The European Commision has set a target to attract 1 billion euro of investment into innovative solutions for smart cities and communities, and sees the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC) and its Marketplace as key vehicles to achieving that. It requires collaboration and change all around – in cities, industry, SMEs, financial institutions, research and other smart city actors. It is only through collaboration across actors that we will deliver a fully-functioning market that will attract investment. This is fundamental to better cities, and core to stimulate jobs and growth. It is time to move from a technical focus to engage politicians, policy makers, and investors around this agenda.
The EIP-SCC Action Cluster Meetings took place on the 20th of June at Hotel Metropole, Brussels, and provided European officials, civic leaders, city representatives, investors, industry, entrepreneurs, and Action Cluster leaders with the opportunity to explore progress, make plans, and exchange views with their peers to give added-value to their national and local actions; and also identified gaps that needed to be fulfilled at European level to develop new solutions in the Smart City environment.
The programme featured:
Plenary - Enablers to the Market Place involving experts in innovative and cross-border procurement, finance, and city politics.
Initiative Pitches - Short summaries on key Action Cluster initiatives to attract interest from other Action Clusters, Smart City stakeholders and the world of finance.
Action Cluster Working Sessions
- Challenge Workshops – Finding solutions to challenges faced by Initiatives that are being implemented, followed by an opportunity to identify common challenges and how they can be addressed by working together.
- Individual Action Cluster Workshops – Taking plans forward on their specific themes:
- Business Model, Finance and Procurement Workshop
- Citizen Focus Workshop
- Integrated Infrastructure & Processes Workshop
- Integrated Planning Policy & Regulation Workshop
- Sustainable District and Built Environment Workshop
Plenary - Summarised the plans and solutions discussed during the working sessions.
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