Smart City Update from Tampere: Improving health care and heightening public safety

Tampere is taking action to develop the smarter city and world, currently focusing on health data and how this can be used to improve health care, as well as collecting data on people and traffic flows in public space in order to heighten safety and security.

Health data supporting preventive health care

When it comes to the health sector, the Tampere region is known for its expertise in certain specialised areas like tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, stem cell research, and vaccine research. 

As one of the cities running one of the Nordic Smart City Network projects in the Nordic Healthy Cities programme, Tampere is currently working on health data and how to improve public services in preventive health care. 

In Tampere, the project foundation Kotidigi has already been established with the intention of collecting data from health technologies in elderly homes. The target is to improve the care decisions with acute responses to help the care giver make immediate actions when needed. With the funding support from Nordic Innovation, Tampere is now creating a test to align data from Kotidigi with other health data systems available in hospital or care facilities that match the same data standards. In doing so Tampere is aiming at creating and contributing to a wider data system which supports researchers and innovators in helping elderly people with preventive approaches when it comes to health care. 

  

Increasing safety in public space

Finland and Tampere enjoy a reputation of a safe and secure location for international events. However, fast growth of the city and its event sector, and new emerging urban threats underline the importance of increasing investments in and need for innovative urban security solutions.  

In the project Smart Urban Security and Event Resilience (SURE) the development and testing of a comprehensive and smart event-related urban security solution makes the daily lives of both citizens and visitors in Tampere safer and more secure. The solution includes sensors that collects data of people and traffic flows without using biometric identification, and an AI-system which identifies disruptive behaviour and alerts a situation awareness platform. Other infrastructural elements such as city lights and guidance systems are also integrated into the solution, and simulation exercises in cooperation with authorities and event organizers are seen as an integral part of the project as well. 

With 3.2 M€ of funding by the EU’s Urban Innovative Actions initiative, the SURE project aims at increasing cross-sectoral preparedness to threats against public spaces and other urban security threats in Tampere. The latest urban security technologies will be utilized and integrated, and innovative co-creation methods, joint simulations and exercises will be applied to facilitate a smooth and seamless coordination and cooperation between urban and security authorities, first responders and event organizers.  

  

Tampere Smart City Week

If you want to learn more about the smart city and data driven development in Tampere, you are more than welcome to join Tampere Smart City Week (TSCW) on June 14th and 15th 2022. TSCW is being held as a hybrid event, so you can participate in the event either from your home sofa or on site, at the brand-new Nokia Arena!  

Tampere Smart City Week is an event for everyone interested in smart city development. The program of the week includes a wide range of interesting events and presentations aimed at both citizens, companies, experts and professionals from other cities. The events bring developers, companies and city representatives together to discuss smart city development. Covering smart city development comprehensively, the Tampere Smart City Week is centered around seven themes: smart mobility, sustainability, digital technologies, digital safety and security as well as smart data and health technologies. 

  

Read more about health data, the SURE project and Tampere Smart City Week here: