In 2022, the Smart Country Convention has once again proved to be a true highlight when it comes to e-Government and Smart City matters.After two digital years, visitors were once again able to obtain information and network in person at Germany’s leading trade fair in the field from 18 to 20 October.

Since 2018, Smart City Berlin has been an established partner of the Smart Country Convention (SCCON).This year, the conference took place as an in-person event once again; around 12,000 visitors, over 250 partners and more than 400 speakers came together at the exhibition space in Berlin, which spread over roughly 13,000 square metres on the exhibition grounds beneath the Funkturm. The trade fair was supplemented by two digital conferences on energy and mobility as well as a multitude of workshops and other formats that foster exchange. Austria presented its own experiences in core matters as the partner country of the fifth edition of SCCON.

The Berlin highlights of the 2022 Smart Country Convention
 

Smart City Berlin introduces itself

For the first time, Smart City Berlin presented the variety of actors within the Smart City Berlin model project. The capital is one of the cities that won the second round of the nationwide Smart City Model Projects (German only) programme funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community. Under the aegis of the Berlin Senate Chancellery and in cooperation with CityLAB Berlin and the Smart City Unit of Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie, institutional actors from administration and the districts are cooperating with partners in business, science and other institutions to implement the Berlin model project.

The Governing Mayor gets the inside scoop

One very special highlight was the visit from Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey and Chief Digital Officer Dr Ralf Kleindieck, who dropped by the Berlin stand on the second day of the trade fair to get an update on the current development status of the “Going Digital Together: Berlin” (“Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin”) strategy and chat with members of the Smart City Berlin network.

The programme at the stand

The Berlin stand offered a varied and interesting programme on all three days of the trade fair. Around 40 of Berlin’s Smart City actors presented their innovations and projects, among them Tegel Projekt, which presented the FUTR HUB (German only), and Engie Deutschland and Gasag, which presented the model quarter planned for Berlin-Spandau called “The new Gartenfeld Island” (“Das Neue Gartenfeld”). Pitches for innovative GovTech and Smart City projects were made over the course of the three days, providing experts and other interested parties with comprehensive information on Berlin solutions and use cases, and an excellent opportunity to talk to and network with the speakers. 

The much-anticipated presentation on the new Going Digital Together: Berlin (German only) strategy held by the Senate Chancellery drew a lot of attention. The strategy acts as the new reconstruction programme that will guide the way towards a smart Berlin. In keeping with the manifesto “Transformation with the Entire City” (“Transformation mit der ganzen Stadt”), the strategy will be in line with the needs of all Berlin citizens and support the technical goals of all departments; in this context, the word smart describes how we can achieve existing urban goals. With the new strategy, the Berlin Senate creates an instrument that both sets the course and functions as a tool.

The Going Digital Together: Berlin strategy contains measures and a concept for implementation; five pilot projects which have already been financed through the Smart Cities Model Projects federal funding programme are currently being realised, as are key infrastructure measures that are essential to enable interaction within administration and with urban society.

Fresh ideas at the SCCON 2022 Startup Awards
 

It has become a tradition: every year SCCON honours two start-ups with an award for solutions in the public sector: in the category #GovTech and in the category #SmartCity. The Smart Country Startup Award is hosted by Get Started, the start-up initiative of digital association Bitkom. Smart City Berlin supports both awards through the cooperation of Berlin’s Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Dr Ralf Kleindiek, and the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. The latter was represented by the managing director of Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie, Dr Stefan Franzke.

The Startup Country Award in the category #GovTech

This year, the award in this category went to VoteBase (German only), a start-up based in Bergisch-Gladbach. The company has developed a voting app which aims to digitise and simplify the voting process. Blockchain technology ensures anonymity and makes the voting process more transparent for voters. CDO Dr Ralf Kleindiek was the member of the jury for Smart City Berlin.


The Startup Country Award in the category #SmartCity

In the second category, the PipePredict pitch convinced the jury: the Darmstadt-based start-up emerged as the winner among the three finalists. The company offers an application for monitoring piping networks in real time that both recognises leaks and predicts possible bursts. The #SmartCity category is sponsored by Smart City Berlin, represented by Dr Stefan Franzke, Managing Director of Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technology.

Smart Country Startup Award:#SCCON22 Day 2 | Smart Country Startup Award - YouTube (German only)

Get Started by Bitkom (73) Post | Feed | LinkedIn (German only)

SCCON 2022 – In video and audio

If you were unable to go to this year’s Smart Country Convention or didn’t catch all the sessions live due to the multitude of information offers, we’ve got good news for you. The SCCON website has the highlights of the trade fair for you to watch and listen to.

For more information, go to Smart Country Convention - Impressions