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The municipality of Copenhagen has faced the parking problem by collection data from 30 different sources which includes parking and traffic situations, incidents, events, excavation work, etc. Those historical data and real time data are merged, and through algorithms and technological equipment it is now possible to predict where to find an empty parking spot.

During the summer of 2017 the concept was tested, and it has identified methods to predict parking patterns day to day. There by it gives the driver information on the probability of finding an empty parking spot.

Developers and providers of navigation systems, smartphone apps and others have been given free access to the data.

The goal of the Smart Parking Initiative is to minimize the searching time used to find an empty parking spot which will reduce emissions. It will also be a step towards becoming a CO₂ neutral city. But there is a demand for help to convert the data into new services, such as:

• Upgrading existing navigation platforms with information on nearest parking spot and the parking prices.
• Provide with an overview of near public parking spots.
• Guide drivers to a parking spot near certain locations like restaurants, shops etc.

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In the Silicon Valley of the Nordics, Kista, there was a summer camp this summer. The camp is not about football or sailing. No, here young people could learn how to create prototypes with digital technology.

The camp is organized by Inicio, an organization that wants to give young people an understanding of digitalization and future studies or career choices. Inspiration in collaboration with technology is their main interest.

The participants were 12-13 years old and came from different schools around Stockholm and were taught by students and exchange students. The mentorship is not just about sharing technical skills, but also about values regarding technology and social sustainability. Should we, for example, collect all the data we can?

The lab was managed by professor Mark Smith who wants the students to test their theory knowledge directly. His passion for digitalization creates an understanding for how it can simplify everyday life. The smart city requires smart citizens.

11 days the camp lasted. It ended with a presentation from each student with physical elements where everything needed was printed by a 3D printer.

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Jätkäsaari is a testing ground for new mobility solutions and a showcase for smart transport to the rest of the world. In the summer and autumn, Jätkäsaari is being used to test four new mobility services and solutions in a real urban environment and with real users.

Uber for Boats, smart parking for shared-use cars, bicycle tours with audio navigation, and travel via water bus are being testet in Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari. The Jätkäsaari Smart Mobility Lab coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki brings together residents, companies and universities to develop new mobility technologies and solutions. As a result, Jätkäsaari has come to be characterised by the agile piloting and co-creation of new solutions.

“Jätkäsaari is a seaside city district being built right next to the inner city, and is also home to the busiest passenger harbour in Europe. It is an excellent place for testing new mobility services that offer concrete solutions to real transport challenges and development needs,” says Project Manager Janne Rinne from Forum Virium Helsinki.

The agile pilots conducted in the summer and autumn are part of the Last Mile project.

A project in Stockholm may result in better night sleeps without being woken up by health care staff. Also the project may reduce the number of urine leaks by half. It is one of the very first tests of smart incontinence protection  for elderly citizens. The test was a part of Stockholm’s Smart City project that digitalizes and evaluates services at an early stage, and then scale those up who create citizenship benefits. The smart incontinence project is still under development.

The smart incontinence protection contains censors that track fluid. Then the incontinence guard has a removable Bluetooth transmitter which sends the information collected by the censors to a smartphone app used by healthcare professionals.

The advantage of this type of incontinence protection is that it will be easier for the staff to change the protection by the help of the app, before the user knows their degree of fluid. Another advantage is that the staff do not have to disturb the sleep of the user to check whether the incontinence guard need to be replaced.

The incontinence protection was tested on a total of 10 users with the following results:

• Incontinence shields were more likely to be dry when replaced (95 % for smart incontinence protection, compared to 75 % for standard protection)
• The number of leaks was halved.
• Users received an average of more than two nights extra more per week without change and interruption, giving at least six hours uninterrupted sleep.
• The smart incontinence protection requires significant change in staff work routines.

The final report recommends proceeding and carry out a larger evaluation of smart incontinence protection on a larger scale.

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In Kulturhuset in Stockholm is the Stockholm Room. In the room the story shown is about the growing city, Stockholm’s future and how to get there. Visitors can get an exclusive view of new residential districts, even though they are not finished yet, or not even started through 3D tables and VR headsets. By entering the virtual streets, the visitors will feel how it will look like when it is established.

Also, the exhibition shows the extension of the metro displayed through a map with the extended lines. It offers experiences for the hearing sense too by listening to Stockholm’s own podcast “Stockholm Växer” from a comfortable armchair. Physically a large model of the city of Stockholm is covered by a glass floor that you are welcome to walk on. The large model of the city is the heart of the Stockholm Room. On it you can see both current and planned developments. All houses on the model that are in color exist today and all the houses that are white are planned. The houses are 3D printed and hand-painted.

The 3D tables hold 3D maps of the entire city of Stockholm. The visitor can either fly high above the city or zoom all the way down to street level. Information about urban development projects and infrastructure is available on the map. 3D models of large projects are shown too.

The visitor can learn more about what it takes to build a city in the different exhibitions about urban development. The hosts will tell about the general City Plan, about the city planning process and about some of the current large-scale urban development sites.

Learn more and visit Stockholmsrummet.

Photo: Fredrik Persson