At the Barcelona Smart City World Expo & Conference, one of the world’s largest smart city events, examples were shared on how Tampere leverages new technological innovations to support the experience economy.
In Tampere's conference presentations and at the exhibition stand, the focus was on the experience economy and Tampere's solutions in areas such as event safety, virtual event experiences, and museum exhibitions.
According to Teppo Rantanen, Director of the Competitiveness and Innovations Group at the City of Tampere, the Barcelona smart city event and other international events contribute to Tampere's vitality and collaborative, innovative culture.
– Tampere plays an active role in global smart city networks. Our solutions are scalable globally, and these events provide an ideal platform for collaborative discussions and designing new ideas—especially around the needs of the experience economy. We showcased excellent examples of this in Barcelona, Rantanen stated.
Tampere’s smart city development is centered on a human-centric Citiverse concept, which merges physical and virtual urban spaces. This includes improved services created using city data and smart technologies.
In Barcelona, Maiju Viiki, Project Manager for Tampere's Experience Economy Development Program, introduced Citiverse innovations from the perspective of the experience economy during the panel discussion about 'Are We Ready for New Technological Solutions?'
– New technologies add entirely new layers to events. In Tampere, we’ve boldly explored technology in cultural services and the experience economy. For example, last summer, we used Nokia’s RXRM technology and remotely participated in a live concert at the Vapriikki Museum from the Imagine the Metaverse event. Judging by the interest sparked by these pilots, this is only the beginning, Viiki envisioned during the panel.
Organizing large-scale events requires cities to have functional infrastructure and preparation for various scenarios. Nokia Arena, which serves as both a venue and a testing platform for companies, along with smart solutions developed in Tampere specifically for major events, garnered interest from other cities and businesses in Barcelona. Teppo Rantanen presented Tampere’s major event solutions from the perspective of city infrastructure and foresight in a panel discussion organized by Microsoft.
– We only bring events to Tampere that fit our infrastructure and for which we have time to prepare carefully. For example, during the Ice Hockey World Championship, we developed a security-enhancing system using city cameras through the SURE project. This supported the city’s preparedness and visitor experience with the help of new technologies, Rantanen explained in the panel.
At Tampere’s exhibition stand, visitors had the chance to explore the city’s Citiverse solutions, including the Vapriikki Museum Centre’s virtual Tampere 1918 Civil War Museum, where the events of the war can be viewed from the perspectives of both opposing sides.
– We received feedback that the 1918 exhibition stood out with its fresh museum approach among the event’s content. The virtual museum is accessible to everyone and allows history to be experienced in a new way. This is a great example of the possibilities Citiverse and advancing technologies offer, especially for museums. The exhibition sparked interest among visitors from around the world, says Maj Meriluoto, Exhibition Manager at Vapriikki.
