Mannheim is becoming the city of the future through digital technologies and networked data from the Internet of Things. The concrete solutions and challenges are created together with citizens, civil society actors and companies.
Smart City Mannheim strategy moves forward
Smart City Mannheim is a project for a sustainable and livable city of tomorrow. To this end, digital technologies and intelligently networked data are being used so that a high level of quality of life and space for social, ecological and economic innovations can be created. Digital solutions for various challenges are being developed in collaboration with citizens, start-ups, social stakeholders, as well as local companies.
The municipal joint venture with MVV Energie AG sMArt City Mannheim GmbH has been working for some time on developing a strategy for the smart city project in the square city. The city is receiving federal funding for the “sMArt roots” model project.
The strategy development process is to be as agile and participatory as possible. Various topics and areas of life in Mannheim are to be interlinked in Smart City Mannheim. The areas are, for example, resource efficiency, climate and mobility. The networking is to be carried out using all possible means available today through digitalization.
The strategy development for the Smart City Mannheim project ties in with the “Mannheim 2030 mission statement” and the digitization strategy for Mannheim. In 2023, the first projects for Smart City Mannheim are to be implemented. In the process, data will provide important and valuable insights for the best possible networking in the Smart City.
The specially developed data platform forms the core of the Smart City Mannheim project. The collected data from the areas of climate, mobility and consumption can provide important recommendations for action and solutions. The result is a much more resilient and livable city.
Smart City Advisory Board supports the project
The Smart City Advisory Board was established to best advance the development of the strategy and the data platform. Here, the expertise of regional companies and stakeholders can be drawn upon.
The Smart City Advisory Board consists of stakeholders from the fields of business, science and society. Its task is to critically accompany the development of the strategy and to contribute its own know-how. The advisory board meets every six months under the chairmanship of Mannheim’s First Mayor Christian Specht.
“I am pleased that Mannheim’s companies and scientific institutions are so actively involved in the process,” said Mayor and IT Department Head Specht. “We need this diversity of knowledge and backgrounds, because ultimately the smart city – that is, the digitally connected city – is the basis for a much larger, long-term goal: a future-oriented, sustainable and livable city that creates space for innovation.”
The foundations of the strategy are being developed and updated in workshops in specialist departments, municipal enterprises and companies in Mannheim. Here, the Smart City Advisory Board is also working closely with the stakeholders. Mannheim citizens, civil society groups and companies can also contribute their ideas to the strategy development using online and offline formats.
“Until the end of 2022, we will work together with all relevant stakeholders to constantly develop the Smart City strategy and continuously review its practicality. Everything is guided by the goal: Digitization should benefit people,” explains Robert Thomann, Managing Director of sMArt City Mannheim GmbH.
