Umeå part of Smart City Sweden
The Swedish Energy Agency has given IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute the mission to develop Smart City Sweden, the national demonstration platform for smart and sustainable city solutions. One important part of the expansion is that six regional Smart City Sweden offices will be established in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Linköping, Borlänge and Umeå.
– This will increase the opportunity for international delegations to experience solutions located in all parts of Sweden. The regional offices will be run by members of ASSET, the Association of Swedish Environmental Technology Industries, in collaboration with different organizations depending on the region, says Marcus Lind, communication manager at Smart City Sweden.
Umeå a smart city
In Umeå, the assignment has gone to North Sweden Cleantech, a regional innovation and export platform for green technology, clean energy and sustainable solutions.
– It will be very exciting to try to get the whole of Sweden to showcase our smart sustainable solutions, says Susanne W Lindström, Director, International Business, at North Sweden Cleantech, who will be the regional coordinator.
– Our ambition is to showcase the best of the region and great emphasis will be placed on the story of Sweden linked to sustainable solutions. We want to make our companies visible, they can contribute to a sustainable city where social sustainability is an important part, Susanne W Lindström says.
Wider thematic scope
Another feature of this scale-up of Smart City Sweden is a wider thematic scope of the solutions that are being promoted within the platform. Social sustainability, Urban planning and Digitalization will now add to the previous focus on solutions within Energy, Climate & Environment and Mobility.
Finding best cases
Also, a new group consisting of seven government agencies will collaborate and identify their best innovations within the five different thematic areas mentioned above. Additionally, the six regional offices will add to this new selection of best cases, highlighting their respective strengths.