Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform to be launched in 2012

20.01.2012 - In the first trimester of 2012, the European Commission will launch a Stakeholder Platform that will aim to put forward concrete recommendations for the Smart Cities and Communities initiative.

The Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform will invite city officials, suppliers, academics and civil society representatives to participate in the process, which includes the development of concrete recommendations to feed national and EU policy development processes, exchange of experiences and improvement of the implementation of the initiative.

The platform will be made up of four working groups, each concentrating on a series of pre-defined topics including energy efficiency, mobility, energy systems and energy production, waste and water management. In addition, two horizontal coordination groups will deal with cross-cutting themes.

The platform will essentially aim to determine how to roll out and finance state-of-the-art technology solutions, a process in which governance and societal aspects are bound to play a key role.

The community-oriented website will allow all interested parties to share solutions and challenges with their peers, a process which will also be facilitated through a series of workshops and conferences.

Visit the website to register for the platform and feed the debate through Twitter and blog posts. The e-platform will be open in March 2012 and the first annual event will take place around 4 or 5 June in Brussels.