Innovation in information technology and communication is a key element in the transformation of cities. From a technological perspective, there must be a specific degree of standardisation in urban ICT networks. These standards should be equally open to municipal administrations, businesses and citizens and allow innovative solutions to be built from the bottom up.
The ESPRESSO project is a project funded by the Horizon 2020 program and has 16 partners from eight different European countries. The ESPRESSO consortium mainly includes partners such as cities, public administration, European standards organisations (ESOs), national standards bodies (ONNs), standards development organisations (SDOs), industry and research centres.
Among the main objectives are:
– Develop a smart city conceptual information framework.
– Develop a conceptual Smart Citizen Information Framework that is structured around CityGML.
– Analyse current standards to identify strengths and weaknesses in regulatory bodies on the development of smart cities.
– Create a channel of communication between all participants in the initiatives and activities of a smart city.
– The inclusion of research projects for the development of smart city and global architectures.
– Create a business framework for the development of a strategic growth map.
– Analyse economic and financial models that can be applied to various services.
– Disseminate and raise awareness about the results of the project.
Ready for smart? Find out with the new version of the @ESPRESSO_Prjct – Strategic Growth Map https://t.co/ok55zJUQir #SmartCity pic.twitter.com/K0dAe6dqHZ — ESPRESSO-Project (@ESPRESSO_Prjct) November 7, 2016
The main objective of the ESPRESSO project is to ensure the interoperability of smart city solutions. This will help cities overcome barriers to entry or vendor blocking through the promotion of common metadata structures and interoperable (open) interfaces rather than proprietary ones. Vendors must understand that they are never going to own a city, so it is vital for them to create systems that are 100% interoperable with other vendor systems, this means changing the habits of a lifetime for vendors, but it is one which most are now starting to realise.
To achieve this goal, ESPRESSO will create a smart city conceptual information framework based on open standards. For this framework, it is necessary to develop a shared smart city vocabulary, define the reference architecture and the information indicators of the city.
To identify the key requirements for further future standardisation activities, ESPRESSO uses a case study approach. The results will be used in a SWOT analysis of the standards in smart cities. This analysis will include existing and current standards to improve currently used standards and develop more reliable standards for the future.
Most known smart cities have concepts that focus on optimisation and efficiency, organised from the top down and consider the urban area simply as a machine, which is controllable and adjustable with technology. The respective standardisation approaches should be considered and will form part of ESPRESSO’s work.
In order to ensure social acceptance of the solutions developed, ESPRESSO establishes a network of communication with stakeholders that ensures an initial dialogue between standardisation organisations, technology providers and technology consumers to avoid a mismatch between the design of technological solutions and the needs of cities and citizens.
In addition, ESPRESSO will develop publications for cities to help identify and evaluate the long-term strategic considerations of the adoption of standards for their future smart city developments. These publications will be offered on the project website and through social networks to raise awareness of smart city standards.
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