Urban Reverb: What's New?

Anthony: Hi, you're listening to Urban Reverb, the official podcast of the Smart Cities Marketplace, a European initiative financed by the European Commission. I’m Anthony Colclough. As avid listeners who have been mournfully refreshing their browsers for the last year will doubtless be aware, it’s been quite some time since our last season. In that time, the Smart Cities Marketplace has evolved to become even more effective in every dimension of its work. ‘Impossible!’ you say. Listen on as we meet some old and new faces, or I should say voices, from behind the scenes who are responsible for managing these innovative elements. Our first guest, Eelco, is dealing with turning the vast swathes of data that the Marketplace has gathered into easily accessible information.

Eelco: My name is Eelco Kruizinga. I'm Dutch. It's actually a name from the north of the Netherlands. In the Smart Cities Marketplace, I work on the whole digital platform of the Marketplace. It basically consists of two elements. It's the public website and attached to that public website, we have a self-reporting tool, which is taking in quantitative data from smart cities projects. 

And what we do with that is to sort of filter out KPIs and provide aggregated data. So that's one thing, public website plus the ‘SRT,’ we call it, ‘self-reporting tool.’ And then on the other side, we have a community platform that's called Open Social to facilitate, enable, folks in discussion groups to interact with each other in a secure environment, basically.

Anthony: Our second guest, Elise, is working to fuel innovation and insights into collaboration for a sustainable transition.

Elise: My name is Elise van Dijk. I work at Th!nk E, a Leuven-based SME, focusing on energy transition, helping communities, companies, governments in anything that's energy-related. Our role within the Smart Cities Marketplace, it's the idea that with satellite data, for example, weather forecasts, geolocation, you can use that information for your urban planning, and the focus group will be organizing workshops and raising awareness for those services so that cities know, that this is also an option in their urban planning. what we've done is created two groups to encourage different forms and degrees of discussion, contributions ranging from a general discussion on a certain theme to really proposing a concrete solution to an identified challenge.

Anthony: And our final guest, Luigi, is dedicating himself to creating the links between cities and investors that are at the core of the offer of the Smart Cities Marketplace.

Luigi: So, I'm Luigi Lo Piparo from Technopolis Group, and I contribute to The Smart Cities Marketplace as a coordinator of the matchmaking services. The matchmaking services are basically a set of tailored supports for accelerating the ongoing efforts of mainly cities, notably small and medium-sized cities, who are struggling sometimes, often, with their investment projects to succeed in the transition towards climate neutrality. 

Anthony: What if, instead of scrolling mindlessly through Facebook or ‘X’, you could have a social media platform that was full of insights into creating a sustainable future, and packed with other people who held that mission in their hearts? The Smart Cities Marketplace’s new Open Social platform is just that.

Eelco: The Open Social platform is meant to be a platform for these groups to convene and basically meet each other and develop city proposals and project proposals because that's clearly what the marketplace is all about to advance project activity in cities across Europe.

So, it's for them to develop proposals we can then match with our investor network. It's a convening platform for professionals, from either the energy field or ICT or mobility field, technology providers as well as city officials and people who are in the know about finance, to bring them together and to develop project proposals that we can then hopefully match with, candidates or members of our investor network. 

Anthony: And why stop there? If you’re going to have your own social media platform, you might as well have your own Wikipedia as well. Another offer from the Marketplace that Eelco is managing is exactly that: No more archives of dozen-page PDFs – he’s presenting years of smart city information in a format that you can engage with directly.

Eelco: Yeah, most people obviously know the word wiki, probably they sort of equate it with Wikipedia, right? Because that's, probably the most well-known wiki in the world, and it has elements of that.

So, what we're doing is we’re taking, a sort of foundational document, let's call it that, the Smart City Guidance Package, which is, around a 200-page document that brings together all kinds of information and knowledge to help cities to develop basically their smart city, or roadmap to becoming a smart city.

It's a linear thing, obviously, it's a document. So, what we have done is to take that document. And transpose it into a whole series of wiki pages, which makes it more interactive. You can sort of, come into any point in, the wiki and explore.

And what we've also done is to link each of those pages to already existing content of the Smart Cities Marketplace website. And that's clearly an ongoing thing because it's never-ending. We're linking up news. We're linking up all of the various solutions that we offer in the marketplace, solution booklets as well. So, whenever there's a section in the wiki on a particular technology, we link it to the relevant solution booklets as well.

We have an overarching navigator, like a visual that brings together everything in one piece. So, if you want to know anything about Smart Cities, go to that navigator, you'll see the whole overview. And that's like an interactive map, if you like, of the content. And so that's our starting point and we're actually going to formally launch our wiki in November at the big, Smart Cities World Congress and Expo in Barcelona and we'll be having some festivities around the wiki. 

And when I say ‘we,’ it's not me that's doing that by myself. We're doing that with the full team. And what we're also hoping to do, there's actually a call to the listeners: We'd like to learn also what we need to do in the future as well. There are clearly other platforms around in Europe and across the globe that we might be linking to. So, to have this, that's probably the dream, Anthony, as the single point of knowledge on smart cities basically.

Anthony: As an old-timer in this sphere, I fondly remember the Smart Cities Information System, an EU initiative that brought together the insights of almost 200 European Smart City projects. I asked Eelco to explain how this new presentation of information would differ from that initiative.

Eelco: You refer to the days of the Smart Cities Information System, what we had there was typical, it was very much project-focused. So, the entry into the system, you had to be a bit of an insider. You had to understand project acronyms and the whole structure of EC-funded projects as well. And that is a shift that we have, are undergoing because we definitely still have all of these EC-funded projects with their acronyms.

We wanted to have a different way into the information and wiki provides that sort of facility to go into the information from various perspectives. Accessibility to me means linking, linking in a meaningful way using terminology that's understandable for our audience who are, smart city professionals across Europe’s cities, basically. That's what we're trying. Having the tag content, you can just click on a tag you know, click on, ‘transport and mobility’ and all relevant content pops up, including, what is the latest news on that, what is the latest project has been doing something in that area, and what are the wiki pages associated with that. And also, what quantitative information do we have around that particular tag that you clicked on? 

Many projects don't have the funds anymore to even keep up a website so we're also, safeguarding that content by importing it, processing it, and then linking it to the wiki.

Anthony: Recording insights and best practices and making them widely accessible is an essential function of the Smart Cities Marketplace, but generating new insights about how stakeholders engaged in the sustainable transition can achieve synergies is just as much at the core of this initiative’s work. You can go back and listen to the episode ‘Ready, Set, Action Cluster,’ if you want to understand a bit more about how the Marketplace brought together cities, businesses, investors and other stakeholders under themes like ‘heating and cooling’ to deliver new insights and new collaborations. Now, with focus and discussion groups, the idea is to hone this tool to be even sharper. 

Elise: So, the focus and discussion groups are the new and updated forms of the Action Clusters and initiatives from the previous Smart Cities Marketplace. In previous years, we noticed that some formats are better suited for certain topics and others. So, what we've done is created two groups to encourage different forms and degrees of discussion, contributions ranging from general discussion on a certain theme to really proposing a concrete solution to an identified challenge. 

It's actually meant to simplify procedures, make a European platform where people can find each other. The goal is really peer exchange, share your experience, find each other in the challenges you might both have, to really come up with solutions together. So, the difference between discussion group and focus group is really the degree of contribution. So, the discussion group does also help find a solution, but it's more light, it's easily accessible on Open Social. Everyone can join and ask their questions. The focus groups tend to be a little bit longer in time and they actually work towards, creating a product that's tangible and easily accessible, so that once it's done, it can also feed in, for example, to the matchmaking activities. We also monitor, from The Smart Cities Marketplace, the progress of the focus groups and the discussion groups. And once we've seen that there's a clear conclusion, whether there's a nice answer, then that gets published on the Smart Cities Marketplace.

The key points in the focus and discussion groups is also to help us identify which gaps there are in the markets, knowledge gaps, but also maybe implementation and to really help address those gaps.

We have, regularly a call for topics for the focus and discussion groups where experts or a stakeholder, anyone can submit a topic and propose it in the form of a discussion group or a focus group. That helps us also see where those gaps are, and, through the discussion focus groups, fill the gaps in knowledge.

Anthony: Each focus group works not only on its own topic, but also in its own way, and toward its own goals.

Elise: So there are currently four focus groups: The heating and cooling focus group, which will have more of a written contribution, writing a solution booklet, helping contributions to the solution booklets, giving updates. There's also one on, citizens control personal data. The idea there is also to have more of a scientific publication that might stem from the collaborations coming from the focus groups. There's one on deep retrofitting and one on geospatial cities, and both of those will be organising workshops to raise awareness and help provide knowledge.

In this next call for topics, new topics can be presented and introduced.

Cities that may be experiencing similar challenges, but not know it of each other, through this platform can actually share each other's experiences, best practices, lessons learned, pitfalls and then through the chair also get access to expertise on a certain topic. I think the heating and cooling, focus group, for example, is a good example of that. They have as a target to help cities reach a 100% renewable heating and cooling systems, when it comes to heating and cooling in the cities. So that's, ultimately the long-term goal to reach these decarbonization targets and net zero. 

Anthony: Anyone who knows anything about the Smart Cities Marketplace will know that matchmaking, bringing project-holders face to face with people who can help them realise their dreams, is at its heart. I asked Elise how the focus and discussion groups relate to this activity – then, listen out for Luigi who’s about to launch us in to the essence of this activity. 

Elise: One of the themes, of course, in the Smart Cities Marketplace is the matchmaking activities.

The explore, shape and deal phases, and the knowledge gained will certainly, be input for the matchmaking activities, and the technical assistance that's provided from the Smart Cities Marketplace. 

Luigi: The matchmaking services are basically a set of tailored support for accelerating the ongoing efforts of mainly cities, notably small and medium-sized cities who are struggling sometimes, often with the investment projects to succeed in the transition towards climate neutrality. So, with the Smart Cities Marketplace, we also support not only individual cities, but also consortia, where basically there is, for the implementation of the project, a city that is leading or endorsing the projects, and then also businesses and other stakeholders.

These also, mainly across the European member states, but also in the countries that are participating in the Horizon Euro programme.

It includes private and public investors. And with an appetite for different, size of projects and offering a wide range of products. So basically, whatever the need almost, there is a solution in terms of investment that we can provide.

When the city goes through public funding, first of all, a call for a grant has to be published. The assessment has a given time. In comparison to that, in several cases, going with the financing route gives you faster access to the money.

Anthony: It sounds easy: Get the cities, investors and businesses in a room together and watch the sparks fly. But expectations, processes and timelines are often radically different among these parties. As such a lot of work goes into lubricating the gears so that the machine can start chugging away. 

Luigi: It is where the added value of the Smart Cities Marketplace materializes. This is because, not only cities do not always speak the language, of an investor, but also the other way around. So for instance, if a technical developer is not present, or has not contributed to preparing the documentation that is presented for the pitch, the investor often does not even want to engage with the city because they believe it will be very high, the risk of not having enough details, and not having a counterpart that can explain, ultimately how they're going to get their money back. This Smart Cities Marketplace tries to help guide and, materially support, with knowledge, examples of good practice and, the deployment of, expertise even on-site. 

Anthony: As I mentioned, matchmaking has long been at the core of the Smart Cities Marketplace – so what’s changed?

Luigi: So now there is a much better tailoring of services to offer technical support that really responds to the needs of the specific group of cities or applicant cities. Secondly, the localized approach, much more than in the past, and it's part of the tailoring, the services are attentive to also have an on-site presence. This is more possible now after Covid. Also, the deployment of teams of technical assistance, so really making things easy for small and medium-sized cities

Anthony: And that’s not all.

I would mention the one-to-one consultancy services. So, there is a very easy user-friendly process to apply for those services. So, a city basically has to fill in an online survey providing some description of what the project idea is. That must be, of course, a starting idea. And then we process this application and, for projects which are mature enough, we consider deploying a team of experts that, is assembled corresponding to the specific needs of the city.

Anthony: If that all sounds very conceptual to you, Luigi shared a pretty impressive figure with me: €660 million. That’s the combined value of the twenty-seven bankable project proposals that the Matchmaking Services helped to unleash just over its previous reporting period.

One of the enduring questions about ‘smart cities,’ is what the term actually means. What makes a city smart? And what makes a Smart Cities Marketplace smart, for that matter?

Eelco: This whole concept of soft plus hard is smart, that, I don't know, it's something that's stuck in my mind somehow, but probably it was years ago, probably around the times of the Smart Cities Information System, so this idea of combining quantitative and qualitative information, so that makes it, you know, interesting as well, because just hard numbers, okay, that's fantastic, but also to have the stories behind the numbers and the lessons learned and the, how it came to be, some of the background to the number. So that is the hard figures plus the soft story, soft plus hard that makes it smart. And that's something that's, you know, stuck with me.

Anthony: Some listeners might remember this insight from the old fable of Goldylocks, who tried the too-hard bed and the too-soft bed before ending up in the one that was just right. But don’t worry – I doubt that there are any irate bears arriving home to tear the Smart Cities Marketplace to shreds. We’ve heard how this European Commission initiative is making vital information more accessible to cities by moving into the wiki-zone and providing an Open Social platform for swapping insights, how it’s spurring innovation through discussion and focus groups that bring all the key stakeholders on board, and how it's accelerating investment through new and deeper supports for matchmaking between cities, industry and investors.

To learn more or join the action, check out smart-cities-marketplace.ec.europa.eu 

The Smart Cities Marketplace and this podcast are an initiative of the European Commission, made possible through European funding. Thanks for listening.