The first Smart Cities Marketplace Matchmaking of 2021, in which experts from Action Clusters and Initiatives played a central role, was successfully completed with more than 200 participants, 86 bilateral meetings and pitches on inspiring project ideas from the Action Clusters.

The Covenant of Mayors and the Smart Cities Marketplace share common objectives to advise and support cities on access to financing sustainable solutions for climate and energy actions. As a follow up of the joint webinar organised in January 2021, Covenant signatories had the opportunity to attend a 2-day tailored training programme to help them shape their smart city projects.

The Smart Cities Marketplace takes to the airwaves and is currently producing a number of podcasts. So, if you are interested in Smart Cities Investment, find out more about our Action Clusters & Initiatives and if you are all about EU Policies. Stay tuned to our @EUSmartCities twitter channel, where we will announce each of the podcasts as soon as they are ready for you.

The Smart Cities Marketplace team would love to get your feedback on our website. Therefore, we have created a VERY short survey to take in your views – these will guide further development of the platform.

The SPECTRE research project investigates data governance challenges in smart cities through the lenses of law, communication science and economics as part of a four-year project. The interdisciplinary nature of the project offers the possibility to develop legally sound, sustainable, and realistic guidelines with respect to data governance in the context of the smart city.

Acknowledging the importance of interoperability for the well-being of the inhabitants and entities of European cities, Deloitte and KU Leuven University have developed a proposal for the European Interoperability Framework for Smart Cities / Communities (EIF4SCC). Have your say and take part in the survey!

A new series of fact sheets set out the key takeaways from six concluded CIVITAS research projects: Cities-4-People, METAMORPHOSIS, Mobility Urban Values (MUV), PROSPERITY, SUITS, and SUMPs-Up. These formed two clusters: the first clusters looked at neighbourhood mobility planning, whilst the second worked on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs).

Bringing forward key comments and recommendations for developing the new European Research Area (ERA), EERA submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s Roadmap for the Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe. Implemented within the framework of the new European Research Area (ERA), the Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe sets out commonly agreed values and principles, aiming at encouraging EU countries to reaffirm their commitment and to integrate them into national R&I policies.