Smart Cities Monitoring vom 7. März 2016

Im folgenden finden sich Auszüge aus unserem aktuellen Smart Cities and Regions Monitoring:

  1. Dutch EU Presidency /
    Second version Pact of Amsterdam more ‘Ambitious’ and ‘Political’

    The second version of the Amsterdam Pact drawn up by the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU, that has been circulating since 2 March, is described as more ‘ambitious’ and ‘political’ than the first, which seems to please cities and regions. This was stated by a number of European sources.Some of the changes that were highlighted are in the preamble. The new version of the Pact of Amsterdam allow future revisions and changes to the Pact. Moreover, the new version mentions the concept of urban-proofing, this to allow a better adaptation of European policies to urban areas.In the new version of the Pact of Amsterdam the integrated approach between different level of governance is also highlighted by the phrase” “The EU Urban Agenda strives to establish a more integrated approach to EU and national policies and legislation with a clear impact on Urban Areas.”The term ‘urban areas’ replaces the term ‘cities’ in Part VI, in line with the preferences of the Regional Policy Commissioner. The regions seem to approve of the change. They prefer the concept of ‘functional zones’ that include both rural and urban zones. A point that may also go in the direction of the member states, confirms a source, as the member states fear that such an agenda will result in funds initially earmarked for rural areas going to cities instead.The role of the Committee of the Regions is also boosted. The figures indicated in the new preamble for the economic potential of urban areas come from opinions produced by the Committee of the Regions, and the CoR is explicitly mentioned as ‘counsel’ for the EU Urban Agenda. The CoR is mainly representing the regions instead of cities and this might still be part of ongoing discussions on the Pact of Amsterdam.
  2. EU Urban Agenda / 
    Time to turn words into deeds to bring Europe closer to citizens, local and regional leaders say

    Rapporteur Dunger-Löper: „To make cities smarter, greener and inclusive, we need ‚urban-proof‘ EU policies and a stronger coordinating role of the Commission”With the adoption of the draft opinion on „concrete steps for implementing the EU Urban Agenda“ on 2 March, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is intensifying its work towards the launch of the new agenda aimed at anchoring the urban dimension in EU policies.The EU Urban Agenda (EUA) aims at stimulating growth, liveability, innovation and participation in European cities. This involves improving EU regulation, increasing access to European funds and strengthening horizontal cooperation. The Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU has intensified the pressure to agree on the EUA implementation process by the end of its mandate in June.A first set of actions and commitments to be taken by national governments has been identified within the „Pact of Amsterdam“ that will be endorsed by EU ministers for urban development on 30 May. The draft opinion adopted by the CoR Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and Transport (COTER) seeks to accelerate the process by identifying the next concrete steps to implement the EUA and coordinate all cities-related initiatives.“We are mobilised to make sure that EU’s cities and citizens start seeing concrete improvement soon after the Pact is signed,“ highlighted rapporteur Hella Dunger-Löper (DE/PES), Berlin’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, arguing that: „the agenda needs to be integrated with the Commission’s better regulation initiative. To that effect we call on the Commission to present a White Paper. The influx of refugees and the corresponding need for integration is one more proof that the moment of truth for a binding process of implementing the Urban Agenda has come.“

    The inclusion of migrants will be the focus of one the four pilot partnerships launched by the Pact of Amsterdam, alongside air quality, housing and urban poverty. The aim is to develop and implement three-year action plans in the framework of 12 thematic partnerships covering the main urban challenges.

    The CoR will organise on 30 May in Amsterdam a high-level forum bringing together local EU institutions and regional leaders from all across Europe to set out a roadmap to deliver EUA’s goals. The event is meant to support member states in delivering on their promises as well as to ensure that regional and local authorities take an active part in the process.

  3. Vice-President Ansip and Commissioner Oettinger officially launch €131 million programme to modernise public administrations

    Today Vice-President Ansip and Commissioner Oettinger are at the conference ‚From ISA to ISA² — new challenges and opportunities’ in Brussels. They will officially launch the new ISA² programme – Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations – which was adopted by the EU at the end of last year. For the period 2016-2020, the ISA² programme will invest €131 million to help EU public administrations to provide digital services across borders. The ISA² programmebuilds on the success of its predecessor ISA which has supported the development of more than 20 e-government solutions used across the EU (e.g. tools to manage procurements online, create and analyse online surveys, and more). By using ISA² solutions, administrations at all levels (European, national, regional and local), citizens and businesses will save time and money, and they will contribute to the creation of a Digital Single Market. Today’s conference also features Members of the European Parliament Carlos Zorrinho and Michal Boni as well as speakers of ten EU Member States who will share best practices to modernise public administrations. In total, participants from 35 countries are expected.

  4. EIP-SCC: EIP-SCC General Assembly in Eindhoven Launches Draft Agenda

    The 2016 General Assembly of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Smart Cities and Communities will take place on 24 May 2016 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.The General Assembly is jointly organised by the European Commission Directorates-General for Mobility and Transport, Energy and Communications Networks, Content & Technology. It is an official associated event of the Dutch Presidency of the European Council of the European Union.In its third edition, this event is the place to be for learning about key policy and market trends for smart cities and communities and creating new contacts and networks. Over 400 participants are expected.
    The Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc and the Dutch Minister for Infrastructure and the Environment Melanie Schultz von Haegen will open the Assembly.In high-level plenary and interactive break-out sessions, participants will discuss how to grow smart cities and scale up smart city innovations in Europe (and beyond). Finance and investments are the core focus of this General Assembly. Participating at this event gives you the chance to learn more about and join the different EIP roll-out initiatives that create critical mass in key smart city areas such as smart mobility, energy, lighting or urban platforms. This will be a day full of hands-on discussions and we are looking forward to welcoming you.The Klokgebouw building as the venue of this General Assembly will provide a unique atmosphere for these discussions.

  5. Citizen Focus Organizes Webinar on Inclusive Smart Cities
    The EIP-SCC Citizen Focus Action Cluster is organizing a webinar on the engagement of citizens through co-creation and co-design tools. The webinar will take place on March 18th from 13:00 to 14:00.Pursuing sustainable and citizen centric smart cities means not only starting from citizens’ needs but also leveraging on socially driven innovations where citizens act as creators and drivers of socio-technical change. This is why co-design and co-creation are receiving increased attention in the debate on urban innovation and smart cities. From being ‘objects’ whose needs are analysed and detected to meet their demands, citizens become active subjects of smart civic movements and constitute the backbone of smart cities. From an industry perspective these developments can lead to greater interaction with customers and their expectations in order to design more meaningful and marketable user experiences. City administrations rely on innovative e-government platforms to grasp citizens’ demands and rejuvenate dialogue and participation.The Citizen Focus Action Cluster is focusing one of its streams of activities on reviewing and analysing methods and good practices for making smart cities human-centric, meeting citizens’ needs and leveraging citizen-led innovations: Initiative#1 investigates co-design and co-creation as tools for enhancing social inclusion and participation. Through this webinar it aims at sharing the most recent developments in this field from a multi-stakeholder perspective, highlighting current research and best practice on these topics.
    Citizen Focus Action Cluster will chair and open the webinar leading the discussion through the interventions of speakers such as Mercè Graell, from Design IT and Frank Kresin, from Waag. Anne Deltour, from DG Connect will give the conclusions.

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