Flanders is investing in the development of a smart region – a place in which new and innovative technology will enable us all to better tackle societal challenges, such as traffic flow, protection of the environment, water management, etc. With the creation of the Flemish Smart Data Space we will have the platform that we need to ensure that rapidly changing data from multiple sensors across the region can be used efficiently and safely for all kinds of smart applications. Digitaal Vlaanderen is developing this platform in collaboration with Cegeka (in a consortium with DXC) and imec.
The Flemish Government aims to make Flanders the European leader in smart regions, smart cities and the Internet of Things (IoT). Its goal is to build liveable, sustainable, robust and inclusive cities and regions for all who visit or live within them. To help realize ambitions such as the modal shift or the climate plan, we need to be able to make use of rapidly evolving data in a sustainable and scalable way. The Flemish Smart Data Space will provide the technical building blocks needed to make this possible and to allow sensor data to flow smoothly between the various stakeholders within the data ecosystem.
The driving force behind smart mobility
Mobility is one of the major challenges affecting quality of life in our region. One way of solving this problem is to combine different modes of transport. A combination of train, tram, bus, (shared) bike, (shared) car, etc. can help us take a step towards a more liveable city. Realizing this proposed modal shift in transport will only be possible if all parties involved have access to the relevant data. The Flemish Smart Data Space building blocks and standards act as tools to help realize these ambitions, together with a comprehensive overview of mobility for public and private organizations.
Cegeka's team at the helm of the project
The development of the Flemish Smart Data Space is currently underway: by the end of this year, a first prototype project should be ready. The creation of the Smart Data Space is part of the relaunch plan Vlaamse Veerkracht. “A team consisting of about ten IT professionals will work on this project,” says Kim Peeters, Director Flanders Digital at Cegeka. “The creation of the Smart Data Space is in line with the European ambition to boost the development of sensor data, IoT and smart cities. This is one of the projects that we intend to use to help Cegeka become a leading partner for the Flemish government in the field of digital and open data platforms, ecosystems and administrative applications.”
