Athens Digital Lab presents new smart city solutions

The Athens Digital Lab (ADL), the first municipal incubator of its kind in Greece and a joint philanthropic venture between the City of Athens, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), leading technology companies Cosmote and Nokia, and the Athens Partnership, presented its first results last night. ADL’s first round was completed with four new tech apps developed, focusing on smart city solutions for the management of waste, public spaces and green spaces, as well as a marketplace for big data. Three out of four ADL teams presented their apps last night to the tech community, in the presence of Athens Mayor Georgios Kaminis.

Recytrust designed and developed a smart recycling bin, which uses sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to provide real-time data about recycling performance. It is the first solution of its kind globally that can monitor individual recycling performance through personalized swipe cards, measuring it to an accuracy of 10grams. These innovative bins are being placed in 20 spots, including City Hall and 10 primary schools, and introduce a gamification element to recycling.

Inagros developed a smart system for green spaces management, centered around a project management platform connected with sensors installed in parks, gardens and other green areas of the city.T hese sensors enable city management officers to monitor and control water and fertilizer levels, and predict plant health. Fifteen sensor nodes have already been placed and tested in the National Garden of Athens.

Smart City Spaces presented their crowd-based platform and application that allows the Municipal Police to effectively monitor public space use. Through open WiFi networks, using data from smartphones that connect to these networks, public spaces and pedestrian foot traffic can be monitored throughout the city. This data can be used by the City for policy-making decisions, to identify popular areas and to monitor public safety.

In the discussion that followed the presentations, it emerged that the success of this innovative venture is based on the rediscovery of traditional values. Mayor Kaminis noted how Athens is perhaps not yet a smart city, but a ‘wise’ city: a city that is learning to cooperate and make the best use of its resources, including from the private sector and municipal staff. “Cooperation is the key - it’s a simple idea, but also very impactful. In Greece, we have not learned to join forces towards common goals – ventures such as ADL are showing us this approach can really work.”

Aristi Stathakopoulou, Program Officer at the SNF, noted that the Foundation made a conscious decision to support ADL as a long-term effort that can build up the capabilities of young entrepreneurs. Asked why a tech giant such as Nokia invested its resources in a small venture such as the ADL, CEO of Nokia Greece Sakis Exarchos said technological breakthroughs are based on vibrant tech ecosystems, and this is exactly what ADL is cultivating in Greece. Grigoris Christopopoulos, OTE Group Chief Commercial Officer Business Segment, noted that he is ‘extremely proud’ of the teams’ achievements, adding that such ventures are crucial to support Greece’s effort to make it to the forefront of innovation globally. Alexandros Kambouroglou, Executive Director of the Athens Partnership, noted that this public-partnership has been approached by all involved with a truly open spirit of experimentation and particularly noted the zeal of public servants involved in agencies cooperating with ADL teams for the apps’ development.

ADL teams all stressed how their experience in the incubator provided them with valuable support and guidance. Inagros’ solution, conceived for the agricultural sector, was transferred to green spaces management through the guidance of ADL. Recytrust, for their part, noted the importance of having access to the latest tech platforms provided by the ADL partners. Teams also noted that the Athens Digital Lab opened up new markets to them, since they had not conceived that their work could be aimed at solutions for the public sphere.

The Athens Digital Lab’s second call for submissions is currently open, and up to 10 teams will be hosted in ADL in the following months, with a chance to develop their innovative solutions in the areas of Municipal Cleaning services, Mobility Data, Education Infrastructure, Crisis Management and Tourism.

Athens Digital Lab: Supporting young entrepreneurs and embracing new technologies in the City

It’s been a year since the launch of the Athens Digital Lab (ADL) and our teams have been building a portfolio of stories to tell and impressive futuristic gear to display! Tales of smart recycling bins that reward you and systems that can predict the health of all the plants in the city’s parks are now a reality…

The Athens Digital Lab teams, with San Fransisco-based tech coach, Christos Kritikos.

Let me start with a recap: ADL was created by the Athens Partnership and the Municipality of Athens, with an exclusive grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the support of two major tech companies, Cosmote and Nokia. Six startups were selected out of more than 110 applications, following ADL’s 1st open call in November 2017. The teams’ goal was to develop their ideas for city solutions into real technological applications and to do this they were provided with technical equipment, mentoring and access to real data sets from the City of Athens.

Recystrust has developed a smart recycling bin that is already being tested in City Hall and public schools.

After 6 months of work, guidance and evaluation, four of them are now testing their products in real time in field trials across Athens. One of the teams, Recytrust, has designed and developed a smart recycling bin, which uses sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to provide real-time data about recycling performance. Individual users’ waste behavior is monitored through personalized swipe cards. These innovative bins have been placed in 20 spots, including City Hall, as well as 10 primary schools, and aim to educate and gamify recycling for Athenians.

Inagros is testing its green spaces management system in the National Garden.

Another great example is Inagros, which has developed a green management smart system, at the heart of which is a project management platform that is connected with the sensors that are installed in parks, gardens and green areas of the city. Through these sensors, city management officers will be able to monitor and control water and fertilizer levels, and predict plant health. Fifteen sensor nodes have already been placed and tested in the National Garden of Athens.

In order to exploit the transformative opportunities from collecting and analyzing a massive amount of information by IoT devices, Thing of Me designed and developed a big data marketplace. Their pilot testing started and new types of data are constantly being uploaded.

The fourth ADL team, Smart City Spaces, has developed a crowd-based platform and an application that lets the Municipal Police monitor public space use. Through open WiFi networks, by using data from smartphones that connect to these networks, public spaces and pedestrian foot traffic can be monitored throughout the city. This data can be used by the City for policy-making decisions, to identify popular areas and to monitor public safety. Also, Smart City Spaces has developed a “digital” ID for all businesses, enabling the city to monitor cafes and bars that use public space.

As the teams’ work progresses, the Athens Digital Lab is increasingly able to attract the best of the Greek startup ecosystem - entrepreneurs, business experts and researchers to share ideas and expertise. In early September, ADL welcomed Christos Kritikos, a San-Francisco-based tech entrepreneur - product-project manager and dreamer, startup coach at Emerging Humanity who has run numerous tech projects for several multinational companies, for a two-hour workshop on product management, exclusively for ADL teams. Christos also acted as a mentor, advising them on how to further develop their products.

Athens Partnership Executive Director, Alexandros Kambouroglou and ADL project manager, Antonis Papadopoulos present a workshop on how public-private partnerships can be the key to unleashing smart city potential, at the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair.

What is more, in mid-September, ADL joined the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair as part of the “Digital Greece” pavilion in mid-September, along with other Greek startups and leading innovation hubs of the ecosystem. It was a great opportunity to present ADL’s vision on what really makes a city ‘’smart’’. Alexandros Kambouroglou - Executive Director of the Athens Partnership and Antonis Papadopoulos - Project Manager of ADL, ran a workshop on how Athens is moving towards a Smart City and the pivotal role of the Athens Partnership in the digital transformation of Athens.

So, what happens next at ADL? Next month we will announce our 2nd Open Call and an event will be held at Serafio to present the results of the 4 current product/service pilots. We will march into our second year with new teams working on smart city solutions in 5 different areas, new partnerships (to be announced soon!) and a roll out of exciting events on entrepreneurship, tech and more by Greek/US/European leaders of the field.

Don’t miss a thing... Stay tuned and follow Athens Digital Lab and Athens Partnership on social media!

Young entrepreneurs present ideas to change Athens

The Athens Digital Lab (ADL) recently unveiled its work, including pilot tech apps designed to tackle urban challenges. ADL was created by the Athens Partnership with the Municipality of Athens and a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Tech companies Cosmote and Nokia also play an internal support role. This year four teams of entrepreneurs were selected (from more than 110 proposals received), following an open call for “digital ideas to change the city”. The teams have been provided financial support, technical resources and access to data to develop their products.

Young entrepreneurs present their innovative Internet of Things solutions to the tech community.

“The unique strength of the Athens Digital Lab lies in the pooling of resources between the public and private sector,” said Alexandros Kambouroglou, Executive Director of the Athens Partnership. “This unique initiative is allowing the City of Athens to embrace experimentation and innovation, and opening up more opportunities for the tech industry. And the invaluable support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation provided the ability to create an ecosystem of experimentation”.

The Athens Digital Lab is coordinated for the City of Athens by the Athens Partnership, based on an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, with the partnership of Cosmote and Nokia.

The Athens Digital Lab is part of Mayor Georgios Kaminis’ 2018 Digital Roadmap, a strategic plan to enhance public services through digital technologies, improve technological infrastructure, and promote digital access for Athens residents. ADL also supports youth entrepreneurship in Greece and encourages Greek technology to be exported internationally.

The teams and tech pilots presented were:

RecyTrust - Smart recycling bins and behavioral change platform.

Less than 19 percent of waste in Greece is recycled. RecyTrust is determined to change this by designing smart recycling bins and changing wasteful trash management behaviors. The RecyTrust recycling bins use IoT technology to provide real time data about the capacity of the bins and their recycling performance. These bins “gamify” waste management, by rewarding people points each time they use the bins and recycle correctly.

Recytrust present their app at the Athens Digital Lab open house.

Inagros - A smart green management system.

The City of Athens manages a large number of parks and green public spaces that are enjoyed by its residents. However, with limited resources, it is difficult for the City to know which green spaces are in need of care and maintenance. Inagros developed a node of sensors, "Inagros Urban" that the City will use to monitor and control water and fertilizer levels, and predict plant health across the city's parks.

The National Garden in central Athens is one of the public parks that can benefit from improved management through the “Inagros Urban” platform.

Smart City Spaces - A public space management tool.

Athens is known for its café culture, which often spills out onto its streets. But the use of public space by restaurants and bars is a challenge for the city to monitor. Smart City Spaces therefore designed a web dashboard that monitors public spaces and pedestrian foot traffic throughout the city. Smart City Spaces creates digital "beacons”, which act as digital ID’s for stores and contain their licensing information.

Thing of Me - A marketplace for data.

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and technology provides new and transformative opportunities to collect and analyze data. The Thing of Me platform establishes a marketplace to exchange this data.

Young tech teams present their pilot to executives from Bloomberg Associates, an international philanthropic consultancy who advise the City of Athens.

Athens Digital Lab: An innovative venture that changes Athens and supports youth entrepreneurship

An initiative of the Athens Partnership, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), COSMOTE and Nokia, with an exclusive grant by the SNF.

The creation of the Athens Digital Lab, an innovative venture that aims to change Athens though revolutionary digital solutions, was announced today. Funded by an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the Athens Digital Lab brings together the City of Athens with COSMOTE, Nokia and SNF, in a groundbreaking venture coordinated by the Athens Partnership. This unique smart city research and development laboratory will support innovative solutions that will improve the quality of life of Athens’ residents and visitors.

The Athens Digital Lab competition is calling for digital ideas with the potential to change the city and invites individuals, groups and new technology enthusiasts to submit proposals that can evolve into advanced Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for smart cities. Proposals are requested to cover the following themes: cleaning, parking, green spaces, public spaces, vehicle fleet, open theme.

Five teams will be selected and will have the opportunity to work for a six-month period in a specially designed, modern and fully equipped lab, which will be provided by the municipality of Athens, having at their disposal all the technical and financial resources required for the implementation of their proposal. In addition, teams will receive:
• Technical support and guidance from executives of the municipality of Athens, COSMOTE and Nokia
• Access to the Nokia IMPACT IoT platform, a secure, standards-based, IoT platform on which to build and scale new IoT services
• Advanced network infrastructure by COSMOTE.

During implementation, teams will be able to perform field trials and will have access to the relevant data of the city for testing the solutions. The solutions that will be developed can be implemented in the municipality of Athens for two years while at the same time gaining access to sales channels in Greece and abroad, with the support of COSMOTE and Nokia.

Proposals submissions begins on October 17 and will end on Sunday, November 19, 2017. Submissions are made exclusively at www.athensdigitallab.gr.

The Mayor of Athens, Mr. George Kaminis, said: "With the Athens Digital Lab, Athens gets its own research and development laboratory for advanced Smart City solutions and the digital strategy of the municipality of Athens enters the implementation phase. We aim for technological solutions that will optimize everyday life for the citizens of Athens in the best possible way. We give young people - engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs the chance to become part of this development. We thank the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for its continuous support and trust, as well as Athens Partnership, COSMOTE and Nokia, who support the present and the future of Athens".