The next Living-in.EU signatories’ meeting will take place in conjunction with the Covenant of Mayors on 22 April 2021 (14:00-16:00 CET) as part of the European Commission’s DigitAll Public conference on eGovernment. The topic for discussion will be the twin digital and green transition, with a particular focus on the potential of Local Digital Twins.
The event will feature high level keynote speeches and a panel discussion on the twin digital and green transition at local level with city mayors and Matthew Baldwin, European Commission, Mission Manager of the Horizon Mission on 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 and Deputy Director-General of DG MOVE.
Breakout sessions will explore how cities and communities are using local digital twins to drive efficiencies in service delivery and reduce emissions, led by practitioners from cities working on digital twins, and practitioners involved in EU-funded research projects in this area.
The DigitAll public conference is organised from 20 to 22 April 2021 by the Commission ISA² programme and the CEF Digital building Blocks.
Meeting Agenda
Welcome and Introduction, Eddy Hartog, DG CONNECT, Head of Unit, Technologies for Smart Communities
Living-in.EU and Local Digital Twins policy context including proposed actions under the Digital Europe
Speech
Mr Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General, DG MOVE and Mission Manager, Horizon Mission on Climate Neutral Smart Cities
Break-out groups: “How Local Digital Twins can contribute to the European Green Deal?”
Sessions led by cities and researchers working on Digital Twins
Panel Discussion ‘Can digital technologies help cities achieve climate neutrality?’
Moderated by Andrea Halmos, DG CONNECT
- Dr Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Member of the Committee of the Regions, former Prime Minister of Romania
- Ms Laia Bonet, Deputy Mayor of Barcelona for the 2030 Agenda, Digital Transition and International Relations
Wrap up, conclusions and next steps, by the chair
How to register
- Register for the DigitAll Public Conference
- Register for the event on 21 April, 14.00 (Once signed-in, you will see the event here, or listed in the agenda)
- You will receive a link to the event (Zoom) by email. Details will also be visible on the event page.
Local Digital Twins
Local Digital Twins (LDTs) are a virtual representation of the city’s or community’s physical assets, processes and systems that are connected to all the data related to them and the surrounding environment. The data and analytical capability they represent are a highly useful tool for cities and communities to plan their transition to climate neutrality. LDTs use AI algorithms, data analytics and machine learning to create digital simulation models that can be updated and changed as their physical equivalents change. Real time, near real-time and historical data can be used in various combinations in order to monitor and simulate, assisting cities to tackle complex and interlinked challenges such as sustainable mobility, air pollution, energy consumption, urban planning, water and waste management.
Cities and communities play a unique role in the twin green and digital transformation. They are closest to citizens in terms of governance, they are responsive and agile and are often perfect ecosystems for innovation, and they represent a significant scaling potential in the roll-out of effective solutions developed in other cities.
Living-in.EU
The Living-in.EU movement is a collaborative platform for cities and communities to accelerate their digital transformation the 'European way' (citizen-centric approach, ethically and socially responsible data usage, co-creation with and engagement of citizens, open and interoperable standards). Created by a group of cities, city representative groups Eurocities, Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC), the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), and supported by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions, it was launched in December 2019 by the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The aim of Living-in.EU is to work together to scale up the use of data technology to tackle a range of interconnected challenges, including urban mobility, energy efficiency, and digital public services, while ensuring environmental sustainability in line with the European Green Deal. Cities, regions and Member States leaders are invited to join the community by signing the ‘Join, Boost, Sustain’ Declaration, which NGOs, research institutes, businesses and non-EU cities can also subscribe to as supporters.
Covenant of Mayors
The EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy brings together thousands of local governments voluntarily committed to implementing EU climate and energy objectives.The Covenant of Mayors was launched in 2008 in Europe with the ambition to gather local governments voluntarily committed to achieving and exceeding the EU climate and energy targets. Not only did the initiative introduce a first-of-its-kind bottom-up approach to energy and climate action, but its success quickly went beyond expectations.
The initiative now gathers 10,000+ local and regional authorities across 61 countries drawing on the strengths of a worldwide multi-stakeholder movement and the technical and methodological support offered by dedicated offices. The Global Covenant of Mayors is capitalising on the experience gained over the past elevn years in Europe and beyond, and is building upon the key success factors of the initiative: its bottom-up governance, its multi-level cooperation model and its context-driven framework for action.