Why do we need a City Service Development Kit?
Transfer of Smart City applications from one city to another cityis challenging. There is a lack of unified backend technologies, lack of innovative end-user services, and no unified markets beyond single cities.
CitySDK works to overcome these obstacles. It aims to create a Smart City Application Ecosystem through large-scale demand-driven CityPilots that package and align key smart city application areas to an open source service developer toolkit.
[box]Developers know that SDK stands for “software development kit” – we’re using this familiar term, and turning it around, to create a “service development kit” for cities. [/box]
How will we achieve this?
We will enhance the development and innovation capability and between-city transfer possibilities of Smart City Applications.
First, we will create an open source CitySDK – a service developer toolkit for European Smart City Applications. Second, we will engage a vast number of developers by various means to the use of this CitySDK. The CitySDK will be used by
private developers, SMEs, Cities’ ICT departments and hacktivists a like.
Smart City Applications are software services about the city, used by the citizens, in the city, with various ubiquitous computing interfaces – mobile smart-phones with locative and augmented reality content, public urban interactive and moving displays, web through laptops and tablet computers, open PAN sensornetworks and NFC/RFID interfaces.
Visualising the Smart City
Developing Large Pilots in Smart Cities
We will produce a wide array of pan-European smart city service pilots in the partner cities. The pilots are in the domains of smart mobility, smart participation and smart tourism. The pilots involve a large number of citizens using the pilots in their daily lives. A combination of city- and demand-driven piloting and a large amount of partners’ relevant existing services, interfaces, software, practices and standards is the key enabler for this broad approach.
For effectiveness within the project, but even more so for the impact beyond the project pilots, we will package selected existing assets and project pilot deliverables into a shared, uniform, joint, open source service development kit – CitySDK. The CitySDK enhances the between-city transfer and innovation and development capability of the Smart City Applications. The CitySDK creates an open innovation ecosystem where the cities’ infrastructure acts as an enabling innovation platform.
Where are the Pilots taking place?
| City | Participation | Mobility | Tourism |
| Amsterdam | Pilot | Lead Pilot | Pilot |
| Barcelona | Pilot | ||
| Helsinki | Lead Pilot | Pilot | Pilot |
| Istanbul | Pilot | ||
| Lamia | Pilot | Pilot | Pilot |
| Lisbon | Pilot | Lead Pilot | |
| Manchester | Pilot | Pilot | |
| Rome | Pilot | Pilot | Pilot |
Our Strategic Approach
- Build on Existing Best Practices and Best Assets in selected Cities
- Build on Existing Platforms, both on Technologies and Infrastructures
- Build on Existing developer engagement tools like Apps4Cities competitions, DevCamps, BarCamps
- Aim for high ecosystem impact, and low technical investments – “No New ICT Server Hardware”
- Select Key Domains where most easily available and technically best Assets are
CitySDK is not a software platform. It is the unifying parts between various smart city software/hardware platforms and the end-user application developers – “whatever the Developers need to get pan-European Smart City Applications created easily” – in this sense it is a socio-technological ecosystem platform with software unification approach. Benefits of the Service Development Kit.
How Will Citizens Benefit?
- City Services that integrate multiple interfaces smoothly – for example mobile phones with LBS and AR combined with urban displays and RFID Tags
- City Services that operate and roam between European Cities – for example a mobile App that works in a home city also would work in a city where on a business trip.
- More, more varied and cheaper Smart City Services as the development and trial cycles are faster and quicker
How will Developers Benefit?
- Faster Development Cycles for Services = Cheaper production Investments = More possibilities to try out innovative ideas in real world setting
- Easy Access to multiple technologies, some of which were previously unobtainable totally
- Quick Access to European Markets – same application would work in multiple cities
- Design- and prototyping –oriented development as the SDK provides lots of example widgets and applications
- Created European Advantage against the US and Asian competitors
- Digital support services for the SDK/API on-line with familiar tools
- Organisational support services for helping SMEs do business
How Will City Administrations Benefit?
- Get Innovative City Applications
- Get these Apps done by private developers instead of own investment – Free or low API investment!
- Get City Services of “European” quality
- Get the City Ubiquitous Technologies already established into actual use, like
- Urban Displays that are mostly in low use in many cities