I4Trust selects a consortium for the development of a smart city platform

An 8-party international consortium is developing an open platform to help cities and providers develop smart city solutions. The SLAM project was selected by I4Trust as a showcase for efficient and reliable data sharing. It gives cities control over IoT solutions in public space, opens up new opportunities for businesses, and creates more livable, sustainable and inclusive cities for everyone.

There are many promises about the opportunities that data offers for cities. Data from IoT assets in public space can make processes more efficient, improve services and contribute to liveable, sustainable and inclusive cities. Many solutions are already available. At the same time, the technological possibilities raise questions of justification. For example on data ownership, confidentiality, ethics and security. Breaking the deadlock requires an open and transparent approach.

A consortium of 8 companies has partnered with the I4Trust program to solve this problem and build the “Smart Lamppost Asset Marketplace (SLAM)”. The goal is to develop an integrated and open platform that provides an overview of all service processes, enables secure sharing of data and provides a catalog of solutions. It is based on the standards of FIWARE, TM Forum and iSHARE and enables every IoT provider and government agency to exploit the full potential of smart city solutions.

Smart street lights are interesting in many ways and have for years sketched out a promising prospect as a multifunctional device that combines sensors, cameras, electric vehicle charging and more. There are approximately 3.5 million streetlights in the Netherlands. More efficient use of existing infrastructure, connectivity and electricity ensures a win-win situation. The reality is that there are organizational and financial barriers and legitimate concerns about privacy, ethics, ownership, standards and interdependencies.

SLAM provides information to cities and businesses. Cities know exactly what is being implemented and which streetlight is being used by whom. Companies get an overview of what is allowed where and what criteria and conditions apply. Such as privacy impact assessments, registration in a sensor registry, mandatory certifications, compliance with (space) legislation and the use of open APIs, standards and data models to data sharing. Creating an open and transparent ecosystem helps engage citizens, enables new business models, and addresses legitimate concerns of government agencies.

SLAM consortium partners cover the entire value chain. WeCity develops the integrated catalog, marketplace and service portal, using Sensative and Civity for its data sharing infrastructure based on FIWARE and compliant with iSHARE and HubLogiq for their IoT knowledge. Sensoterra, Teneo and Mobility Sensing will provide sensors to SLAM to test data and service management processes. Argaleo will integrate the 3D model of the smart streetlights and display the relevant data in a digital twin. With the help of Startup Utrecht, the community is used to develop the ecosystem.

With SLAM, we connect the dots: more relevant data, better data exchange between stakeholders, more adapted and innovative solutions and easy scaling to other public space assets. Most importantly, we are building an open and trusted ecosystem that benefits vendors and government agencies.