The Digital City Agenda was founded in 2011 by several governors who recognized that innovation was not keeping pace with societal needs. It has grown to include over 30 active cities working together on solutions to challenges like caring for the elderly, sustainable energy, and education. The agenda is supported by the Dutch government with 1 million Euro and aims to facilitate local change through collaboration between various stakeholders.

1. The
Digital
City
Agenda
was
founded
in
2011.
The
idea
for
a
Digital
City
Agenda
arose
from
a
need
for
a
different
approach
to
the
economic
and
social
challenges
society
faces.
It
started
with
the
common
conclusion
of
several
governors
from
large
ci@es
that
the
innova@on
speed
is
much
to
low
in
respect
to
the
need
of
society
and
the
possibili@es
of
entrepreneurs.
Our
goal
as
smart
ci@es
is
to
find
innova@ve
solu@ons
for
the
complex
problems
that
our
society
deals
with
at
this
present
@me,
by
working
from
a
different,
new
perspec@ve
and
with
different,
new
resources:
especially
the
use
of
IT
and
broadband.
The
stakeholders
involved
know
that
implemen@ng
such
solu@ons
boHom
up
bares
the
risk
that
none
of
these
solu@ons
can
get
a
large
enough
and
sustainable
posi@on
on
the
market.
So
we
made
the
agreement
that
we
would
“scale
up”
and
implement
the
solu@ons
of
best
prac@ces
of
each
other.
1

2. With
the
“Stedenlink”
founda@on
we
set
up
the
Digital
City
Agenda.
A
network
of
professional
en
poli@cal
people,
commiHed
to
the
societal
challenges
we
saw.
This
agenda
is
illustrated
by
ques@ons
as:
How
do
we
take
care
of
the
growing
group
of
elderly
people?
How
do
we
change
to
using
and
crea@ng
sustainable
energy?
How
do
we
keep
our
children
educated
and
safe?
All
these
ques@ons
exist
in
our
ci@es
and
villages.
The
commitment
grew
from
8
to
more
than
30
ac@ve
ci@es
within
2
years.
A
lot
of
businesses
and
knowledge
partners
work
together
on
this
implementa@on
agenda.
The
na@onal
government
supports
the
agenda
by
means
of
an
agreement
with
by
the
Ministry
of
Economic
Affairs;
worth
1
million
Euro.
Today’s
challenges
need
a
different
approach
than
our
tradi@onal
way
of
working.
Entrepreneurs,
Governments,
Educa@on,
Science,
Innovators,
and
Ci@zens:
we
all
need
to
join
forces
to
return
to
a
healthy,
strong
and
compe@@ve
Europe.
The
DSA
works
to
find
new
ways
of
working
by
approaching
issues
boHom
up:
what
does
society
want?
What
do
we
need?
As
these
things
change,
we
work
with
a
rolling
agenda
that
is
adjusted
to
the
needs
of
that
specific
@me.
DSA
is
a
networking
organiza@on:
we
bring
all
stakeholders
throughout
the
chain
of
change
together,
and
facilitate
collabora@on.
We
work
in
co-­‐crea@on,
which
means
all
par@cipa@ng
par@es
feel
ownership
of
the
problem
and
will
be
part
owner
of
the
solu@on.
2

3. DSA
intents
to
break
through
old
paradigms.
We
focus
on
ini@a@ve
and
ac@on,
in
order
to
come
to
concrete
and
working
solu@ons.
To
do
this,
people,
ideas,
solu@ons,
knowledge
and
resources
need
to
be
brought
together
and
made
available
in
a
transparent
manner.
This
way
we
can
learn
from
each
other.
Through
co-­‐crea@on,
experiments
and
collec@ve
investments
we
can
make
op@mal
use
of
scarce
resources.
DSA
wants
to
find
innova@ve
solu@ons
for
the
large
social
issues
of
this
@me.
IT
naturally
plays
a
large
role
in
these
solu@ons,
but
IT
by
itself
is
not
the
answer.
To
come
to
solu@ons
for
the
complex
issues
that
our
country
(and
all
of
Europe)
is
dealing
with,
we
need
a
different
approach
to
local
issues.
In
spite
of
this
new
approach,
we
do
have
to
focus
on
standardiza@on
and
interoperability
of
the
solu@ons
that
we
find.
Open
networks
and
open
data
are
the
slogans
of
this
way
of
working.
Sharing
and
giving
are
the
values
in
this
community.
3

4. To
be
able
to
facilitate
local
change,
local
municipali@es
need
to
break
through
tradi@on
and
paradigms.
We
cannot
seHle
for
the
‘basics’
anymore.
We
have
to
start
interac@ng
more
with
our
surroundings.
We
recognize
that
changes
in
our
way
of
governing
need
to
be
made:
our
Dutch
social
care
system
resists
innova@on.
Because
of
the
budget
cuts
of
the
na@onal
government,
ci@es
try
to
cut
down
the
costs
of
their
services
to
the
public.
To
work
more
efficiently
they
have
to
scale
up
the
size
of
their
organiza@on
by
serving
a
larger
number
of
people.
There
is
a
heavy
debate
going
on
about
the
usefulness
of
this
scale-­‐enlargement.
But,
ladies
and
gentleman,
to
meet
the
needs
of
the
local
community,
our
municipali@es
also
know
that
they
need
to
work
more
socially.
Listening
to
society
and
being
involved
with
the
needs
of
society
will
lead
to
a
more
effec@ve
way
of
managing
the
urban
challenges.
Smart
ci@es
strive
to
combine
these
two
aspects
in
an
innova@ve
program
approach.
They
need
to
re-­‐invent
their
role
and
themselves.
By
arranging
and
facilita@ng
the
community
problem
solving
capacity,
municipali@es
can
steer
to
a
vision
based
deployment
of
community
service
with
al
lot
of
stakeholders
involved.
IT
will
help
us
in
this
respect
to
do
more
with
less
and
reach
common
goals.
This
orienta@on
of
the
administra@on
and
bureaucracy
in
innova@ve
smart
ci@es
is
the
context
of
the
Digital
Ci@es
Agenda.
The
issue
of
the
use
of
IT
in
community
service
is
also
embedded
in
this
context.
Because
of
this
complex
context,
it
is
not
easy
to
bring
innova@ve
IT
solu@ons
into
prac@se.
Ci@es
based
their
involvements
as
smart
ci@es
on
their
strong
points
in
society
and
in
the
business
4

5. The
European
Commission
formulated
seven
Flagship
programs
to
reinforce
the
European
economy
in
a
sustainable
manner.
All
DSA
programs
are
somehow
connected
to
these
flagships,
but
four
of
the
flagships
are
largely
aHended
to
within
the
DSA
programs.
The
topics
of
the
European
digital
agenda
are
strongly
connected
to
the
Dutch
Digital
City
Agenda.
The
‘innova@on
union’
reflects
the
DSA
goals;
find
innova@ve
solu@ons
by
bringing
all
involved
par@es
together,
and
work
in
co-­‐crea@on.
For
example
on
the
introduc@on
of
e-­‐health,
recently
promoted
by
the
European
Commission.
The
flagship
‘new
skills
and
jobs’
are
to
be
found
in
the
Learning
city,
where
we
work
on
human
capital
through
digital
skills
and
the
digital
transi@on
in
our
educa@onal
system.
But
also
the
programs
City
of
Entrepreneurs
and
Deregulated
City
work
alongside
this
flagship,
as
they
facilitate
and
s@mulate
entrepreneurship.
Resource
efficiency
is
an
important
theme
all
through
the
world.
All
of
us
realize
we
should
have
started
yesterday:
the
sense
of
urgency
is
high.
The
DSA
aHributes
to
this
issue
within
the
program
Green
City.
5

6. DSA
works
in
eight
different
programs
each
based
on
a
central
issue.
Each
program
is
directed
by
one
coordina@ng
city
and
supported
by
other
ci@es,
businesses
and
knowledge
ins@tutes
across
the
country.
DSA
works
locally:
the
place
where
change
begins.
We
recognize
that
we
cannot
enforce
change
top
down
anymore,
we
need
to
facilitate
change
boHom
up.
Ci@zens,
ci@es
and
businesses
come
up
with
small,
some@mes
brilliant
ini@a@ves.
DSA
offers
a
chance
for
pilots
and
try
outs
on
small
scale
and,
if
successful,
upscale
aeerwards.
In
this
respect
we
speed
up
implementa@on
by
suppor@ng
the
markets
to
deploy
solu@ons.
This
way,
a
small
but
brilliant
idea
can
change
into
a
worldwide
innova@on!
6

7. The
eight
coordina@ng
ci@es
of
the
DSA
have
set
themselves
the
goal
to
accelerate
change
within
the
theme
of
their
choice.
For
the
city
of
Amersfoort,
that
theme
is
sustainability.
Our
way
of
genera@ng
energy
is
going
through
a
transi@on
to
become
more
sustainable
and
fit
for
the
future.
This
transi@on
might
seem
very
technical:
from
central
to
decentralized
genera@on,
from
fossil
fuels
to
sun-­‐,
water-­‐
or
wind
energy.
Even
though
these
are
very
technical
processes,
I
am
convinced
that
this
technical
transi@on
goes
hand
in
hand
with
a
social
transi@on:
at
the
end
of
this
social
transi@on,
a
consumer
can
be
user
and
producer
at
the
same
@me
and
be
a
prosumer.
IT
gives
us
the
instruments
that
can
make
this
happen
at
a
large
scale.
One
of
the
projects
within
the
Green
City
is
“Smart
Grid:
rendement
voor
iedereen”
(profit
for
all).
In
this
project
many
different
actors
work
together
to
develop
new
Smart
Grid
service
concepts.
The
project
evolves
around
200
households
that
have
been
co
crea@ng
with
municipali@es,
provinces
and
businesses
from
the
beginning.
They
help
developing
and
tes@ng
new
techniques
like
installing
solar
panels
and
home
energy
management
systems,
but
most
importantly
give
feedback
and
communicate
openly
with
all
other
par@es.
This
communica@on
goes
via
‘district
TV’
and
an
open
source
plaiorm.
This
way
knowledge
and
experience
is
retrieved
while
working
on
the
project.
By
that
the
business
cases
that
arise
meet
the
needs
of
all
stakeholders:
profit
for
all!
7

8. Innova@ons
and
IT
usage
in
(long-­‐term)
care
therefore
are
essen@al
for
high
quality
and
accessible
care.
Caring
City,
one
of
the
themes
within
the
Dutch
Digital
City
Agenda
is
working
with
innova@ve
solu@ons
that
keep
our
society
moving.
As
a
result
of
the
individualiza@on
of
our
socie@es
we
no
longer
know
exactly
who
lives
in
our
street
or
in
our
neighbourhood.
And
many
volunteer
organiza@ons
will
tell
you
that
it
is
difficult
to
find
people
who
are
willing
to
volunteer
on
a
regular
basis.
Does
that
mean
that
people
are
no
longer
interested
in
helping
each
other?
No,
not
at
all.
But
people
seek
short
term
commitments,
with
clear
end
dates
and
the
possibility
to
assist
only
when
it
suits
them.
New
ini@a@ves
as
the
Dutch
online
organiza@ons
WeHelpen.nl
(WeHelp)
and
ZorgVoorElkaar.nl
(Care
For
Each
Other)
provide
plaiorms
to
unleash
this
enormous
poten@al
of
informal
care.
Based
on
postal
codes
people
can
ask
for
assistance
and
care,
or
let
each
other
know
that
they
can
be
asked
for
help.
It
could
be
learning
Dutch,
picking
up
medicines,
garden
work,
a
walk
to
the
park
or
a
visit
to
the
museum.
Simple
things.
These
services
help
to
@e
the
social
networks
in
our
neighbourhoods
together
and
create
more
vital
communi@es.
And
they
help
in
cumng
down
the
cost
for
healthcare
and
welfare.
Also,
they
could
be
great
to
support
the
3
million
caretakers
in
the
Netherlands,
who
next
to
their
already
busy
lives
take
care
of
an
ill
child,
spouse
or
elderly
parent.
Many
Dutch
ci@es
are
experimen@ng
with
these
online
par@cipatory
health
services.
S@ll,
these
services
are
rela@vely
unknown
and
require
a
much
broader
audience
to
8

9.
Making
civilians
correct
their
own
property
value
(WOZ-­‐waarde)?
Would
that
be
possible?
End
2011
and
end
2012,
the
municipali@es
Tilburg
and
Borne
have
been
gradually
experimen@ng
with
this
in
pilots.
An
assured
breakthrough
project!
The
ci@es
launched
a
web-­‐service
that
provides
ci@zens
transparent
informa@on
about
the
value
of
their
property
(‘WOZ
waarde’)
that
is
linked
to
their
tax-­‐
assessment.
The
‘WOZ
waarde’
is
always
a
topic
for
much
dispute
between
house
owning
civilians
and
the
municipality,
leading
to
many
complaints
and
high
administra@ve
costs.
Especially
now,
because
of
the
decline
of
the
value
of
property
of
houses.
The
goal
of
the
WOZ
project
is
to
increase
transparency
and
establish
an
understanding
of
the
property
value
for
stakeholders.
Besides
transparent
informa@on,
people
can
compare
and
even
correct
the
informa@on.
Missing
or
incorrect
informa@on
can
be
corrected,
directly
showing
the
effects
of
the
correc@on
on
the
new
“temporary”
property
value
(WOZ
waarde).
This
last
aspect;
Ci@zens
correc@ng
the
informa@on
themselves
is
unique,
this
is
the
breakthrough!
This
project
also
provides
great
poten@al
for
the
city.
The
web
service
results
in
a
drop
in
official
complaints
and
thus
a
drop
in
process
costs,
ci@zens
are
contribu@ng
to
the
quality
of
municipal
data,
and
the
transparent
character
of
such
projects
strengthens
the
bond
between
the
municipality
and
its
ci@zens.
The
project
has
proven
to
be
very
successful,
and
has
gained
much
praise
by
its
9

10. A
lot
of
the
issues
Europe
men@ons
in
its
flagship
programs
manifest
themselves
locally,
so
local
solu@ons
will
contribute
largely
to
the
flagship
goals.
The
Europe
2020
strategy
contains
an
urgent
request
to
al
governmental
ins@tu@ons,
but
also
businesses,
knowledge
ins@tutes
and
ci@zens
to
focus
on
the
European
challenges
as
much
as
our
own
capacity
allows
us
to.
By
adjus@ng
our
efforts
to
each
other
and
to
our
European
ambi@ons,
we
can
make
a
shie
to
what
we
all
want:
a
socially
and
economically
strong,
self-­‐organizing
society.
And
it
does
not
have
to
take
us
very
long
to
get
there!
10

11. Ladies
and
gentleman,
I
have
come
to
the
end
of
my
contribu@on
to
this
event.
As
we
all
know
and
have
seen,
top
down
changing
our
systems
and
society
no
longer
works.
I
don’t
think
it
ever
did!
Now,
we
are
seeking
new
ways
to
innovate.
The
technology
to
support
this
is
already
there,
but
not
fully
deployed.
It
is
unchartered
territory,
we
are
all
learning
by
trial
and
error.
Let’s
find
out
what
ci@zens
and
customers
need,
let’s
try
to
create
value
by
working
together
with
stakeholders.
The
Digital
City
Agenda
facilitates
this
change
movement;
helps
bring
par@es
together
and
create
new
ways
to
organize
the
collabora@on.
Change
will
always
be
scary;
it
will
never
be
easy.
There
is
no
straight
line
from
the
beginning
to
the
end.
But
I
hope
I
have
shown
you
the
good
things
that
come
from
change
today,
and
I
hope
I
have
inspired
you
to
hop
on
our
train
of
social
collabora@on
and
create
movement
in
your
own
environment.
Let’s
do
it:
make
our
ci@es
smart
and
strenghten
the
economy
and
our
society!
11