Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CommuniCity (Innovative Solutions Responding to the Needs of Cities & Communities)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-02-29
CommuniCity, a transformative citizen-centred project funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe Programme, places citizens at the core of technological innovation. The initiative aims to develop 100 pilots across European cities, including Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Porto, to address issues faced by marginalised communities through collaborative efforts and shared learning. Living Labs, serving as practical test beds, facilitate collaboration among stakeholders to co-create and experiment with potential ideas to improve people’s lives. During the first round of Open Calls, Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Porto led this approach, showcasing inclusive and sustainable models with replication potential. Recently, during the Second Round of Open Calls four new cities: Aarhus, Breda, Prague, and Tallinn; have joined the project as Replicator Cities, focusing on developing innovative technical solutions to address digital, urban, and social challenges. A final and third round of Open Call will invite cities from all over the EU to join the project and embark on this transformative journey.
CommuniCity has developed a technical framework with the goal of supporting the design and development of innovative solutions implemented by Piloting Teams in various cities. The framework focuses on two main objectives: expediting the implementation of technological solutions within the limited timeframe of CommuniCity Open Call rounds and ensuring interoperability between existing city IT infrastructures and developers' solutions. The high-level technical architecture includes specifications and APIs, with a key emphasis on Open & Agile Smart Cities' Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs), providing universal tools for global interoperability. The CommuniCity Toolbox complements this framework by offering a collection of concrete software components, services, and resources, including open-source software, data models, and AI algorithms accessible through web applications or SDKs. Additionally, the CommuniCity Sandbox provides a cloud environment for developers to test compliance with CommuniCity specifications, incorporating key toolbox components through preconfigured recipes.
The CommuniCity project has the specific need of uptaking innovative solutions. During 3 rounds of Open Calls 100 innovative pilots will be tested across cities all over the EU. These innovative solutions are co-created in cities with the involvement of local marginalised communities. A virtual learning lab for mutual learning among different local communities offers a toolkit for practitioners, good practices, and use cases seeking to help effective adaptation of innovative solutions and increased uptake. A Toolbox was set up for the development and the testing of the 100 pilots. This model will be upscaled and developed to enable cities to employ it and ensure effectiveness of future pilots and respond adequately to challenges.