#DataForGood or #DataForMoney?

Why do we need data from both the public sector and companies to make municipalities smart and sustainable? What are the advantages of collaborations between administration and business in the field of digital urban development – and what is needed for them to succeed in the common good? We discussed this with you and our panel guests at the networking event “#DataForGood or #DataForMoney?” on April 7 in Berlin. Watch the recording here! You can find our speakers’ views on the topic at the end of this viewpoint, which appeared in the Tagesspiegel Background Smart City & Administration on April 5.

AI-based analyses are intended to reduce energy consumption in municipal buildings, digital twins visualize the flow of traffic in the 3D city model and apps show which elevator in which subway station is actually working at a specific time. At first glance, these innovative solutions do not appear to have much in common. At second glance, however, there is one important thing they have in common: they all need real-time data in order to work. And this is where the normal odyssey of every municipality, every region and every municipal utility begins. Many cities, municipalities, districts and municipal companies are just swimming in ideas about how they could solve the many small and large challenges of everyday life with innovative and data-based solutions – and how they could use the tools of digitalization to help in the fight against climate change. For example, by automatically identifying parking offenders at charging stations or saving energy and CO2 through better building management. Unfortunately, the journey to greater efficiency and sustainable, citizen-oriented solutions often takes longer than planned. The reason: a lack of access to data. This is because it is buried deep in departments and units. Or behind walls of data protection regulations. Or are only reluctantly shared anyway. These are just some of the many reasons why data is ultimately not available. What’s more, data is rarely available in the quality required to breathe life and benefit into data-based applications.

Fragmented market harms data exchange

On the other hand, companies – and yes, I am also referring here to municipal utilities, which often play a hybrid role in the smart city and data topic – often have an abundance of data. In many cases, this is data that can be of great importance for urban development geared towards the common good. Or rather, it could be. Imagine what would be possible if public administration could access aggregated and anonymized real-time data from delivery services, e-scooter rental companies, car manufacturers, energy giants and so on. But the way data exchange between the public and private sectors is currently organized, the dream of greater efficiency is fizzling out faster than Odysseus can say “Ithaca”. Individual local authorities negotiate with individual companies about individual data sets. This brings neither the municipalities nor the companies any long-term advantage – not to mention science and the citizens. The market is fragmented: and this regularly leads to more resentment than euphoria when implementing data-based applications.

A lack of courage

It is understandable that not every company wants to or can share all data openly. Nobody is asking for that. But we must finally start using the tools that make it possible to share data confidently between the public and private sectors. In a way that benefits everyone. From a technical perspective, this requires standards within data rooms on the one hand and role and rights management on the other, which allows participants to share specific data sets with specific organizations for specific purposes over a specific period of time if necessary. The technology already exists. But there is often a lack of courage to innovate and collaborate. Okay, sometimes there is also a lack of money. But without the courage to drill the thick planks of administration, even funding will only help to a limited extent if we want to make sovereign data exchange possible across the board. In addition to this courage, the establishment of a neutral intermediary is central to enabling the exchange of data between the public sector, business and also with science and citizens in a contractually regulated manner.

The basis is there – let’s get started!

And last but not least, neither courage nor mediators help if there is a lack of knowledge about existing possibilities. In order to make data exchange and the replication of data-based solutions quick and easy, we need strong networking and intensive exchange among municipal stakeholders – both between municipal administrations and municipal utilities. So let’s start the journey together: towards more data partnerships and the sovereign exchange of data between all stakeholders. How? By summoning up our courage, using existing tools for interoperability, networking via organized formats – and above all: getting started.

We also asked our panel guests about the topic: voices from Lea Hemetsberger (DKSR), Zehra Öztürk (Hamburg Senate Chancellery), Alanus von Radecki (DKSR), Sonja Spürkmann (Berliner Stadtreinigung) and Philipp Wilimzig (Smart Village Solutions).

Want to see the full recording of the event? This way.