During the leading 5G ecosystem event in Europe, Techritory, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed to commit to forming a European Metacities Partnership.
The Memorandum was signed by 15 public and private organizations from six European countries – Latvia, Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium, Finland, and Cyprus. By signing the MoU, the organizations have expressed their commitment to fostering greater collaboration and developing joint Metacity initiatives around Europe, as well as forming a European Metacities Partnership association in the future.
The objectives of the Memorandum include promoting mutual cooperation, idea exchange between committed parties, and the creation of joint efforts, projects, and consortia for funding proposals. The MoU emphasizes coordinated actions such as sharing insights on technologies, use cases, and business models, identifying EU-funded projects, inviting partners in consortia to write and submit proposals, and organizing industry workshops and discussion forums.
As stated in the MoU’s Preamble, there has been a notable increase in the emergence of the next generation of Smart Cities, dubbed 'Metacities,' primarily across Europe. These Metacities already deliver tangible benefits in sustainability, safety, education, and urban operations. Riga, Latvia, one of the first such Metacities in Europe, launched a state-supported initiative to develop its own Metaverse in 2022.
There are several funding programs and regional projects across Europe helping to explore new technologies and create the path toward the next generation of smart cities, including the MetaCities Excellence Hub project in the South of Europe, the MetaCities Project in the North of Europe, and the Smart Partnership “METACITY – OUR FUTURE LIFE.” However, to create a larger ecosystem that may become a center for current and future European Metacities, more dedicated cooperation is needed.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by JCS “Electronic Communications Office of Latvia,” Valmiera Municipality, Liepaja City Municipality, Kuldiga Municipality, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, SIA Vividly Urban Solutions, SIA Exonicus R&D, SIA STUDIO PERSPECTIVE, p-NET new generation emerging networks & verticals, University of Patras, University of Peloponnese ESDA Lab, EIT Digital IVZW, Innovative systems-Burgas Ltd, CYENS Center of Excellence, and Primetel PLC.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ray Sharma
Quelle/Source: The Fast Mode, 20.11.2024
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