The Greater London Authority has joined Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC), an international network supporting cities and communities in their digital transition. OASC strengthens cooperation and exchange between cities worldwide with the mission to create a market for smart city data and services based on open standards and driven by cities. The global network now links 133 member cities – from Brisbane to Copenhagen and Amsterdam.
London, a smart city pioneer, has set the bar high for data sharing with the London Data Store. London’s approach to publishing Open Data has since then served as a role model for many other cities worldwide. In 2018, Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched the Smarter London Together roadmap to make London the world’s smartest city.
“We are proud to join the OASC community. Our city embraces the opportunity to share innovations with other cities”, says Theo Blackwell, Chief Digital Officer, London. “London is world-leading in the application of digital technologies for the benefit of those who live, work and visit the city. But we are not just one city – London is made up of 33 boroughs, and to become smarter, we need to work together with public institutions and tech communities across the city, and with our European and global counterparts.”
Open & Agile Smart Cities brings cities and communities worldwide together, who agree on implementing minimal, open standards to enable data exchange between city departments, between cities and with third party service providers.
Member cities support the so-called OASC Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms to structure and exchange city data. The mechanisms are based on non-proprietary, common standards that help cities to avoid vendor lock-in and support local innovations to achieve global impact more easily.
Nathan Pierce, Head of Smart London Team & Programme Director of Sharing Cities said about the cooperation: “We’re thrilled to join OASC because we are committed to a shared and open approach to building smarter and more connected cities for people. We’re already making great strides through our leadership on the Sharing Cities programme – a network of European cities working collaboratively to identify smart digital solutions to urban challenges. We look forward to sharing our expertise with, and learning from, other cities through the OASC community.”
London is the most recent city to join Open & Agile Smart Cities after a wave of new members has only recently entered the network in April 2019.
“We’re excited to welcome London as OASC member city. It shows that cities – big and small – are choosing open standards and minimal interoperability to support them in innovating and procuring data-driven services.” says Dr Davor Meerman, CEO of Open & Agile Smart Cities. “All cities in the network will surely benefit from London’s expertise in data sharing and vice versa.”
For more information please contact:
| Open & Agile Smart Cities Lea Hemetsberger lea@oascities.org +32 498 111 594 www.oascities.org |
Greater London Authority Ineke Neeson ineke.neeson@london.gov.uk +44 (0) 7591 389112 www.london.gov.uk/ |