- Guidelines with methods and practical examples for cities’ digitization goals
- Co-creation: Administration and citizens work together to develop the sustainability of their city
- Strong partners: United for Smart Sustainable Cities and German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB)
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April 8th, UNECE Day of Cities, Geneva: Developing and implementing a sustainable Smart City concept: For many cities, this is easier said than done. USC & Deutsche Telekom are, therefore, launching today a guide which offers a number of tools and real-life examples for the development of intelligent citizen services. The “Smart City Co-Creation Toolbox” enables city administrations to independently approach their digitization ideas. Deutsche Telekom supports the development and technical implementation where desired. The two partners United Smart Cities (USC) and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB) are strong advocates of Deutsche Telekom’s co-creation approach.
"We want to make digitization as easy and attractive as possible for our Smart City partners," says Markus Keller, Senior Vice President, Smart City at Deutsche Telekom. "In our conversations with city representatives, it became clear that there is still a lack of knowledge and networks within their municipalities when it comes to digital services. Our Smart City Co-Creation Toolbox helps cities to meet these challenges."
United for Smart Sustainable Cities supports the collaborative approach of the Co-Creation Toolbox: "Digital technologies are helping cities and communities to work more efficiently and become even more attractive to citizens and local businesses," says Kari Eik, Secretary-General of the Organization for International Economic Relations, and Co-Director of United Smart Cities. "However, there is no panacea for digitization in public space, because each region is different. Telekom's Co-Creation Toolbox offers a convincing approach to tackle the challenges in cities together. "
The cornerstone of a successful Smart City strategy is to find out early what citizens and companies really want. This is where the toolbox comes in: with its co-creation approach, it enables a joint design of the intelligent city. All contributors are involved early-on in their development. The toolbox aims at bringing together the different perspectives of both administration and citizens. It harnesses creativity and input from many sides. This is important in order to achieve long-term added value through digitization.
Toolbox packages XS to L: something for every city
The Co-Creation Toolbox supports cities in their individual measures. The starter package XS is a one-day program introducing methods and success stories. Package L is designed for three months and provides a differentiated overview of where a city needs to act. It also contains some conceptual approaches to Smart City solutions.
The co-creation process includes several parts. The first step is to understand the different target groups as well as the current situation of a city. Stakeholder or citizen journey mapping are some of the tools that help with this research. Then, the problem areas are defined and initial ideas developed. A popular technique in the toolbox is going through possible Smart City usage situations in a citizen roleplay.
Based on these findings, U4SSC & Deutsche Telekom help to build and test prototypes. Once these are successful and next steps agreed, the company develops and implements the actual Smart City solutions. The toolbox includes services such as cost analyses or business and data models. Assessments on legal, security and technical aspects are also available. Deutsche Telekom will make recommendations and create blueprints for sustainable planning and operation.
This will make it as easy as possible for administrations to enter the digital world.
Available now
The approach of the Smart City Co-Creation Toolbox has been tried and tested over the past few months with more than 20 city partners. Their feedback has contributed significantly to its creation. The toolbox can now be ordered online and as a print version.
For more information, visit http://smartcity.telekom.com
