Smart city data platforms in Germany: How do we establish digitally sovereign platform infrastructures for municipalities?
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Intelligently networked cities and regions – smart cities and smart regions – have established themselves as a sustainable model for global urban and regional development in the triad of sociological, economic and ecological goals. Cities of all sizes are currently driving the emergence of new digital applications and infrastructures that will make it possible to overcome urban challenges such as the energy and transportation transition and help improve the quality of life and location.
Data platforms are the central element for the development and expansion of a municipal data infrastructure for secure, regulated data exchange and for the creation of digital ecosystems for networking different players. This development on the way to a municipal data economy is about to take a directional decision and raises questions that challenge cities, municipalities, municipal companies and industry in equal measure, as well as federal and state policy and the European framework.
Can a German or European path be taken that fulfills the target triangle of data sovereignty, data security and interoperability as the basis of a municipal digital economy? How can smart city data platforms be realized on the basis of European security and value standards? How can the opportunities of this ecosystem, which is not yet distributed to international operators, be exploited?
These and other questions will be discussed by managers and experts in two thematic blocks.
Can a German or European path be taken that fulfills the target triangle of data sovereignty, data security and interoperability as the basis of a municipal digital economy? How can smart city data platforms be realized on the basis of European security and value standards? How can the opportunities of this ecosystem, which is not yet distributed to international operators, be exploited? These and other questions were discussed by decision-makers and experts in two thematic blocks at the session “Smart City data platforms in Germany: How do we establish digitally sovereign platform infrastructures for municipalities?” as part of the Digital Summit 2019.
Dr. Holger Schmidt, Digital Economist & Speaker at TU Darmstadt, introduced the first thematic block on the question of why the digital networking of cities and regions is of such high strategic importance with a keynote statement, explaining the principles of the platform economy and the relationships between B2C and B2B platform types and smart city data platforms and highlighting current and future challenges.
He then took up these ideas together with Christian Hirte, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Valentina Kerst, State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Digital Society at the Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society and Markus Wartha, President & CEO of EDASCA SCE, where it was made clear that data platforms are of enormous importance for cities and regions and offer one of the last opportunities to ensure that Germany does not completely relinquish control over platforms. The participants made it clear that all stakeholders must work together, but that Germany’s federal structure can present many hurdles and that the federal states therefore play a major role in local implementation. It was also emphasized that the private sector has a role to play in making a new municipal digital economy work by cooperating on issues of data sovereignty, data security and interoperability and creating urban data spaces as a shared cloud solution in accordance with European security standards. The increasing dependence on a few international providers was seen as problematic, but this is directly linked to the necessary qualifications and government investment as the key to an economy that can keep pace with digital development. The opportunities presented by a European sovereign data infrastructure with regard to smart city data platforms were also discussed in this context. It became clear that harmonized platform structures can only be advantageous and are already effective thanks to the cooperation between the federal states within Germany. The discussion made it clear that smart city data platforms are not only fundamentally important for Germany in order to do justice to digitalization and the progress of society.
This input was taken up in the second thematic block by exploring the question of what needs to be considered on the way to digitally sovereign platform infrastructures and regions. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang M. Schröder from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg kicked off the discussion with an impulse in which he addressed what digital sovereignty and European value standards mean and what social discourse is needed between technology and social requirements.
He went on to explain this in the subsequent discussion together with Christiane Boschin-Heinz, Head of the Digitalization Department and CDO of the City of Paderborn, Marco Brunzel, Head of Digitalization and E-Government at Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar GmbH, Alexander Handschuh, Press Spokesperson of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities and Dr Jan Rettberg, CIIO of the City of Dortmund. The participants made it clear that current smart city projects must also address people’s expectations of digital rights and skills and that this is already being done. European security and value standards must always be specifically taken into account. In order to build sovereign platform infrastructures, cities, municipalities, federal and state governments must pay attention to interoperability and standardization as well as openness and access and always involve all relevant stakeholders. It is important that municipal data officers are established and the coordination of internal and cross-municipal data exchange and cooperation is organized, common terminologies for the urban data space are introduced, inter-municipal exchange of experience is promoted, the specific local needs and requirements of the municipalities are taken into account when setting up an urban data platform and, above all, legal and organizational clarity is created. In summary, it was made clear that although there must be a reliable framework, there must also be openness for further discussion. Everyone agreed that, in the end, it is important not to focus too much on oneself and one’s own examples, but to broaden one’s view of the international discussion and consider the aspects there. The discussion showed that many of the foundations for digitally sovereign platform infrastructures for cities and regions are already in place, but that many challenges still need to be tackled.
