Deutsche Telekom launches Smart City Co-Creation Toolbox

Deutsche Telekom is taking part in the Day of Cities in Geneva, organized by the United Nations Economic Commission Europe (UNECE).

The conference brings together mayors from across the globe. Developing and implementing a sustainable Smart City concept is core for many cities. This is easier said than done.

Deutsche Telekom is therefore launching a guide which offers several tools and real-life examples for the development of intelligent citizen services. The Smart City Co-Creation Toolbox enables city administrations to independently approach their digitization ideas.

Deutsche Telekom supports the development and technical implementation where desired. The partners United Smart Cities (United Nations initiative) and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB) are strong advocates of Deutsche Telekom’s co-creation approach.

Make digitization as easy and attractive as possible

"We want to make digitization as easy and attractive as possible for our Smart City partners," says Markus Keller, Senior Vice President, Smart City at Deutsche Telekom. "In our conversations with city representatives it became clear that there is still a lack of knowledge and networking opportunities within their municipalities when it comes to digital services. Our Smart City Co-Creation Toolbox helps cities to meet these challenges."

United Smart Cities appreciate the collaborative approach of the Co-Creation Toolbox and want to get it to the next level: "Digital technologies are helping cities and communities to work more efficiently, environmentally friendly and become even more attractive to citizens and local businesses," says Kari Eik, Secretary-General of the Organization for International Economic Relations. "However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for digitization in the public space, because each region is different. Deutsche Telekom's Co-Creation Toolbox offers a convincing approach to tackle the challenges in cities." Deutsche Telekom offers global outreach and digitization expertise to help cities become greener and more efficient, and to adapt new technologies in a meaningful way.

The cornerstone of a successful Smart City strategy is to find out early what citizens and companies really want. This is where the toolbox comes in: with its co-creation approach, it enables a joint design of the intelligent city. All contributors are involved early-on in its development. The toolbox aims at bringing together the different perspectives of both administration and citizens. It harnesses creativity and input from many sides. This is important in order to achieve long-term added value through digitization.

Toolbox addresses individual city needs

Telekom's Co-Creation Toolbox supports cities in their individual measures. To start with, cities can participate in a one-day program introducing methods and success stories. The most comprehensive package is designed for three months and provides a differentiated overview of where a city needs to act. It also contains some conceptual approaches to Smart City solutions.

The co-creation process includes several parts. The first step is to understand the different target groups as well as the current situation of a city. Stakeholder or citizen journey mapping are some of the tools that help with this research. Then, the problem areas are defined and initial ideas developed. A popular technique in the toolbox is going through possible Smart City usage situations in a citizen roleplay.

Based on these findings, Deutsche Telekom helps to build and test prototypes, implements Smart City solutions and offers additional services.

Available now

The approach of the Smart City Co-Creation Toolbox has been tried and tested over the past few months with more than 20 city partners. Their feedback has contributed significantly to its creation. Cities of the event will have the possibility to test it globally.