New large-scale initiative towards Europe smart cities

The Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform, part of the Smart Cities and Community Partnership, which was launched by the European Commission in early 2012, works as an advisory body for the EU’s leading research initiative on the future of cities. Members include technology producers, energy providers and urban visionaries. The open-invitation group is already 1,000 members strong, and is currently building a database of high-tech solutions to help build the smart cities of tomorrow. The ideas, coming from the
December 18, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

The Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform, part of the Smart Cities and Community Partnership, which was launched by the 1690 European Commission in early 2012, works as an advisory body for the EU’s leading research initiative on the future of cities. Members include technology producers, energy providers and urban visionaries.  

The open-invitation group is already 1,000 members strong, and is currently building a database of high-tech solutions to help build the smart cities of tomorrow. The ideas, coming from the private sector and academia alike, address three key urban systems: 

Mobility and transport, including: 

• Providing real-time information that helps motorists locate available parking space at their destination before and during their trips; and

• A smart-phone app that helps older passengers plan public transport journeys that satisfy their special needs for comfort, safety and convenience. 

Energy efficiency and buildings, including:

• Economising on household electricity use by letting your home PC turn appliances on and off depending on power supply and price; and

• Using heat pumps to exploit thermal energy from sewage. 

Energy supply networks, including:

• Using “smart power grids” to make small communities 100% energy self-sufficient from a combination of solar power, biomass and heat pumps; and

• Integrated infrastructure networks for combined heat and power.

In June 2013, after discussion and multiple rounds of voting by platform members, the best ideas, together with policy recommendations, will be showcased at a conference in Budapest to be attended by EU decision makers, high-tech producers and representatives from European cities. 

This event, the first public showcase of the Smart Cities initiative, will help set the stage for the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, a seven-year programme aimed at making Europe more competitive and sustainable. It will be the platform members’ chance steer urban research toward the most needed and promising technologies, opening funding channels that will help nurture innovative ideas so that they’re market ready. 

Cities and people are at the core of the Smart Cities and Community Partnership, which seeks to improve quality of life in urban areas – now housing 70 percent of European citizens and accounting for 70 percent of energy use and 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Related Content

  • February 21, 2019
    DEC unveils smart cities incubator in Dallas
    The Dallas Entrepreneur Center Network (DEC) – backed by tech giants AT&T, Cisco and Microsoft - is launching an initiative to help regional companies and entrepreneurs develop urban technologies. The DEC says its Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator will support technologies which seek to improve mobility, citizen engagement, inclusion, infrastructure, governance and public health as well as public safety and sustainability. The incubator - located in the Dallas Innovation District and Smart Cities Livin
    Read More
  • September 24, 2012
    European Commission proposal to increase research and investment in Europe’s transportation sector
    The EU is launching a new plan, Research and Innovation for Europe’s Future Mobility, that aims to develop a long-term policy strategy that among other goals, is to reduce road casualties to almost zero and greenhouse gas emission from the transport sector by 60 per cent in 2050. The plan doesn’t propose any new EU funding or regulations but instead proposes an initiative to meet with Member States and other relevant stakeholder to discuss policy priorities and objectives. Speaking about the plan, Vice Pres
    Read More
  • September 13, 2016
    Volvo and KPMG find buses are key to urban air quality
    Buses can play a key role in the battle to improve air quality in towns and cities as David Crawford discovers. A city with a population of half a million would gain about US$12.3 million in annualised societal savings if all its buses ran on electricity instead of diesel. This is the conclusion of a wide-ranging analysis carried out by Swedish bus manufacturer Volvo Group and global business consultants KPMG.
    Read More
  • May 18, 2016
    EU aims to turn ITS theory into practice
    Gareth Horton explains how the European Commission’s Transport Research and Innovation Portal can help expedite research and turn theory into practice. Over the next few years Europe’s transport systems face a number of challenges, such as improving urban mobility while at the same time protecting population health and accommodating the accessibility needs of an ageing but active population.
    Read More

Highlighted Content