Singapore, Denmark partner on smart city development

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Leading smart city experts and officials have come together to exchange ideas and insights, paving the way for export and collaboration through a Singapore-Denmark Living Lab. A seminar was held in Singapore in early July.

Singapore and Denmark are both at the forefront of smart city development and have been actively engaging one another to drive the smart city agenda. Now, a public-private consortium has been formed with plans to co-create the first ever Singapore-Denmark Living Lab on Singapore soil where technologies, solutions and designs are tested in collaboration between Danish and Singaporean companies and organizations, reports the Embassy of Denmark, Singapore.

“Smart City World Labs” is the name of the project that is coming to fruition at a co-located event at World Cities Summit. The project takes its point of departure in existing Danish Living Labs that demonstrate Denmark’s strong tradition of holistic thinking, citizen involvement, sustainable technologies and green transport.

Partners in the consortium are Greater Copenhagen’s partner organisation Gate 21, the Royal Danish Embassy in Singapore, Quercus Group, and the Technical University of Denmark. The project is funded by The Danish Industry Foundation.

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”Smart City World Labs is an ambitious initiative which will intensify the collaboration and export between Singapore and Denmark. I see great opportunities for exchange of ideas and co-creation of sustainable solutions in the future,” said Her Excellency Berit Basse, Ambassador of Denmark to Singapore.

The Smart City World Labs Seminar gathered industry experts and key representatives from government and academia for a dialogue on how to pave the way for the establishment of the Singapore-Denmark Living Lab, as well as creating a global network of visionary urban frontrunners, which are able to drive the advancement of liveable and sustainable cities through Living Labs.

Keynote speeches were delivered by CEO of SG-Innovate, Mr Steve Leonard who shares on Singapore’s Smart Nation vision and journey, and Chairman of Greater Copenhagen Committee, Mr Steen Christiansen, who shared on the capital region’s smart city efforts and urban design approaches.

Other seminar highlights included two panel sessions on “The Citizens’ Smart City” and “The Living Labs”, featuring panellists from IDA, Cisco, Temasek, A*STAR, ERI@N, Copenhagen Municipality, and Denmark’s Technical University.

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About the Smart City World Labs
The project will run over 2 years as a pilot project and then be scaled to other cities, mainly in Asia. More than 40 Danish companies, organisations, universities and municipalities have already declared their interest in taking part in the project.

A number of Singaporean partners have also registered their interest in the Living Lab, and the consortium is exploring opportunities for collaboration with government agencies, such as JTC, Economic Development Board and Nanyang Technological University.

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