It is financed by the EU COSME programme. Hence, it takes the helm of 3 years of work analysing competences and objectives for the EU technological offering, finally materialising into a shared Action Plan and a Business Agenda with a clear international vocation

With a timeframe of 14 months, a technological and business Agenda will be created destined to deploy European strengths, currently faced by the new arising opportunities thus coming from the increasing incorporation of technology in all áreas of city life, specifically around embedded systems (sensors etc) and the use of Big Data. Overall, the members of this project represent more tan 1000 organisations, mainly SMEs, and over 60000 professionals in total

The increasing urbanisation and service development that demands the smartization process is an unstoppable trend around the world. It is estimated that by 2040 65% of the world population will reside in urban environments, therefore affecting the need for all kinds of services and solutions so as to guarantee a decent living standard in all areas: people, surroundings, mobility, governance, digital economy etc. The challenge is accompanied by great business opportunities: Forecasts reflect that the Smart City market will increase at an annual rate of 22.5% and in 2019 it will generate a turnover of 1037 million Euros.