On 22 August 2012, I gave a presentation about Open Cities (and Apps voor Amsterdam) at the Campus Party in Berlin. Campus Party exists since 1997 and has grown into a large festival where thousands of hackers, developers, startups and geeks meet. The travelling event this year took the former airport Berlin-Tempelhof as its residence for the many tents of the Campuseros and ten stages. It offered keynotes by Paul Coello, Tim Berners-Lee, Don Tapscott en Yossi Vardi.
CAMPUS PARTY EUROPE IN BERLIN (English subtitles)
The Open Cities presentation was quite full although it was scheduled at an early hour. I stated in my presentation was that the current problems of cities concerning mobility, demographics, vacancy, healthcare and sustainability cannot be solved without the voice of citizens and local developers. They have a very powerful resource at their hands: thousands of data sources that will become more and more open source, maybe enforced by European regulation. And Waag contributes to the movement with contests like Apps for Amsterdam, in which smart makers can combine their forces to create new applications. This year edition comes with six theme owners that know the issues on their specific fields and have the power within the municipality to open up new data sources.
I think the message went well with the audience. They found it a good idea to use your qualities for your own (urban) future. For those developers not living in Amsterdam: you'll have to wait for Apps voor Europe: starting at the beginning of 2013. To be continued.
