Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki is the capital city of Finland and it is a smart city.Helsinki became a smart city in 2013 when it was announced the 10th smartest city in Europe. How they did this was by having citizens participate in the development of the city by not only being consumers but by contributing information, ideas, solutions and innovation. The aim was for the city to be like a community.In particular, the city’s smart government makes it a smart city. The government came up with 1000 open datasets and they have promoted engagement with developers. The government of Helsinki had the Open Data movement of which the mission was to open up public data to everyone.

They have recently decided to enhance the Open Data movement and in addition make the city's decision making transparent to its citizens. This means citizens get to engage more with government and smart, effective changes can occur. Helsinki has a unit called Forum Virium Helsinki, which was set up by the government and is Helsinki's Smart City Innovation unit.

The Six City Strategy is the new upcoming innovation for Helsinki. They plan to come together with the six largest cities in Finland so that they can better services. This strategy is to be implemented between 2014 and 2020.

“For Helsinki, Smart City means more than advanced infrastructure and state-of-the art technological solutions. For Helsinki, Smart City signifies also advancing open engagement of the citizens and the rest of the city community, pioneering in open data and transparency of city governance, as well as promoting agile service development.” Jarmo Eskelinen, CEO of Forum Virium Helsinki.

Author: Nompumelelo Mokhabela

Editor: Joshua Ngulube

References

Anonymous. (2015, January 1). Smart Cities Innovation Unit. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from Forum Virium Helsinki: http://www.forumvirium.fi/en/smartcityinnovationunit

Anonymous. (2015, January 1). Smart City. Retrieved March 25, 2015, from Forum Virium Helsinki: http://www.forumvirium.fi/en/project-areas/smart-city