The Most Sustainable City in Europe - Espoo - is Now Also the Most Intelligent Community in the World

The second-largest city in Finland, Espoo has won the international Intelligent Community Awards 2018. The theme of the contest was ‘humanizing data’. This refers to the use of data for people-oriented service development.

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Espoo’s strength in the competition lay in its client-oriented way of sustainably developing a smart city – in other words, Espoo wants to involve its residents.

The contest was organised by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a global network of cities and regions.

People, communities and companies are Espoo’s greatest resources

The City of Espoo is developing its services and the vitality and competitiveness of the capital region – and the entire Finland – in cooperation with residents, companies, educational institutions, universities, communities and other cities.

Espoo Innovation Garden is the largest innovation community in the Nordic countries. Internationally, it is a highly competitive platform. Espoo is the home of Aalto University, universities of applied sciences, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and other research institutions, and companies such as Nokia, Kone, Tieto, Neste and Fortum. Hundreds of startups are founded in Espoo every year. Companies such as Supercell and Rovio, known for Angry Birds series, hail from Espoo Innovation Garden.

According to an international survey, Espoo is the most sustainable city in Europe. The survey revealed that the growing Espoo has succeeded in developing in a way that is economically, socially, culturally and ecologically sustainable.

“We want to remain the most sustainable city in Europe also in the future. By cooperating with our innovation networks, we will ensure high-quality services for our residents and guarantee that our growth is economically, ecologically, socially and culturally sustainable also in the future,” says Jukka Mäkelä, Mayor of Espoo.

Community creates welfare, vitality and sustainability

Success in the Intelligent Community Awards helped Espoo-based cooperation and success gain visibility, while providing the city with networks for sharing knowledge and making new contacts. The networks will help everyone in Espoo to implement the city’s strategy, known as the Espoo Story, solve the challenges of a sustainable future, and create new smart services and jobs.

Espoo is for example developing:

• Digital applications that encourage the residents to adopt greener modes of transport, for example by switching from private car use to public transport, carpooling or cycling.
• The use of artificial intelligence in customer service, targeting proactive support measures at residents who belong to risk groups, or any other routine work.
• Public service centres: a model of placing various public services under one roof next to commercial services, easily accessible by public transport. Customer surveys suggest that the Iso Omena Service Centre has found its role: making residents’ everyday life smoother. The Service Centre is also an innovation platform, a place of collaborative development where companies, communities and residents can all participate.

All practical experiments using smart solutions, no matter how small, are connected to the overall objectives of the Espoo Story: healthiness, sustainability, participation and being dynamic.

Images for the media, photographer: Ilpo Musto
http://aineistopankki.espoo.fi/l/HGd9H5wFwc82

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Contact information

City of Espoo
Mayor Jukka Mäkelä, +358 46 877 3953
jukka.makela@espoo.fi
or
Päivi Sutinen, +358 46 8772 871
Services Development Director
paivi.sutinen@espoo.fi
or
Jasmin Repo, +358 43 826 6886
EU Affairs Coordinator
jasmin.repo@espoo.fi