Checklist for the REPLICATE & SCALE UP stage

This stage organises the preconditions and support for enlarging and repeating the demonstration or pilot(s) both within the city’s territory and jurisdiction, and at other locations. This might require for example the adjustment of specific regulatory frameworks such as EU competition rules (see Vandevyvere, 2018), formalisation of collaboration within the local ecosystem in the form of an association (e.g. Brainport Eindhoven), or explanation of best practices to other stakeholders thus far not engaged in the demonstration or pilot, but with a comparable role (City of Vienna, 2019).   

Having a learning environment in place for other cities and stakeholders, which clearly shows the ins and outs and achieved impact of all demonstrated measures, is crucial for the exchange of knowledge and experiences. A benchmark of successful case studies greatly helps other cities to improve their smart and sustainable development by using vital information from these best practices for preparation of their own plans. Repositories such as the Smart City Information System (SCIS) are an indispensable part of such a learning environment. In the end, this will lead to a pipeline of projects, an acceleration of the hitherto fragmented market for smart city solutions and urban transition toward low carbon cities. 

 The main questions at this stage are: “Which organisational and financial models sustain the project(s)’ or action plan’s upscaling and replication, and which innovative solutions can be adjusted and applied in other places and cities?” Other, related, questions are how these innovative solutions can contribute to improving the (master) plans of cities that want to apply them in their own jurisdictions, such as fellow cities or cities participating in the Covenant of Mayors. 

Answering these questions requires various actions and TO DO’s. Foremost, communication and education by sharing of the results of a demonstration, pilot, living lab, testbed or regular project. Furthermore, a suitable business model has to be defined, what will guarantee the project’s sustainability and maintenance in future. In addition, a plan is needed for how to continue and organise this type of collaboration between city and relevant stakeholders, such as civil society, industry and research, in the future. If needed, the initial plan and project needs to be updated and adjusted to changes, for example in society, technology, policies, and legal frameworks. To support replication and upscaling, the suitability of demonstrated solutions in different locations and contexts needs to be investigated. And finally, the start of these new projects in the same or other cities will make the circle round. 

Important tools here are methods for drafting business model plans, regular financial evaluation tools producing key financial parameters such as ROI, collection of case studies from smart cities projects, tailored workshops, networking, peer-to-peer meetings, site visits of successful projects, involvement of city networks, industry platforms and branch organisations for the sharing of results, and key repositories as the Smart City Information System. Currently, there are not specific standards available for replication or scaling up. 

Output of the stage of upscaling and replication consists of having the right preconditions for further market uptake in place, an improved learning environment between cities through knowledge exchange and uploading of vital project information in repositories, and eventually an acceleration of the market for smart city and low energy district solutions, eventually leading to an acceleration of urban transitions towards sustainability.

Question:

Which organisational and financial models sustain the projects’ upscaling, and which parts of the project can be replicated in other places?