Smart City Living Lab founder calls for national programme for smart cities

A large-scale national programme is needed to help Dutch municipalities develop smart cities, Hans Nouwens, initiator of the National Smart City Living Lab programme for 2017-2018, told Binnenlands Bestuur. Seven municipalities are already taking part in the programme. Some of them have already placed sensors. According to Nouwens, the participants will encounter different obstacles during their trials. A national action programme would ensure that smart city applications can be put into use faster and cheaper.

Sensors to measure noise, air quality

During the Living Lab programme, municipalities will explore using sensors for noise and air quality. Every municipality will use sensors in certain areas, such as an industrial neighbourhoods, in the inner city, in rural areas or in residential parts. Participating municipalities include Rijswijk, Veldhoven, Helmond, Dordrecht, Zoetermeer, Voorburg-Leidschendam and Breda.

Every municipality has its own case, on where to use sensors. The programme will help the municipalities use the sensors and the data coming out of them, with advice and training. The first feedback round will take place in March, with municipalities sharing their experience.

Rijswijk will, for example, use sensors from the programme to map how students behave. Rijswijk wants to see, among other things, whether data collection is possible to solve problems concerning parking, litter and noise pollution. It will for example, see if sensors can be used to determine if agreements reached with fast food restaurants are really reducing packaging and therefore having a positive effect on the environment.

Much duplication

Nouwens noted that many municipalities not taking part in the programme are working on smart city applications. Many of them are working independently on the same ideas. Projects on a larger scale could prevent this duplication and help eliminate problems. Some issues are impossible for a single municipality to take on.

For example, Nouwens believes smart street lights with sensors could also charge electric cars. “A municipality has to deal with all sorts of groups, including the network operator and maintenance provider. Street lighting currently only comes on when it is dark. During the day there is no electricity supplied by the network operator, which means cars could not be charged. If you had a project with a large number of customers, it would make negotiations with grid operators much easier.”

Without cooperation, problems arise

Nouwens draws a comparison with the national programme 'Talking Traffic'. Here, the ministry of infrastructure and the environment wants to develop new traffic applications and has alloted a budget for a large-scale cooperation between several regions and a large number of market parties. Nouwens believes that if there is no such similar large-scale cooperation in smart city areas, there will be a number of problems. He hopes to get such a cooperation going with one of the ministries.

“Smart city applications are not just a topic for municipalities, they touch various layers within the government and often also have to do with European legislation. In addition, in order to roll out an application properly, you need joint agreements about the storage of data and the equipment that goes with that. I like to compare this with how municipalities work together on ICT, with more and more people thinking and negotiating together.”