LAST NEWS

20 aug

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.

20 jul

Interview with the members of CLINES Project

“Europe should aim to lead the technological development of Smart Cities”

To what extend do you consider to have met the Project CLINES objectives?

We started with a very demanding programme, and though there is still some outstanding work to be done, we feel that we have reached our target. On the one hand, we already share a vision around the existing capacities within the European context, so as to play a key role in the already rising city smartization process through previously analysed technological fields – specifically the embedded ones. Furthermore, added to the vital diagnosis of this shared ambition, we have an Action plan available considered to match the starting point and final objective’s needs,

All this process has allowed us to understand that collaboration is key within our field, and somehow, we can say that after the work carried out in the CLINES Project, we have managed to strengthen not only our own capabilities, but how our countries are positioned facing the expected growth of an enormous market

What has cross-project collaboration meant for each of the participating regions?

Without a doubt, a vast amount of wealth in terms of knowledge and opportunities. The CLINES Project has allowed us to see how these cooperative partnerships enable local strategy completion and enrich them with a long term vision. Multi-territorial internalization and cooperation is an industry´s priority across all the European regions. The Project has allowed us to touch base with the skills of future partners and to get fully acquainted with ours. We are aware that nowadays nobody has all the skills necessary to fulfil such an extended value chain, and hence being able to understand where the strengths and potential synergies of our own capacities are is an extremely competitive advantage

What conclusions have you drawn after analysing the European technological capabilities?

For one thing, we have seen that the offer fragmentation can be resolved through these cooperation models... Technology mainstreaming enables us to play an important role in all the key developments: urban planning, health, transport, energy etc... We have verified that the relevant skills exist, that they are consistent and that, to a large extent, there is a great complementarity between them, Europe can hope to play a great technological role in the development of Smart Cities.

And after the analysis?

The next stages are defined by the program devised throughout the CLINES Project and will be left in the hands of the members of the SmartCityTech Project. All the Cluster members will continue through the second stage, but our objective is to open the collaboration frame to new members, who will allow us to expand the scope of the scheduled actions in the Work Plan. So, the next goal is to expand the coverage of this strategy

The challenge lies within the World market, and so, the main objective of the new Project is the internationalisation of our solutions and competences. The lessons learnt previously help us place the European technological offer in a global best-in-class position. We have already kick-started good projects that can be easily replicated in other parts of the world. It is imperative that our companies can scale their results, and so, there is a strong need for a shared strategy

01 jul

Will electric highways be coming to your city?

Siemens has been involved in electric-powered freight transport for some time. Now, the company is testing a catenary system very much like the overhead power lines used to power streetcars and trams. Hybrid diesel trucks travel on a 1.25-mile section of highway (referred to as an eHighway) near Stockholm, Sweden connected to free-hanging overhead power cables. The test is part of the country's climate strategy which includes achieving a transit network free of fossil fuels by 2030.

How it works
The trucks can travel at normal highway speeds because the mechanism that connects the trucks to the overhead power supply—called a pantograph—can maintain contact with the power cables as the trucks change positions within their lanes. If a truck leaves the overhead power grid or the driver needs to take evasive action, the pantograph retracts and the truck relies on its diesel engine. While connected to the overhead power lines, the truck relies on electric power which also charges its battery.

Sweden is an appropriate choice for the test. It relies heavily on trucks for freight transport, which also generate about a third of the country's carbon dioxide emissions. Anders Berndtsson is chief strategist for the Swedish Transport Administration. Quoted in a PC Magazine article, he said "By far the greatest part of the goods transported in Sweden goes on the road, but only a limited port of the goods can be moved to other traffic types. That is why we must free the trucks from their dependence on fossil fuels, so that they can be used also in the future. Electric roads offer this possibility and are an excellent complement to the transport system."

Siemens, which is working with Swedish commercial vehicle maker Scania on the project, says the catenary system could not only significantly reduce pollution, but also cut fuel consumption in half.

Siemens also is working with Volvo on an e-Highway demonstration in California to test how well a variety of truck configurations work within an eHighway system. That project is being conducted in the Los Angeles and Long Beach area and will continue through 2017.

24 jun

IoT and smart cities: what happens next?

One forecast predicts the smart cities market will nearly triple from its 2013 level to .4 trillion by 2020. And another says the Internet of Things in smart cities market will grow from almost billion in 2015 to 7.5 billion by 2020. Yet another anticipates the number of Internet-connected devices in smart cities alone to grow from about 1.2 million in 2015 to 3.3 billion in 2018.

That's a lot of numbers, and they change over time and vary from company to company depending on the methods they use. But what those numbers say is analysts studying the IoT industry and smart cities see continued growth, and ultimately, a dramatically high level of connectivity between the physical and digital worlds.

As Doug Davis, senior VP of Internet of Things for Council Associate Partner Intel, put it during an interview with Venture Beat, "We think this is going to grow to 50 billion devices and trillions of dollars of economic impact. It will change the way we live and work. As we go out talking, we see more companies investing in it. We are making a transformation from a PC-oriented company to one that powers things that are connected to the cloud and everything necessary to make that happen." Davis could have been speaking for any number of companies involved in smart cities and IoT.

Continuing and emerging trends
A number of trends in smart cities and are continuing and new ones are emerging. And IoT is a central component in all of them.

  • Cities continue to struggle with limited budgets and see IoT combined with information and communications technology as a solution to increase operational efficiency, enhance cooperation between city departments and services and do it in a cost-effective way. Vendors and cities are exploring new funding options.
  • Smart LED street light networks remain a popular point of entry for cities embarking on smart cities enhancements and upgrades because they can be used as a platform and adapted to a variety of applications from transportation to pollution monitoring and public safety with the addition of sensors and video cameras. And they can provide immediate cost savings.
  • Smart buildings are an emerging option. As we reported recently, focusing on smart buildings offers the potential for even more savings than LED lighting, particularly if those buildings are connected to a smart electric grid.
  • Renewable energy is another key continuing trend as more and more cities see renewables as a way to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and improve their environment and livability—and meet their citizens' demands for clean energy.
  • Transportation and mobility has become a critical area of concern for cities as populations grow and traffic congestion, parking problems and other issues affect city livability, economy and competitiveness.

Plenty of choices
Another major trend in IoT and smart cities is the proliferation of startups and established companies zeroing in on IoT platforms and applications. Council Lead Partners AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Qualcomm, SAS Institute and Telit and Associate Partners Intel and Siemens are among the established companies that have expanded into IoT and smart cities or are in the process.

Also: national smart city policies
National smart city policies will be developed by at least 20 of the world's largest countries by 2017. Those policies will pertain to funding priorities and technical and business guidelines, according to research by Council Associate Partner IDC.

24 jun

How to earn public trust in the age of cyber threats

Often we hear about the “public trust.” While its common-law roots refer to the air, rivers, and lands commons to be shared by all citizens, the term today also connotes an attribute of the relationship between citizens and governments who can meet their needs in a digital world. Personal and business security matters.  There is no security without cybersecurity. In this age of growing cyber threats, this means that governments must demonstrate they can protect citizen and employee data while delivering the services their constituents expect.  In short, governments must earn their trust.

Cities are already using cloud services and Internet of Things (IoT) along with big data, mobility, and social media, to transform their operations so they can deliver services more efficiently and invent new ways to address age-old civic issues. But alongside their transformations are ever-increasing vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks. Keeping data secure is one of several important steps needed to assure citizens and earn trust in these transformational technologies. Are governments ready?

Growing needs. Many cities have developed defense-in-depth plans for cyber threats, but many more must take the needed steps to boost their defenses. For example, in a 2015 UK survey of 150 senior public sector IT executives, 40% said their organizations had experienced a significant data breach in the prior year, and 61% had lost important documents.  

These findings echo what we hear from city officials worldwide. They face growing pressures to safeguard data security and privacy, but must do so with shrinking budgets and increasingly limited in-house skillsets. The risk is that any data security breach will undermine the public’s trust in their governments’ abilities to prevent intrusions. Without that trust, it can be far harder to win citizen approval of other projects, especially those related to IT infrastructure and management.

Data stewardship. One way cities can address the growing need for cybersecurity is to adhere to the ISO/IEC 27001 family of security standards.  Another is to adhere to ISO/IEC 27018, the first global code of practice for cloud privacy to protect personally identifiable information (PII). If doing so is beyond a city’s resources, it should seek partners who can provide the reliable and certified data stewardship that’s needed.

Microsoft is committed to earning your trust as your partner in safeguarding your data. For decades, Microsoft has developed enterprise software and run some of the largest online services in the world. With this experience, we continuously improve security-aware software development, operational management, and threat mitigation practices that are essential to the strong protection of services and data in the cloud. In addition, Microsoft hires the British Standards Institution (BSI), an accredited, independent certification body, to annually audit our compliance with ISO/IEC 27001 for our Azure cloud platform as well as Office 365 Government and Dynamics CRM Online Government, plus several other cloud offerings.

This audit helps to ensure we continue to fulfill our four commitments to governments, enterprises, consumers, and people around the world: We will keep their data secure; we will ensure people's data is private and under their control; we will figure out the laws in each country and manage data accordingly; and we will be transparent so people know what we are doing.

Start with these resources. The ISO/IEC 27001 security standards can serve as a great starting point for IT professionals in cities and other public-sector organizations seeking to learn more about best practices for cybersecurity. You can read more about Microsoft’s compliance with these standards, including ISO/IEC 27018 by visiting theMicrosoft Trust Center.

We also invite you to download the Microsoft CityNext guide “Developing a city strategy for cybersecurity: A seven-step guide for local governments,” which offers valuable insights into safeguarding data privacy and security in your organization.

15 jun

CLINES Closing Event and Innovation Workshop

The Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe, Janseniusstraat 1, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

The Clines Project - Closure Event

Urban areas are melting pots for new opportunities. They functionas connecting points for people wholive, work, meetand enjoy their spare time at the same place.In this way, urban areas represent the getting together of the known pastand the unknown future. People are eager to adopt new products and services which make their life, work and spare time more enjoyable and efficient. These new features will make them more resilient to future andoften unknown events.

Smart Systems can enable these products and services. However, to apply smart system technology and to realize new solutions for citizens in urban areas cooperation between citizens, innovators, technology experts, policy makers and other stakeholders is key.

The CLINES project had as major objective to prepare for a joint action plan aiming at promoting economic development in the area of smart systems for smart cities. With this event the CLINES consortiumDSP Valley (BE), Aalborg University (DK), GAIA (ES), Tecnalia (ES), BICCnet (GE) aims at sharing the knowledge built through the project and hand over this experience and deliverables to the SmartCityTech partnership a follow on initiative aiming at driving the development of new applications for urban areas enabled by smart systems. Although this event is a closing event, it also initiates some new joint actions, starting with a new fast track to innovation on wearable technology.

CLINES Innovation Workshop – Immerse your future enabled by wearable technology

On June 15th 2016, CLINES Partner DSP Valley initiates a new Fast Track to Innovation in cooperation with its Flemish and international partners from CLINES Project. This fast track innovation aims at speeding up the innovation process by adapting cross-sector and cross-discipline collaboration. The first step is to think big by defining moonshot projects which can then be transformed into concrete and realistic projects that lead through a facilitated process to conceptual ideas, prototypes of new products and/or new services ready to be launched. Achievements in which we all believe and which are invaluable to pursue if we want to realize our moonshot ideas.

How do we start? On June 15th we embark on this innovation journey. Experts from the business areas of mobility, health, nutrition, retail, sports and other sectors are brought together in a facilitated moonshot workshop. This workshop will deliver moonshot ideas as answers to the key question: "How can wearables enhance quality of life in urban areas?"

What's next? Through a sequence of inspiration sessions, workshops, hackathons and matching events we will further elaborate on the moonshot ideas, give insight into concrete projects in specific domains and develop spider-consortia which can set up projects and make those ideas happen.

Why do you have to join this CLINES journey? It's about your future! It's highly innovative. You will cross borders and develop invaluable partnerships with motivated, likewise thinking people. We therefore would like to cordially address this invitation to people whose belief it is that active collaboration is the key for shaping our urban future and who are eager to find an answer to a key question: "How can wearable technology enhance our quality of life?".

When and Where will take place? June 15th, 2016: The Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe, Janseniusstraat 1, 3000 Leuven, Belgium: 12-8pm. Please find a complete outline of our event program standing below.

In the event of any queries from your part concerning our event please do not hesitate to contact us.

How do I register in the CLINES journey? So, let's start with our collaboration and start shaping our cities of tomorrow. In order to complete your registration please go to:

http://www.clines-project.eu/clines-innovation-workshop-and-closing-event.html.

AGENDA

12:00 - 13:00

Registration lunch

13:00 - 17:00

CLINES Innovation workshop
Immerse your future enabled by wearable technology

 

Objective: This workshop will initiate a "Fast track to innovation", a facilitated process to speed up innovation through cross-sector, multi-disciplinary collaboration. This workshop focuses on the following key question: "How can wearable smart systems enhance the quality of life in urban areas". This project will lead to some ideas for "moonshot projects" which will be further co-elaborated during the subsequent phases of the "Fast track to innovation"

17:00 - 17:30

Break

17:30 - 19:00

CLINES Closing Event – Why Smart Cities? Why now?

 

Objective: Within the CLINES project Aalborg University, DSP Valley, GAIA and BICCnet developed a joint action plan to drive the development of smart system applications for smart cities forward. This action plan will evolve into the SmartCityTech partnership. A partnership which will mobile all international stakeholders involved in smart systems for smart cities. This workshop will justify why it's worth joining this Smart City journey through 4 short presentations

  • A view on European Smart City Cases
  • The Clines Joint Action Plan – Peter Axel Nielsen (Aalborg University)
  • From Clines to Smart City Tech – Mark De Colvenaer (DSP Valley)
  • Smart Cities? Why Now – Prof. Dr. Pieter Ballon (VUB)

19:00 - ...

Walking Dinner

 

Objective: Enjoy Belgian food and informally network with other Smart City stakeholders in the gardens of the Leuven Institute for Ireland. During the walking dinner the Moonshot Ideas developed during the afternoon will shortly be pitched.

02 may

Amsterdam gets a cycle mayor

The ambition is to make it global, but Amsterdam is kicking off: the city gets a cycle mayor on June 24. He or she becomes the link between the cyclists in the city and the municipality of Amsterdam during the next two years. According to Maud de Vries of CycleSpace this mayor becomes 'the voice of the cyclists at City Hall'.

CycleSpace is a new organization that will promote cycling in the capital and put innovations in motion. The arrival of the cycle mayor, following the example of the night mayor, is step one in these plans. It’s possible for foreign cities to visit 'bike laboratory’ Amsterdam and take advantage of the Dutch knowledge and expertise.

CycleSpace will also devise solutions for parking of bicycles and organize cycling lessons for foreign visitors. People from Amsterdam can apply from 1 May onwards. The first cycle mayor will be inaugurated by Mayor Eberhard van der Laan on June 24. After Amsterdam, CycleSpace wants to help other cities like Beijing, Chicago and Cape Town to get a cycle mayor.

 

http://amsterdamsmartcity.com/news/detail/id/933/slug/amsterdam-gets-a-cycle-mayor

28 apr

The concept car of Shell shows fuel efficient city car

Together with a number of companies, Shell has developed a concept car that consumes considerably less fuel and therefore produces less CO2 emissions. The almost entirely recyclable car is built with fewer materials than a regular city car. The oil giant worked together with Formula 1 car designer Gordon Murray to build the city car. Murray previously developed a small electric city car named T.25, and used this design as a starting point for the Shell Concept Car. This model, known as Project M, still burns gasoline but according to Shell this is considerably more economical than regular city cars. According to Shell, much fuel savings can be achieved by aligning the design of the car, the engine and the necessary lubricants. There is also great attention to further reduce the air resistance. Where the original T25 still had a resistance coefficient of 0.3, the Shell Concept Car has decreased this to 0.29. This is among other things possible by using aerodynamic wheel covers and dense wheel arches on the back side.

Compact three- cylinder
Shell selects a three-cylinder engine with a capacity of 660 cl in the 550 kilogram car . Shell says that consumption of the three -seater comes out at 2.6 liters per 100 kilometers at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour. CO2 emissions measured by the relatively new New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) standard, according to Shell is lower than a regular city cars and hybrids. Another sustainability gain that Shell claims is the choice of the used materials. The concept car is built from recycled carbon fiber. Shell also says the car is almost completely recyclable.

http://amsterdamsmartcity.com/news/detail/id/932/slug/?lang=e

27 apr

COMBINING TECHNOLOGY AND OPEN INNOVATION

Evolution of Cities toward the concept of Smart City or City of the Future implicates necessarily the use of technologies as tool which connects products and services between administration and Inhabitants.

 Under the European project Clines, next April 27 will be held the 4th Workshop on Open Innovation, after those held in Brussels, Aalborg and Munich.

 

 The workshop is especially oriented to those  companies interested in smart cities and aims to identify needs, generate proposals and groundbreaking ideas and propose solutions and new products that will improve life in future cities. If you belong to a dedicated UN Technology Company from Broad spectrum: Advanced ICT Services, Embedded Technologies, the IO solutions, products and intelligent solutions, etc.

 

 The number of places is limited; sign up sooner to Book on your site. The day will consist of two Challenges approach on which work to obtain proposals and solutions based on the technology. Participants are guided through Dynamics of Open Innovation that encourage Association, all kinds of Innovative Ideas and Application Do In The Field of Challenges Posed to evaluate v technical feasibility or Business, identify potential partners, discard Proposals. ..

 

 Each individual challenge will arise in their particular context, so that the approach and analysis thereof by the Participants will take out a scam Different Techniques Innovation Working group. The challenges that will arise in the day on April 27 will be:

 

Schedule  4th Workshop on Innovation Clines

8: 45h - 9: 00h Reception of Participants

9: 00h - 9: 15h Introduction and Overview of the day

9: 15h - 9: 30h Approach of the first challenge

9: 30h - 11: 45h Working dynamics For The First Challenge

11: 45h - 12: 00h Coffee Break

12: 00h - 12: 15h Approach of the Second Challenge

12: 15h - 14: 00h Working Dynamics For The Second Challen

14: 00h - 14: 20h Conclusions and Closing

14: 20h - 15: 00h Lunch

 

27 apr

Planning your smart city projects? Don't forget who they're for

n an interview with Remo Urban, a project encouraging adoption of a sustainable urban regeneration model to help European cities become smart cities, Pfliegler shared his thoughts on why he and city leaders take citizen engagement so seriously and how they do it.

For the city leaders, the idea of encouraging citizens to take an active, hands-on interest in improvement projects is effective outreach because it improved the connection between citizens and government, and reminded leaders they weren't undertaking them just to keep their jobs. "This service (the projects) cannot be carried out well without spending time and effort to meet with local people, listening to their needs, problems, preferences and remarks, as well as asking for their opinion and ideas on various planned developments. Never forgetting that, in fact, citizens are the final beneficiaries of urban improvements."

Strengthen the connection with transparency
When information is presented to citizens fairly and their opinions are taken into account, Pfliegler said engagement is far more likely to be successful. He added that transparency is particularly critical when unpopular decisions are announced.

Citizens have great ideas, too
"Additionally, one more advantage of citizen involvement from the perspective of the mayor's office: no one is flawless and unerring and no one knows everything, even working with a great team. Considering and implementing complementary or new useful ideas coming from citizens can be more beneficial for the city than predicted in the original scenario.

"In this regard, several positive examples have already been encountered in Miskolc and we see these projects are more and more accepted and supported by the residents." Another benefit of bringing citizens into the complete process of planning, developing and implementing a project is that it offers them a sense of ownership, personal responsibility and commitment to the projects they worked on alongside their leaders.

The flipside...
Pfliegler also warned that if cities go ahead with unpopular projects or services citizens hadn't asked for and don't want they will likely be a waste of time and money because they will be neglected or actively opposed. That may be common sense, but worth repeating.

Dealing with inconvenience
He also said engaging citizens on the inconveniences they will encounter during project construction -- noise, dust and traffic snarls for example -- was another critical part of ensuring a healthy and continuing relationship between city officials and citizens.

Tools for engagement
Miskolc city leaders relied heavily on public forums and other similar venues for discussing and shaping proposed projects and services as well as online voting and feedback, and it worked for them. But what if your city is not at all like Miskolc? Maybe it's more segmented into identifiable separate communities that make up a city, or is simply so large that other ways for communicating are necessary to successfully engage citizens and understand what they really want. What if your city is considering projects or services that will affect specific geographic areas or a specific demographic such as seniors or young commuting professionals?

Fortunately, there are a number of solutions to choose from -- and you're probably already familiar with one of them. Council Lead Partner Microsoft's CityNext is a partnership of companies offering technological help for cities working on smart cities projects. One simple solution for citizen engagement and other uses is Microsoft's Skype for Business. Yes, the Skype you know about and have probably used -- but with more features in addition to audio and video calling: instant messaging, online meetings and sharing capabilities. Microsoft recommends it as a platform for town hall meetings. And it's affordable. The basic version is a free download.

City governments that need detailed information about what citizens are thinking and what they want can turn to an IBM offering, Social Media Analytics Software as a Service. The cloud-based service for organizations, including cities, gives users the ability to learn about and evaluate the social media impact of their campaigns and other communications. The results are available on configurable charts and dashboards. In addition to enabling cities to better target their campaigns and communications, the software-as-a-service could cut down on employee time and the cost of on-site software. Also, it's available on a monthly subscription basis.

http://smartcitiescouncil.com/article/planning-your-smart-city-projects-dont-forget-who-theyre

Next

Contact us

For more information about the Clines project, please contact the Technical Coordinator:

Arne Skou

Vice-Director, CISS

(+45) 9940 8851

ask@cs.aau.dk

www.ciss.aau.dk/en

You can also contact:

Charlotte Fonseca Holmene

Administrative project manager

(+45) 9940 7345

cfh@adm.aau.dk