What are the priorities for Brussels Smart City in 2017?

A series of concrete projects, to be started or continued, are on Brussels Smart City’s schedule for 2017. At the same time, a Smart City Program Office will have the role of overseeing smart city initiatives across the Region.

Brussels Smart City’s projects in 2017

The smart city projects in the Brussels Region cover nine main themes:

• connectivity:
  • pilot project involving sensors in a pooled infrastructure and publication of data on the portal opendatastore.brussels;
  • development of the site devoted to the wifi.brussels free regional network in the form of a portal with a home page of geolocated information;

• human capital:
  • call for projects for Brussels to become a living lab, in particular with regard to increasing awareness among children and digital literacy;
• Internet use:
  • launch of action to increase awareness of on-line harassment with partners
  • investment in support for teachers
  • Digital Public Spaces proposal targeting the people of Brussels
• integration of digital technology:
  • fluidisation of data management via the identification of authentic sources, the regional open data strategy and the future Urban Platform;
• digital administration
  • pilot project at the Brussels regional public service (FR/NL);
• transversality:
  • implementation of a consultation model between Innoviris, impulse and the BRIC via the digital.brussels digital strategy;
• digital inclusion:
  • support and development of Digital Public Spaces towards version 2.0;
  • proposal for new types of training within the Digital Public Spaces;
  • linking Digital Public Spaces with the regional fablab policy;
• European dimension:
  • monitoring and participation in European projects such as bIoTope (Horizon 2020 project on the Internet of Things);
  • participation in European networks such as Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC) and European Innovation Partnership group on Smart Cities (EIP) 

Creation of a Smart City Program Office

The proposed Smart City Program Office will provide the necessary cohesion and coordination of the various smart city initiatives in the Brussels Region. The  Brussels Region’s Informatics Centre (CIRB) will be responsible for setting it up with the Secretary of State in charge of the digital transition.
The Smart City Program Office will undertake the following tasks:

• identification of internal and external stakeholders:
  • public authorities: Smart Governance consultation structure (each member of the Government will have to put in place a Smart City project in one of their areas of competence over the coming year);
  • general public: via this smartcity.brussels portal
  • businesses: in consultation with the Minister responsible for the Economy and Employment and the Secretary of State responsible for Scientific Research;
  • academic world: via the Smart City chair at the VUB (Flemish university of Brussels

• definition of critical success factors;
• drafting of a general roadmap
• preparation of the architecture and technical infrastructure;
• design and implementation of a technical architecture adapted to the Region.