The digital city of Darmstadt is a pioneer and international beacon for using new technologies to make everyday life easier for people in the city. To this end, 13 topic areas have been identified, which will be developed as needed, and as quickly as possible: sustainable - future-oriented - participatory - secure and with added value for all citizens by means of a uniform digital infrastructure. The thematic fields include: Education - Cyber Security - Data Platform - Energy - Society - Health - Trade & Tourism - IT Infrastructure - Industry 4.0 - Security & Civil Protection - Culture - Mobility - Environment.
The holistic and strategic approach to the digital development of Darmstadt into a Smart City will be implemented in an introductory phase with the integration of, initially five applications, into an Open Urban Data Platform - the [ui!] UrbanPulse - for the entire city group (city administration and city economy).
We are currently developing Europe's largest urban Data Platform, together with ekom21 and DA-RZ, for the Science City Darmstadt. The new central data platform will be used to collect, process, analyze and visualize different types of data such as; measurements from the extensive environmental sensor network, data from mobility, including public transport and other non-personal data from everyday life.
Collection, evaluation, visualization and further use of anonymized urban data to create numerous new added values for the citizens of Darmstadt. The city of Darmstadt retains data sovereignty and can therefore decide for itself which data is processed and to whom it is passed on for what purpose. In this way, raw data from the urban infrastructure is turned into intelligent information that is made available as innovative digital services for citizens, for companies in the city, as well as for the city corporation.
The digital city of Darmstadt has relied on a modern and real-time traffic control system. Nevertheless, due to the regularly high level of air pollution there is an annual exceedance of the annual mean limit value for NO2 and CO2. This leads to an acute need for action to liquefy traffic and reduce emissions from transport.
Collection, evaluation, visualization and further use of anonymized urban data to create numerous added values for the residents of the digital city Darmstadt. Our goal is to create added values such as; the improvement of air quality, creation of optimal planning bases for the ecological traffic control of the future and interaction with the residents through transparent and visualized data of the city.
The digital city of Darmstadt has long relied on a modern and real-time traffic control system. Nevertheless, due to the current regular high level of air pollution there is an annual exceedance of the annual mean limit value for NO2 and CO2. This leads to an acute need for action to liquefy traffic and reduce emissions from transport.
Collection, evaluation, visualization and further use of anonymized urban data to create numerous new added values for the residents of the digital city of Darmstadt, such as the improvement of air quality, creation of optimal planning bases for the ecological traffic control of the future, interaction with the citizen through transparent and visualized data of the city.
The digital city of Darmstadt regularly has high air pollution levels and an annual Exceedance of the annual mean limit value for NO2 and CO2. This leads to an acute need for action to liquefy traffic and reduce emissions from transport.
In the pilot phase, the [ui!] ECOMAT was tested in Darmstadt with the support of [ui!] UrbanPulse as a contribution to the competition for digital cities. Data from the city's traffic management system was transferred to the central data platform, analyzed and extrapolated to reduce the number of stops before red lights during a car journey. For this purpose a smartphone with the [ui!] ECOMAT app was used, which displays each lane of the next traffic light crossing with an arrow. The color of the arrow indicates whether the current speed of the vehicle will allow the driver to continue without stopping or cause the driver to encounter a red light. If the current speed leads to a stop, the app tries to give a suitable speed recommendation. If the vehicle comes to a stop, additional information is displayed, such as the countdown display or the amount of seconds when the signal will change its colour from red to green (or vice versa) at the earliest.
The festival city of Bad Hersfeld began its holistic approach within the city administration by changing its procurement guidelines for city purchases. All city purchases must now be IP-capable and be able to be stored on the central Open Urban Platform. This is a basic requirement for the awarding of contracts, all applicants must comply with these digital tender criteria in order to be considered for the contract.
The advantage for Bad Hersfeld here is the guaranteed data sovereignty, which means that the city always has data sovereignty and can decide for itself which data it wants to use for which purpose. All data is stored on a central data platform. This evolutionary approach is the basis of the holistic digitization concept of Bad Hersfeld and [ui!] UrbanPulse serves as a necessary instrument for its implementation.
For example, a few years ago, noise information within Bad Hersfeld was collected by the citizens of Bad Hersfeld by means of voluntary smartphone measurements. Today, detailed and up-to-date noise and climate information is collected, analysed and visualised on the central data platform by environmental sensors distributed throughout the city. This enables a clearer and near-real-time analysis of the climate data. When purchasing new environmental sensors, the digital criteria was deliberately taken into account.
Due to its central location in the middle of Germany, Bad Hersfeld has a high volume of traffic, especially from trucks of the local logistics companies. Added to this is the proximity to the motorway and the associated noise and exhaust emissions. These are collected, analysed and processed by various sensors, as well as other environmental, traffic, charging infrastructure and parking information, and are then passed on publicly via the [ui!] COCKPIT on the Internet as added value for the residents.
In addition to the information already displayed on the Bad Hersfeld, further climate-relevant data is to be collected and displayed on a separate COCKPIT in order to make further climate data available to the citizens.
For the climate monitor, data from various climate-specific sensor systems were recorded, collected, analyzed and visually displayed on the climate protection monitor.
8 thematic tiles show corresponding basic information and by clicking on different selection buttons, analyses and further information are shown.
In Bad Hersfeld,In Bad Hersfeld the nationally known festival takes place every year in the ruins of the monastery. The courtyard of the Abbey ruins is often used as a meeting point and waiting area. For this reason, sufficient lighting is necessary for the safety of the visitors. In the future, the courtyard will have new intelligent lighting with additional functions.
By means of intelligent street lighting, an attractive lighting system controlled according to demand will be created, which offers visitors to the festival, in and around the ruins of the monastery, more security and further added value. For this purpose [ui!] ULI installed new luminaires with Smart Lighting components and equipped them with suitable sensors. Video cameras can monitor the site if needed, a public WLAN is provided and announcements can be made to visitors via integrated speakers. Outside the festival, the cameras can be blinded at any time.
Bad Hersfeld hosted the Hessen-Day in 2019 and had to set up a control center for the 10-day event. All of the data that was important for the safe and smooth running of the event was collected, analyzed and visualized in order to obtain a central overview and to be able to intervene if necessary.
With the [ui!] FestivalCOCKPIT, innovative 3D representations of visitor flows, traffic situation, parking space occupancy and weather data were displayed in a central cockpit. The cockpit interactively provided the organizers and security forces with the data they needed to ensure a smooth event. Non-safety relevant data was also displayed to the visitors in real-time in a festival app, so that they were guided to the next available parking space as quickly as possible before arriving at the event. Numerous different data sources were connected and camera feeds integrated. These were displayed on several monitors in a cockpit in the control center of the major event. Furthermore, sensor-independent data sources were evaluated in order to monitor the approach routes, the traffic jam situation, as well as to be able to intervene in case of a traffic jam.
After the repurchase of its lighting infrastructure from Innogy, the city of Langefeld would like to achieve an organized, sustainable development of the digital infrastructure. For this purpose, the city of Langefeld founded a local company, the Digital- und Infrastrukturgesellschaft Langenfeld (DIL). Here the topics: Intelligent Street Lighting, Sensor Technology, Smart City, Digital Administration and Digital Schools are to be supervised and promoted.
In the long term, the DIL aims to secure the digital supply for citizens just as much as the task of waterworks and power companies in order to ensure the supply of drinking water and wastewater or energy sources.
This holistic approach is based on the secure and long-term provision of the necessary infrastructures, which currently includes digitalization, since it's also existential for all participating providers of the urban infrastructure.
Another important task will be to strengthen and increase the attractiveness of the Innstadt. For this reason, the City Key was created. Similarly, the Langfort Amusement Park should offer its guests a pleasant and safe stay. With this in mind, intelligent street lamps with various safety and environmental sensors were installed there by [ui!] ULI.
The city of Langenfeld offers its citizens and visitors the opportunity to obtain so-called "city keys" when shopping in local shops, which can then be used as a discount on parking fees.
By giving out city keys with purchases in regional shops, the retail trade hopes to motivate people to buy from local shops and in turn to receive corresponding discounts.
As a result, the retailers and the city of Langefeld receive valuable information about customers, their shopping and parking behaviour from the data obtained.
All this information is collected centrally on the [ui!] UrbanPulse and presented transparently on a Future City Langefeld COCKPIT.
The outdated lighting infrastructure had to be renewed in the amusement park. At the same time, security and new services had to be established in the park to improve the quality of stay for the residents of Langenfeld.
In the Langfort amusement park [ui!] established multifunctional light posts in order to meet the overall requirements of the park. The lights used are based on state-of-the-art technology and ensure maximum energy savings and minimum light pollution via a sensor-based control system. Many of the light posts are equipped with WiFi, which can be used by park visitors. Some of the sites have video cameras, which are only activated when a maximum permitted noise level is exceeded. In order to implement this, [ui!] integrated technology into the light posts, which enables the noise level to be measured and to recognize noise patterns. In addition, the [ui!] experts equipped a site with environmental and spring sensors. The required bandwidth is guaranteed by modern fiber optic connections in the light posts.
With the Quartier Horlacher Park, Rüsselsheim's holistic approach to digitalization is based on the idea of using experience gained by using innovative solutions from the energy industry within a neighbourhood and gradually transferring them to the entire city of Rüsselsheim.
As the first step, the individual energy consumption of the tenants in the selected neighborhood was presented clearly and concisely on a tablet with the use of an app. In addition, the expansion of the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles was planned, which will then be transferred to the entire city area. This necessary infrastructure expansion for the development of sustainable mobility is not only observed by citizens of Rüsselsheim, but also by numerous communities throughout Germany who would also like to go down this path.
This holistic approach is also reflected in the current DIN Spec 91397, which was developed in cooperation with [ui!] and contains guidelines for the implementation of a neighbourhood management system. This is the basis for the successful transfer of digital solutions to the entire city.
The residents of the "Horlacher Park" (neighbourhood of the future) will be given the opportunity, in the future, to read individual consumption data from their own household on their tablets.
In addition to the installation of appropriate sensors and the provision of the tablets with the necessary software, interviews with residents and informational events were conducted in the neighbourhood in order to inform residents individually and, if necessary, to seek solutions to possible problems together.
In a long-term conversation between all partners, a model neighbourhood consisting of numerous smart residential units was gradually formed into a smart neighbourhood network.
Additional e-charging stations for car sharing and the charging of private cars was then planned. Close cooperation with the city for the clever use of the existing infrastructure is indispensable. Gradually, public WLAN will be introduced nationwide. Step by step, further smart home aspects will be implemented and tested in the model neighbourhood.
The air quality in many German cities is not optimal. Nitrogen dioxide levels have been exceeded for years. Rüsselsheim is one of eleven Hessian cities that exceed the limit values for air pollutants on their roads on a consistant basis.
The city of Rüsselsheim am Main has therefore drawn up a master plan for "sustainable mobility" (Green-City Plan for Rüsselsheim am Main), which contains a large number of measures to significantly reduce nitrogen dioxide levels. These measures include the expansion of the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and thus support for the use of electric vehicles.