The City of Turku and Teleste Corporation have signed a partnership agreement aimed at implementing new ICT-based innovations in the public sector. The agreement, which is one-of-a-kind in Finland, seeks to develop smart, functional technologies which are of use to the city's residents and also within their reach. The City of Turku is the first public sector body with which Teleste has undertaken this kind of cooperative work.
The City of Turku wants to develop both its own operations and also the whole city environment in line with Smart City principles. The goal is for the parties to work out together which products, applications and services connected with the Smart City concept could be cooperatively developed in the Turku region by the private and public sector together.
Smart Cities can be defined as cities which seek ICT-based solutions for questions arising in their fields of operation through multilateral cooperation between public and private bodies. Related to the Smart City concept is the idea of making information publicly available and developing from it further services and applications.
For example, the Smart City concept can be connected to smart services, transport, energy solutions, and housing. In addition, the City of Turku's goal is to use the Smart City projects to boost the competitiveness and vitality of local businesses. The City will create a framework for the development and testing of different kinds of applications by providing Teleste with the use of a developmental 'living lab' environment.
'In order to develop smart and sustainable solutions, there needs to be close cooperation between businesses and the City. The City's active involvement in solution implementation is important for businesses, as it helps them develop successful products and provides them with references for internationalization. At the same time, the innovations developed are visible in residents' daily lives as improved services', Mayor of Turku Aleksi Randell explains.
'This project, carried out in cooperation with the City of Turku, provides Teleste with an excellent opportunity to research how to harness digital solutions for the benefit of cities and their residents. The challenges for urban environments, both now and in the future, include how to boost safety and well-being, how to effectively manage resources, and how to develop different kinds of innovative services. We are very happy that we can look for solutions to these questions, and especially that we can do it right here on our home turf in Turku', says Teleste's managing director Jukka Rinnevaara.
Teleste will be taking part in the project as a technical cooperation partner and will be researching, developing and piloting different Smart City products, applications and services in line with the framework laid out by the City of Turku.
The goals of the partnership agreement will be realised and honed further through projects which will be separately agreed on. Following this, work will be focused on considering different fields of applications. The following themes are included in the Smart City concept: safe and pleasant living environment, energy and cost savings, applications for optimising passenger traffic, traffic flow and traffic applications, self-determined housing for the elderly, and new kinds of learning environments.
The partnership agreement does not require either party to provide financial compensation for the other party's research work, nor does it require Teleste to develop, provide and sell products, applications and services. The partnership agreement does not include procurements; the City of Turku will handle all procurements on a case-by-case basis using separate procedures.
www.teleste.com
