Smart Aarhus Manifesto
Aarhus is a city of growth, for citizens, businesses and research. At Aarhus University alone there are nearly 40,000 students and 11,000 staff, and there are more than 25 educational and research institutions in the city. It is a city embedded in a culture of research and innovation, working across boundaries to form multi-disciplinary teams.
One of the strongest research and innovation areas in Aarhus is that of Information and Communication Technologies. This is based on world-class researchers, entrepreneurs and highly innovative global businesses such as Systematic, Vestas, Martin Professional and Terma, and within close range for example Bang & Olufsen, Danfoss, Grundfos and LEGO Company.
For many years there has been a strong and close collaboration between businesses, the university and the public sector, creating a wide range of solutions for citizens within health, culture, energy, food, environment and communications.
Aarhus is a growing city and within the next years the cities physical appearance will change dramatically. Not only is the city rebuilding the Aarhus Docklands to be among Europe’s largest waterfront projects in volume and vision. There are numerous city development projects that will change the built environment of the city.
The City of Aarhus is very ambitious in terms of becoming a smart city, building upon state of the art in its policy development, urban planning and strategy.
Smart Aarhus
A smart city is the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders in a city aiming to reap the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies while at the same time addressing the challenges of becoming an even more digital society. The City of Aarhus wants to be a frontrunner in digitising its business, urban living and public space.
In the future, the City of Aarhus intends to progress and experiment even more with integrating new organisation, technologies and processes into the City – a Smart Aarhus, where ICT is a natural part of both the built environment and public services.
The City of Aarhus also has the drive to be a test bed for Europe and the world, where smart city solutions of tomorrow are created and become part of everyday life.
Smart Aarhus Think Tank
Our vision is to:
• benefit from the civic perspective on efficient and effective public services, reduction of CO2 emissions, strengthening cultural activities and building a sustainable future;
• benefit from the business perspective on creating a market for smart city products;
• benefit from a citizen perspective in living and working in a sustainable, attractive and transparent city;
• benefit from a research perspective by grounding research in a living city and promoting local excellence on the international sphere;