Cities and businesses rally around European Internet of Things Large-Scale Pilot for Smart Cities & Communities
European IoT Large-Scale Pilots Programme
[Brussels, 29 October 2018] – A massive 133 groups of cities and businesses from all over the world took the opportunity to apply to become part of the 3m€ European Internet of Things Large-Scale Pilot for Smart Cities & Communities called “SynchroniCity” to deploy their data-driven solutions based on the philosophy and technical approach from the global Open & Agile Smart Cities network (OASC).“This immense interest in SynchroniCity proves that there is a strong demand for standards-based innovation and procurement. Cities need guarantees that solutions seamlessly integrate with their legacy systems while at the same time offer value for money and independence, and solution providers need interoperability to scale across cities and countries,” said Martin Brynskov, chair of the Open & Agile Smart Cities network and coordinator and lead of SynchroniCity.
In total, SynchroniCity received 133 applications involving 55 new cities from 22 countries from all over the world. This clearly reinforces the SynchroniCity vision to build a global market for IoT-enabled services based on the needs of cities and communities in Europe and beyond.
“It is really encouraging to see the high number of SMEs, cities and large businesses that participated in the open call and want to be part of the growing SynchroniCity community. We feel more committed than ever to continue building and supporting the city market and its communities in this journey towards a global IoT-enabled market,” said Gemma Guilera from the Future Cities Catapult who leads the 3m€ open call team.
One third of the 55 new cities, which are part of the pilot groups, are already members of the Open & Agile Smart Cities network (oascities.org/about) and of EUROCITIES (eurocities.eu). This is no surprise given that SynchroniCity builds upon the OASC principles and puts them to a real-life test. Several cities are also part of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC) Lighthouse projects (eu-smartcities.eu).
These results are the outcome of strong cooperation with the communities of OASC and EIP-SCC as well as other organisations and initiatives such as EUROCITIES, the partnership of the Urban Agenda for the EU on the digital transition, and the European Committee of the Regions.
“The common challenges that the open call addresses resonate among the many communities. We are eager to demonstrate that our approach supports cities and local businesses alike in de-risking investments in our common digital futures,” said Martin Brynskov.
The applications are currently being reviewed by an expert jury. The winning pilots will be announced at end of November 2018 with deployment starting in February 2019.
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What is SynchroniCity
Synchronicity opens up a global IoT market where cities and businesses develop shared digital services to improve the lives of citizens and grow local economies. The SynchroniCity project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 732240, and it is part of 104m€ Large Scale Pilots Programme. 38 partners worldwide from business, academia, municipalities and NGOs are contributing to the project.
What is OASC
Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC) is a non-profit, international smart city network that has the goal of creating and shaping the nascent global smart city data and services market. OASC connects 117 smart cities globally organised in national networks from 24 countries and regions. Together, we strive to establish the Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs) needed to create a smart city market.
For more information about SynchroniCity
Francesca Spagnoli, +32 264148547, francesca.spagnoli@enoll.org European Network of Living Labs QHHQ – Quadruple Helix Headquarters Pleinlaan 9, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
For more information about Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC)
Lea Hemetsberger +32 498111594, lea@oascities.org Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC) QHHQ – Quadruple Helix Headquarters Pleinlaan 9, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
