Nine European cities to develop test-bed for smart cities’ data sharing

Nine European cities to develop test-bed for smart cities’ data sharing

Nine cities around Europe, with Amsterdam at the forefront, will collaborate in a project involves opening up data, lowering the thresholds for collaboration between companies in different countries, and pushing for the development of new innovative solutions and common standards for EU countries.

The project – which is EU funded – is called SCORE, which stands for Smart Cities and Open Data Re-use. Open data refers to public sector information, available for anyone to use without any requirements other than indication of source and relicensing. Increased use of open data can contribute to more innovative ideas and to greater transparency in public activities, and generate social benefits for citizens and businesses. The digitalization of society is happening rapidly and as globalization and urbanisation increase, open data is considered one of our most important raw materials.

All countries participating in SCORE will develop a test-bed, which is open for participation by other participants as well. Johanneberg Science Park in the City of Gothenburg, Sweden, is leading the work on implementing results and solutions in the different countries’ test-beds. This enables the development of an international ecosystem of knowledge exchange, which helps to develop how open data can be used and create jobs, both in Sweden and internationally.

Sharing data in the SCORE project is expected to lead to significantly reduced traffic flow and reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Together, these nine cities have the combined expertise and knowledge needed, something they wouldn’t have if acting individually. SCORE enables the cities to combine their resources to create social benefits together.

“Open data will enable us to rapidly achieve sustainability goals and create an attractive city that facilitates and improves the lives of Gothenburg residents. The public and politicians need to be involved more and the level of knowledge of open data, outside the expert group, needs to be raised. Through collaboration between countries, digitalization will accelerate significantly, which is in line with what the EU and the individual countries are striving for,” says Maria Ådahl, project manager of SCORE from Gothenburg.

“For the City of Gothenburg, being a part of the SCORE project will create great value. Synchronizing and developing a common international language for open data is expected to contribute to accelerated innovation and greater entrepreneurship. The SCORE project is an example of collaboration with both businesses and academia in order to utilize the potential of the new technology that supports both sustainable urbanization but also digitalization in healthcare and e-health,” says Ante Baric, head of digitalization for the City of Gothenburg.

The project is one of 15 new projects receiving over €60m of funding as part of Interreg North Sea Region, a programme for generating sustainable economic growth in the North Sea region, co-financed by the European Union and the European Regional Development Fund. With a total budget of €167m, it manages projects with a particular focus on pilots, demonstrations and trials. Projects typically explore how organizations can work better, often together, for the long-term.

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