09-17-2018 Jennifer Busch

• Deutsche Telekom to become board member of USC Global Industry Advisory Board
• Programme of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe & Organization for International Economic Relations (OiER)
• Joint initiatives to build a global community for cities worldwide

Markus Keller, responsible for Smart Cities at Deutsche Telekom and Kari Aina Eik, Executive Director United Smart Cities. ** Download (jpg, 2.1 MB)

United Smart Cities (USC) and Deutsche Telekom have announced a far-reaching collaboration to join forces in supporting cities to become smarter and more sustainable. The United Smart Cities program is a global initiative established and coordinated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in cooperation with the Organization for International Economic Relations (OiER). Other international organizations and cities, as well as industry and the financial sector are also participating in the program.

The newly forged partnership will address key issues cities face today by providing tangible projects and solutions in cooperation with cities across the globe. USC and Deutsche Telekom have agreed to develop activities in several stages. These will be closely aligned with the different phases of a city’s Smart City development.

Initially, the focus will be on implementing specific solutions that solve a city’s most pressing needs. These include smart street lighting, air quality monitoring or smart parking. Data from the solutions will then be combined to create aggregated smart city applications. A mayor dashboard or citizen app combines individual solutions, for example.

A city will continue to innovate and start sharing data with industry players, universities and others. USC and Deutsche Telekom will support this development by providing a data market place. It enables data sharing based on a city’s defined data access policies and allows more detailed analytics. Smart city solutions between cities across the world can now also be integrated. A global community of Smart Cities is born.

"Cities are the hubs of the future and need individual integrated solutions to solve their challenges. Our partnership with Deutsche Telekom enables the development and showcasing of these solutions," states Kari Aina Eik, Executive Director, United Smart Cities.

Focus on citizen involvement

The final and most important stage of a city’s journey through digital transformation is citizen involvement. Both partners will work to integrate direct interaction and participation of the citizens in the Smart City. Connectivity and collaboration will become the basis for broader goals like social inclusion, democracy and enterprise.

“Our cooperation with United Smart Cities will accelerate our efforts to create smart solutions for the benefit of our city partners and their citizens alike,” says Markus Keller, responsible for Smart Cities at Deutsche Telekom. “We are able to improve environmental sustainability and support the economic development of a city by digitizing public services via our ICT-based solutions. But we never lose sight of the ultimate goal, which is to increase the quality of life for citizens and visitors of any city we help become smart.”

Deutsche Telekom joins Global Industry Advisory Board

As part of the cooperation, Deutsche Telekom will also take on a board position in USC’s Global Industry Advisory Board (GIAB). The GIAB consists of 12 members who provide strategic counsel to all UN organizations on smart city issues across the globe. Deutsche Telekom will exclusively advise on ICT-based challenges and solutions. The company will also share its smart city expertise and extensive ICT know-how with stakeholders in the USC smart city ecosystem.

Future United Smart Cities Events

• UNIDO “Bridge for Cities” event in Vienna October 9th to 11th – participants from 150 cities around the world
• United Smart Cities Annual Meeting in the Smart City LAB in Vienna October 11th to 12th – including cities of the ArabTowns, EUROcities, UNIDO and UNECE network, as well as industry partners and UN representatives.