With its “sMArt roots” proposal, the City of Mannheim was able to convince the jury of the “smart cities pilot projects”. At the beginning of September, the federal ministry of the interior selected the City of Mannheim as one of the winners in the competition. Based on the city’s digitalization strategy, all municipal stakeholders will develop a joint smart city strategy which will then be implemented in pilot projects. The funding amounts to a total of 2.4 million euros. The federal government contributes 1.5 million euros to this sum.
In addition to many other municipal institutions, the University of Mannheim is an important partner of the city when it comes to developing, implementing and evaluating the “sMArt roots” project. One project partner is the Institute for Enterprise Systems (InES), headed by professor Heiner Stuckenschmidt. The computer scientist and his team are working on the development of AI applications for smart mobility and environment protection. The team of professor Laura Marie Edinger-Schons, who holds the Chair of Sustainable Business, is responsible for measuring the impact of the project and examines how the relevant actors and networks accept the new AI applications.
The term “smart cities” means the development and use of digital technologies in all areas on the municipal level, such as the city’s mobility, energy and environment management. These endeavors aim at contributing to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals of the UN.