Karlsruhe becomes a Pioneer City of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance
Karlsruhe is one of the most digital cities in Germany. Now the World Economic Forum is recognizing the commitment to a smart and networked city: Karlsruhe becomes a Pioneer City of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance.
Update: A lot has happened in Karlsruhe when it comes to the Smart City. An overview of current projects in the field of Smart City Karlsruhe can be found here. And here.
Just last year, Karlsruhe took 2nd place in the Smart City Award 2019. As part of a comprehensive analysis of 81 major German cities, the digital association Bitkom e.V. came to a clear conclusion: whether in the areas of mobility, administration, infrastructure or energy – Karlsruhe is at the forefront everywhere as a digital, networked city. Not least thanks to a large network and extensive expertise from the local digital industry. In 2020, the fan-shaped city was even awarded first place in the “Digital Administration” category.
In line with its claim to be a smart city, Karlsruhe offers its citizens a digital citizens’ office in the town hall on the market square, for example. The city’s services can be used digitally at self-service terminals in compliance with the highest data protection standards. The “digital@KA” project also aims to make everyday life easier for citizens: In the future, a multifunctional app will combine municipal and other useful services in one application. The necessary networking is provided by Stadtwerke Karlsruhe with LoRaWan and the public KA-WLAN, which can be used for encrypted surfing via KA-WLAN after a one-off registration.
An overview of the City of Karlsruhe’s current Smart City projects can be viewed here.
Karlsruhe: From Smart City to Pioneer City of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance
We live in a globalized world in which urbanization continues to advance. Sustainability and growth need to be reconciled – and smart solutions are required for this, especially in the world’s major cities. For this reason, the G20 has also taken up the cause of smart cities and founded the Global Smart Cities Alliance on Technology Governance back in 2019.
The aim of the alliance is to solve problems in the areas of energy, transportation, healthcare and education through the use of new technologies. The Global Smart Cities Alliance brings local, regional and national governments together with business enterprises and citizens to discuss international standards for the responsible use of available smart city technologies. Ethical guidelines are particularly important in this context in order to minimize the concerns of citizens with regard to the data collection necessary in a networked city:
“Global Smart Cities Alliance will advance how technology is used in public places and promote core principles including transparency, privacy and security.”
And the best way to do this is together with municipal lighthouse projects from all over the world. Karlsruhe is now the only German city to be selected as a “Pioneer City” of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance. Another 35 cities, including Barcelona, Belfast, Bilbao, Istanbul, London, Manila, Mexico City and San Jose, also received the award.
“The G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance offers a unique opportunity to jointly develop ethical standards, promote digital sovereignty and thus create and build a new, resilient “trust infrastructure for cities and citizens”. Because trust will become one of the most important and most vulnerable resources of our future.” – Frank Mentrup, Lord Mayor of Karlsruhe
Kick-off at the Smart City Expo
For the presentation of the official program of the “G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance”, those responsible have worked with the 17. to The Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), which will take place on November 18, was the perfect format. Once a year, representatives from business, local authorities and science come together to jointly develop the city of the future. Due to the current situation, the congress will not take place in Barcelona for the first time, but purely digitally.
Interested parties can take part in the online congress free of charge at smartcityexpo.com. From digitalization trends in Africa, to the importance of 5G and artificial intelligence for smart city development, to new mobility solutions in the urban environment – anyone interested in the city of the future will get their money’s worth here.