BLOG: 8 Inspiring Examples of the Dutch Smart Cities Ecosystem

The Netherlands has a lot of exciting partnerships when it comes to Smart Cities. Along with several Flemish cities, facilitators like Digitaal Vlaanderen and Microsoft, and players like the award-winning Urban Sense platform, Sirus, Cegeka, and CityMesh, CrowdScan is part of a powerful network.

At the Smart City Expo in Barcelona, parties from both the Flemish and Dutch ecosystems gathered. The city of Gaudí and FC Barcelona proved to be the ideal location to explore synergies, similarities, and collaborations with our northern neighbors.

The meet-up led to fruitful follow-up conversations, during which we took notes on a number of interesting Dutch initiatives that we had learned about in recent weeks:

A smart city, that's how you do it

As many as 63 partners from the private and public sectors signed the second phase of the ‘City Deal, Een slimme stad, zo doe je dat’ in January. Collaboratively, they are developing a comprehensive set of practical tools and instruments to enhance the intelligence of cities. We consider it a significant advantage that the FutureCity Foundation is leading this initiative.

Safe coalition

Thanks to the innovative leaders within the Dutch Police, we had the opportunity to present our case on the Antwerp Meir to the Impact Safety & Security Coalitie. This coalition enables municipalities and police to share knowledge and learn from each other about intelligent solutions for creating safe public spaces. Our COO Anton Dierickx, who was previously a police commissioner, is particularly passionate about this organization.

Cool digital twins

At CrowdScan, we are passionate about intelligent visualization tools, and that is precisely what Argaleo's Crowd Safety Manager offers. They transform data, such as crowd insights, into smart online 3D Digital Twins.

Living labs

We love innovation! In the research center 'Mobility Innovation Centre Delft' they have set up a living lab to test and compare various sensor and data technologies. This facility has given rise to fascinating research projects. To these clever researchers, you no longer need to explain the mathematics behind crowds.

One-stop shop

WECity offers a one-stop shop for smart cities, eliminating the need for end customers to scout the entire internet in search of a solution to a particular smart city problem. An essential and intriguing aspect of their service is their sensor register, which showcases different sensor products and their respective strengths and weaknesses.

Trusted and cost-effective data sharing

Fragmentation is something that nobody likes. Single solutions are abundant, but they often remain confined to a single domain or location or are tied to a specific vendor. At KPN, they firmly believe that the real power of a data-driven smart city lies in data integration. Their Data Services Hub provides the infrastructure needed for data integration within an ecosystem, while also ensuring data sovereignty and ownership are properly managed.

Safe events

Perhaps more likely to be linked to smart and especially safe events is the ESI training institute. They provide training around crowd management, security and safety management and in 2016 developed their own risk analysis tool RISKOM. On Thursday, March 9 '23, they will host their annual conference. CrowdScan will also be conducting a workshop.

We love privacy!

CrowdScan offers a completely privacy-friendly solution. That is why we like the tool 'Assessment framework sensor data and privacy'. Especially useful for anyone dealing with the set-up of sensors and the data collected in public spaces.

Perhaps we have overlooked several initiatives? If so, it's time we got acquainted.