Commons4EU

Cities face a scenario characterized by shrinking budgets, increasing demands of services from their citizens and the need to reinvent themselves in their quest to become Smart Cities. Simultaneously, the Internet brought new opportunities to orchestrate collaboration, fostering the creation of a large base of commons in code, user generated contents and even telecom infrastructures with the emergence of Bottom-up-Broadband networks. 

Cities have many times lacked the resources and mechanisms to take full advantage of this wealth. However, organizations like Code for America are showing how they can effectively and successfully intermediate between citizens and cities and help in closing this gap.

Code for Europe

Developing collaborative web projects following the methodology of Code for America based on principles rather than on sectors and by opening existing code in the participating cities and leveraging the European EPSI platform, following a certain model. They should:

• Be web/mobile applications.
• Enable cities to connect with their constituencies in ways that reduce administrative cost and engage citizens more effectively.
• Support the move toward transparency and collaboration.
• Be shareable, meaning that an application built for one city could be used by any other city.

Bottom-up Broadband network

Exploring with users in real-life environments, three new technologies: Super Wifi, Sensor integration into wifi networks and fiber deployment as commons (both new techniques such as aerial as well as fiber bandwidth management). 

The project was partly financed from the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme of the Europese Union.

This project was also made possible by a subsidy from the Creative Industries Fund NL.