What is Smart Tampere?
What kind of smart city is Tampere – and what does it mean in practice? Discover smart city solutions together with Petra and Tamu!
Imagine always having a clever but invisible assistant by your side. It would understand your daily needs and make your life smoother with its services. At times, it would surprise you with experiences that elevate you beyond the everyday routine.
In many ways, this is already a reality. Various smart services are making our daily lives easier in Tampere.
When planning a swimming trip, you can check the water quality at Pyynikki or Rauhaniemi Spa online. During winter shopping trips, you will find gritted roads, thanks to the sensors in the road surface that have alerted city workers about slippery conditions. You can take a virtual tour of the Vapriikki Museum from your couch at any time. At a café on Hämeenkatu, your waiting time is reasonable because the café owner has been able to prepare for the number of customers well in advance using a forecasting service.
Soon, the assistant will serve you even more ingeniously. How would it sound like if you received tailored information at the right time, such as available parking spaces, interesting cultural events, or current news about your neighbourhood? Or would you like to take a walk in a new residential area before construction even begins?
City residents of all ages will find exciting ways to participate. One day, you might put on virtual glasses and watch a Tappara−Ilves game through the eyes of your favourite player. The youngest family members might explore Pikku Kakkonen Park, where familiar fairy tale characters come to life in a new form.
In future Tampere, we will use many smart services without paying much attention to the technology behind them. They will be just as common in everyday life as turning on the TV or hopping on a bus. They will make our lives easier, safer, and more comfortable.
Although technology is advancing rapidly, not everything will change. Familiar, good things will remain. Even a hundred years from now, we Tampere residents will want to enjoy our environment and share experiences with others. Technology will create new ways to protect diverse nature and cherish history.
Smart Tampere, that considerate but unobtrusive assistant, helps us live our daily lives in our own way in the city of ridges and rugged brick walls.
5G
Tampere is one of Europe's fastest cities with the development of 5G millimeter wave technology.
1300
ICT companies create an artificial intelligence ecosystem in the region.
Vocabulary of Smart Tampere
Metaverse: The Metaverse refers to a digital world that merges with the real world. The Metaverse enables new kinds of services, experiences, and ways of working.
Citiverse: Citiverse refers to the Metaverse as it manifests in a city. The term comes from the European Union's definition of "citizen" and "metaverse." Citiverse acts as a virtual layer integrated with urban space, streamlining city life and enabling new kinds of experiences for residents.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI refers to systems capable of mimicking human cognitive skills, such as learning, reasoning, and problem-solving. The operation of AI is based on mathematical models that process data and learn patterns. These models enable AI to analyse data, make predictions, and automate complex tasks.
Generative AI: Generative AI creates new content, such as text, images, videos, or audio, using existing information. Today, generative AI is present in people's lives in the form of various applications (e.g., ChatGPT), where AI produces content based on user prompts.
Data economy: The data economy refers to business activities based on the ownership, collection, transfer, purchase, and sale of processed and refined data. For example, subscription fees for streaming services are part of the data economy, as they provide access to curated content, which is refined data. Various mobile payment applications are also part of the data economy, as they facilitate the secure transfer of data (money).
Digital twin: A digital twin refers to a virtual model of a physical object or process. It combines data and data models with analytics, interaction, and visualization tools. For example, a city's built environment can be created as a digital twin, allowing buildings, streets, and other infrastructure, as well as city processes, to be viewed, analysed, and planned digitally. Other things, such as events or operations, can also be represented in digital form.
IoT Platform: IoT, or the Internet of Things, is a technical solution that collects data from sensors and cameras installed in the urban environment. IoT platforms offer possibilities and tools for processing, sharing, refining, and analysing the collected data.
Data utilization: Data utilization refers to using collected and refined information from various sources to solve problems or meet needs. This information can aid in decision-making or urban planning, for example.
Smart technology: Smart technology refers to new technologies and systems that utilize data, AI, and various new technologies for different needs. In the context of a city, smart technology particularly refers to solutions designed for the benefit of people or communities. These technologies can enhance residents' well-being and offer new experiences.
Smart city: A smart city is a city that operates more efficiently and smoothly by utilizing smart technologies to improve services for residents and businesses, as well as to promote environmental sustainability. A smart city can be seen, for example, in intelligent systems that manage public transportation, city lighting, and traffic safety, making traffic flow more smoothly. It can also be visible in applications that simplify life for residents and entrepreneurs, as well as in new kinds of experiences. Smart technologies are also used to build and develop a more environmentally sustainable urban environment.