The background to the project is that many municipalities had begun testing connected sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT) to understand how they can use data. The data created can be used to, for example, streamline existing processes, gain a better overview and generate broader decision-making data, as well as offer optimized services to residents. Municipalities explored, implemented and collaborated on a common framework for IoT platforms to support urban social benefits. The project aimed at securing national anchoring as well as proposing a national governance model of a minimum data platform framework, including relevant standards.

The goal of the project was, among other things, that it should be easy to move services between cities. It is also important to ensure a national grounding among all relevant actors and to propose a national management model of the minimum framework, including relevant standards and data models.

In another part of the project, the “Smart City Lab” is created - a “hub” for collaboration that will assist municipalities, cities, technology/service providers and also citizens in the exchange of knowledge and experience and dialogue in the development of the smart city.

In southern Sweden, Malmö, Lund and Helsingborg use the same kind of digital platform for their work with sensors, which will facilitate future cooperation. This came to light when the City as a platform project had a digital presentation of the work in southern Sweden in autumn 2020.

- The more we can collaborate and develop common platforms and services, the better for citizens, said Anders Trana at Future by Lund. Many citizens travel a lot between different municipalities and it makes it easier if the digital services harmonize with each other.

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City as a platform

Financier: Viable cities, IoT Sweden

Project Time: 2018-2020

The municipalities of Gothenburg, Malmö, Lund, Karlskrona, Kalmar, Stockholm, Uppsala, Hudiksvall, Umeå and Skellefteå, Ängelholm, Örebro, Helsingborg, Halmstad, Sundsvall, Linköping, Eskilstuna and Västerås participated in the project.

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‍Classification in the Future by Lund framework

Layer: 2

Zone: Green (B)

What do we mean by zone and layer?

Future by Lund works with a framework to create understanding and provide a basis for strategic decisions regarding the development of the innovation ecosystem where the partnership will be able to review the ecosystem together and conduct strategic dialogues about future development. Working with zones is a way to show what kind of innovation activity and development phase it is, while layers are a way of showing the amount of activities and partner involvement, where you can follow seed investments, project financing and the journey ahead as a result of a project.

Blue, green and yellow zone

To explain the possibilities of the organizational gap between the municipality, business and the university, a model with a blue, a green and a yellow zone is used.

In the blue zone the organization decides everything itself and has control and mandate. Here you control yourself and there is a structure for how you conduct your business. Outside there is Green Zone, located in the gap between organizations. There is a need for cooperation and dialogue with shared mandates. Organizations negotiate and create agreements about who does what, what can be done together, and how it should be done. For example, cities and construction companies often work together to build new areas or concrete projects with common goals and shared tasks and resources. If you go further into it yellow zone the mandate is rather unclear and organisations share challenges and opportunities. Who owns what and who will do what is not clear, presenting greater risks. It is necessary to co-create. In this zone, you need to stimulate, facilitate, test and monitor the outside world in order to create knowledge and understanding. The organizations share the risks surrounding the unknown and the unarticulated. Participant engagement and presence drives the opportunities. Many in Future by Lund's network work precisely with things that are located in the green and yellow zones in areas that you share with others. Activities carried out in the green or yellow zone can eventually become business opportunities and then end up in the blue zone where organizations take home results, use them, build business and scale.

Consequential effects through the layer model

To demonstrate the importance of innovation activities for a system of actors, Future by Lund's associate researcher Emily Wise works with the “layer model” — which is a reporting method used in Vinnova's Vinnprogram and captures dynamics and the “ripple effects” that the initiatives contribute to.

First layer är the support (or base funding) that comes directly to the innovation platform.

Second layer consists of project funding for projects that Future by Lund either leads or participates in.

Third layer is project funding that goes to partners in projects in which Future by Lund does not participate. This is called a spinoff project or follow-on project.

Fourth layer are the qualitative events in the system that are signs that change is taking place in the direction of the sustainable city. It can be new businesses, new products, an increase in the number of employees, new investment streams, new infrastructure and an increase in attention.

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IoT workshop in Studio City Hall

City as a platform peeked at Skåne

Read more about City as a platform: Mobile Heights

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Caption: Britta Duve Hansen, Magnus Sjöström and Anders Trana in Studio City Hall. The screen shows Johan Lindén, Mobile Heights.

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