Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2015 | Page 10

“T

here are times when technology by
itself can be a real driver of innovation in smart cities, but, more often
than not, technology is an enabler of innovation,” Cohen explains.
Cohen is known for his extensive
Smart City rankings. His list of Europe’s
most evolved smart cities (2013) included
a newcomer, as Helsinki edged out Oslo for
the 10th spot in the rankings – but that was
just the beginning. When Cohen rounded
up the world’s smartest cities in 2015, Helsinki scored the highest points in a survey
that featured 62 indicators. However, as only
11 cities responded to the survey in time, the
results are far from conclusive – but Helsinki
still managed to beat other pioneering smart
cities such as Copenhagen, Barcelona and
Singapore in this contest.
According to Cohen, where Helsinki
really shines is the Smart Government arena.
The city has more than 1,200 open datasets
and has been actively promoting engagement with developers through hackathons –
and hosted, for example, the first-ever global
Open Knowledge Festival in 2012.

Too Ubiq To Fail?
Cohen is also impressed with Helsinki’s
Forum Virium Smart City Project which
provides ubiquitous data to the citizens in
hopes of improving the quality of life. Use
of ubiquitous technology means that the hitech is thoroughly integrated into everyday
objects and activities; these types of services involve, for example, real-time traffic information for the people. As public data
is opene