The Bavarian capital has adopted a city-wide digitalization strategy for Munich. This strategy will form the basis for all of the city's digitalization activities in the future, divided into three core areas: city administration, infrastructure, and urban society. How do startups benefit from this, and how can they contribute?
The vision is as follows: By 2025, Munich will become a future-oriented and sustainable metropolis that actively uses digitalization for the benefit of its society. Infrastructure, in particular, plays a key role in achieving this. Some of the most pressing challenges lie in the areas of mobility, energy, and the environment, and can be addressed sustainably with the help of digital solutions. At the same time, the issue of security will play a significant role. Munich's IT expert, Thomas Bönig, estimates the costs of the associated transformation in municipal administration at a significant three-digit million euro amount.
Where does the digitalization strategy start?
“The City of Munich will actively and systematically implement digitalization in Munich, always pursuing the goal of exploiting its opportunities while simultaneously managing risks,”
explained Thomas Bönig, IT Officer and CDO of the City of Munich. He also wants to set his own standards in digitalization for the municipality. Mayor Dieter Reiter welcomes the path taken and at the same time emphasizes:
“Digitalization must serve people and not the other way around.”
How do startups benefit from the new strategy?
What exactly does this mean for innovative start-ups? First and foremost, the digitalization strategy calls for the complete expansion of existing mobile communications offerings into a seamless network based on the latest 5G standard. This will lay the foundation for a smart city. Only with a fast, stable internet connection can future-proof solutions such as autonomous driving, networked, innovative mobility management, smart energy networks, and even digital healthcare applications be implemented.
Big Data is also an exciting topic, and in Munich, IoTPlatforms collect different sensor data to use the data in areas such as mobility, energy, security or the environment. The existing Munich Open Data Platform is being reviewed and optimized. This will enable much more comprehensive and easier use of data sets in open formats and in machine-readable formats in the future. Ultimately, the free use of public data will help innovative applications develop smart city solutions.
Digital solutions for current challenges of urban society
Also the Munich Urban Colab plays an important role in the digitalization strategy. Starting in 2020, the innovation center will bring together startups, established companies, scientists, and creatives to work in an interdisciplinary manner under one roof on smart technologies for the city of the future. The City of Munich itself also intends to use the Munich Urban Colab to develop and test solutions for current challenges facing urban society.
In addition, further accompanying measures to promote innovation and startups are planned. These include idea competitions such as the already established Innovation Prize of the City of MunichHowever, new funding measures are planned. These, in conjunction with open data, robotics, and AI initiatives, are intended to further advance the startup and innovation scene in the digital metropolis of Munich.
In addition, the city council has requested a digital advisory board composed of politicians, city administration, staff representatives, citizens, and businesses. Hopefully, startups will also be represented on this board.
Click here for the decision on the digitalisation strategy and here for an overview of the IT department.
