DEVELOPING IDEAS TOGETHER
Participation takes center stage in "Digital Together: Berlin". In specific terms, this means that all groups of urban society have been involved in the development of the strategy from the very outset. They contributed their wishes and ideas and, together with the political institutions, worked out a "transformation program" toward a future, smart Berlin.
The city’s citizens will be actively involved in the implementation of "Digital Together: Berlin" - in an open, learning process that will only work with everyone's participation. The result is "Digital Together: Berlin", formed from a merger of the Berlin Digital Strategy and the Berlin Smart City Strategy.
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OVERALL TRANSFORMATION
In terms of the Berlin's Smart City concept, "smart" means tackling challenges sustainably, with a focus on the common good and working collaboratively – and all the while shaping change processes in a resilient manner.
"Digital Together: Berlin" therefore defines not only WHAT is to be done, but above all HOW individual goals are to be achieved on the path to a smart Berlin. Under the motto, "Transformation with the whole city", the strategy is oriented toward the needs of Berliners and supports professional goals of all departments.
In addition to the vision of a smart Berlin and the goals necessary to achieve it, "Digital Together: Berlin" is a process that bundles diverse perspectives and forces - and with which new tools are jointly tested.
ONE STRATEGY, FOUR SPECIAL FEATURES
A city like Berlin is smart when digitization and technology generate social benefits and strengthen the democratic community.
But only if the interests of science, business, politics, administration and civil society are aligned can all citizens benefit from the advantages of digitization and new technologies.
"Digital Together: Berlin" is therefore:
1. Aligned with the needs of Berliners,
2. Not a specialist strategy, but an "enabler" that supports existing, specialist goals and strategies,
3. A learning strategy
4. A strategy that includes governance, a participatory implementation concept, measures and their success monitoring.
Five SMART CITY PILOT PROJECTS
The "Digital Together: Berlin" strategy comprises a concept and various measures as building blocks on the way to Smart City Berlin.
Among other things, five pilot projects are to be implemented by the end of 2026 that have already been financed through the federal funding program, Model Projects Smart Cities. In these, solution approaches behind the Smart City Berlin are prototypically elaborated and tested. In addition, further measures are being implemented to further improve interaction within the administration and with the urban community.
These will make the smart city visible, help people to better understand processes and realize the transformation step-by-step.
VORTEILE
THE FIVE PILOT PROJECTS AT A GLANCE
SMART SPACE HARDENBERGPLATZ
Hardenbergplatz in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is a typical railway station forecourt with a high density of uses. It is to be made smart and flexible - i.e., event-, day-, weather- and season-dependent - for all forms of mobility. This requires new forms of governance of public spaces, for example in the form of innovative, common good -oriented operating models. With the help of a digital negotiation platform, usage requirements are coordinated in order to take specific mobility needs into account and improve the quality of stay. The project focuses on four interlinked components: a Mobi Hub that is open to providers, the development of an operating model and a platform for allocating space, and the possible scaling of the use case.
DATA 6 SMART CITY GOVERNANCE USING THE EXAMPLE OF AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT
The starting point is the question of how municipalities and technology companies can collaborate in the use and processing of data for the common good and on an equal footing. The project aims to balance different interests in the collection and use of data. Technological, organizational, legal, and normative dimensions are also considered using a data-driven air quality management tool. The goal is to provide a guide for data governance in data-driven public services that can be transferred to other municipalities and projects.
CITIZEN BUDGETING AND SMART PARTICIPATION
In the context of participation processes, interests tend to be distorted by low, unrepresentative participation, whereby the aims of individual interest groups are weighted strongly. Activating, digitally supported participation methods and new forms of interaction that are designed without discrimination help to reach a diverse spectrum of people. The pilot district is Treptow-Köpenick. There, various digitally supported methods are being tested to increase participation in the "Kiezkasse" credit union, which has already existed for some time. The existing online participation platform mein.berlin.de is to be used and supplemented with additional formats.
SMART WATER - DESIGNING WATER AND URBAN GREENERY FOR THE CLIMATE
Smart Water aims to use agile stormwater management planning to enable climate-smart urban planning that specifically mitigates water pollution, heat islands, and flooding hotspots. In order to make residents aware of the potential of rainwater harvesting in terms of water conservation and cityscape, the data will be visualized. The anticipatory planning and testing of risk communication using the example of urban drainage are also intended to reduce high hazard potential due to extreme weather. For this purpose, existing and newly generated data are to be linked and visualized on an interoperable database.
KIEZBOX 2.0 - DATA IN EVERYDAY LIFE AND CRISIS
The Kiezbox 2.0 provides solar- or battery-powered hotspots for a public WiFi in the event of a crisis (e.g. power outage). Employees of emergency services or critical infrastructure companies, for example, or citizens can log in via smartphone. The goal: maintaining communication structures. Another research focus is the use of digital bulletin boards in (semi-)public places for low-data information transfer in the event of a crisis and as a communication hub for neighborhoods. As part of the regular operation of the Kiezbox 2.0, urban sensor data - temperature, air quality, noise, etc. - can be recorded and made available to the population, for example, via a LoRaWAN network.