On 1 March, the joint smart city initiative of the City of Tallinn and TalTech was opened in the grand hall of Mektory.
In addition to presenting the joint smart city projects, there were discussions on how Tallinn will become the greatest smart city in the world.
The event was opened by Taavi Aas, Mayor of Tallinn, and Jaak Aaviksoo, Rector of TalTech.
The Rector of TalTech and the Mayor of Tallinn met in the summer of 2018 and reached a common understanding that the city and the university should work together more closely on topics related to the smart city. Today, the City of Tallinn and TalTech have reached an agreement on developing a joint smart city initiative, which launches with the construction of a smart city centre of excellence and the establishment of the professorate.
The featured projects cover a wide range from self-driving vehicles to the use of artificial intelligence to create personal routes for tourists. The goals of TalTechCity’s initiative and the smart city professorate were also introduced.
During the discussion on how Tallinn will become the greatest smart city in the world, common cooperation places and opportunities were mapped. The ideas generated will be formulated and further developed into common project ideas which could be launched together in the first year. These subjects include transport and mobility, energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energy, construction and architecture, urban management and civic engagement, digital city, and IT solutions.