Co-producing smart cities: A Quadruple Helix approach to assessment

From SAGE Publishing via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2021-05-31Publication status: PublishedFunder: European Union; Grant(s): Grant No. 646578, 2014Cities are increasingly expected to bring urban stakeholders together to deploy smart solutions that address urban challenges and deliver long-term positive impacts. Yet, existing theory and practice struggle to explain how such impacts can be achieved, measured or evidenced. This paper makes two major contributions. Firstly, the paper shows how the Quadruple Helix (QH) innovation approach can be used as the basis for co-producing smart city projects in order to better capture their impacts. In doing so we present a synthesis of current smart city and QH literatures to argue that assessment criteria and indicators must be co-produced with the full set of smart city stakeholders to ensure relevance to context and needs. Secondly, we present an example of a co-produced monitoring and assessment framework and methodology, developed to capture and measure the impacts of smart and sustainable city solutions with the stakeholder teams involved in the European Union Triangulum smart city programme. The paper draws on experiences working with 27 smart city demonstration projects involving public, private and third-sector organisations and communities across Manchester (United Kingdom), Eindhoven (The Netherlands) and Stavanger (Norway). We show how involving QH stakeholders in co-producing impact assessment improves the ability of projects to deliver and measure impacts that matter to cities and citizens. We conclude with a series of lessons and recommendations intended to be of use to the range of organisations and communities currently involved in smart city initiatives across Europe and the world

TA-PROJEKTE Integrated Public e-Services: Joining-up Strategies and Technologies for City Promotion

research is recognised as a main driver for scientific and technological progress in the knowledge and networked society, and also a precondition for advances in product and service innovation to address key societal challenges. Yet, our knowledge and understanding of this complex cross-disciplinary theme in the domain of cultural heritage and urban destinations is fragmented and partial, particularly about user-focused public e-services and the organisational, management and institutional factors that support and encourage applications that are novel, valuable and ambitious. This article reports on the intentions and achievements of the European 6 th Framework Programme project ISAAC, exploring features of the urban level of environment that encourages novel research and application activities on the heritage e-destination. It highlights the project’s work, which has developed new e-services and applications in this scientific field, linking tourism, heritage, ICT and urban constructs in Europe and beyond. In conclusion, insights for future science and policy are drawn to stimulate new research and practical solutions in joining up strategies and technologies for city promotion through integrated public e-services. 1