Zaragoza is the 5th largest city in Spain and the first to create a Smart City
Department which currently comprises a staff of 15 people. Innovation and sustainable development are key in its strategy Zaragoza 2020.
The Council is the main transformation actor in the city. Zaragoza City Council is the public, democratic and constitutional institution of the City that promotes its improvement and stands close to the citizens. The Council manages the environment of the city and, through different actions, aims to improve its quality.
The main role of the Smart City Department is to act as a link between knowledge and R&D centers, established businesses, entrepreneurs, creators, citizens, urban managers and researchers, at a local, national and international level.
Zaragoza is committed to integrate advanced policies, aligned with EU agenda, with open innovation and co-creation processes as a way to transition to a smarter city. Smart City Department has significant infrastructure and major items of technical equipment, relevant to the proposed work:
- Etopia Center for Arts and Technology acting as a powerful dissemination facility, including its 600 sqm digital LED façade and auditorium.
- the Open Urban Lab, headquarters of the co-creation activities with relevant stakeholders and the R&D lab of the smart city where companies are able to test their smart city solutions under real conditions. Moreover, they will have access to the city’s existing systems for their integration, as well as access to expert municipal knowledge.
Zaragoza has also deployed the Zaragoza City Card as the enabling city platform ready for plugging new public services. It is an all-in-one key to the digital city, that gives access to more than 15 different public services, and whose API can be accessed by third parties to create services upon.
This turns the Zaragoza Citizen Card into a platform for urban innovation, allowing to deploy cross-organizational initiatives, such as gamification, smart pricing, etc. to promote sustainable urban policies.
