At this year’s Next 2011 Conference in Aarhus, Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard presented the vision of Smart Aarhus. Aarhus University and the Alexandra Institute are ready to join this opportunity.

Smart Aarhus may soon be a familiar term. Aarhus’ new Mayor, Jacob Bundsgaard, used it during his opening speech at the Next 2011 conference to depict a future scenario where smart city solutions are being developed and deployed in Aarhus.

The Next 2011 conference is organised by Innovation Lab in collaboration with the City of Aarhus, The Aarhus Festival and Visit Aarhus. The conference programme covers a versatile range of subjects and is thus a look into the ‘crystal ball’ of some of the world’s sharpest thinkers on Digital, Food, Green, Design, and Health.

Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard did not give a traditional opening speech. Instead, he was interviewed by the CEO of Innovation Lab, Mads Thimmer, on why the City of Aarhus co-organises the Next conference.

Fundamental changes
- Over the next 10 to 20 years, Aarhus will undergo a fundamental change. We anticipate an increase in the population of 20 per cent by 2030, and we plan to rethink and modernise our city in a vast number of areas.

This was one of the Mayor’s answers. He also emphasises that Aarhus must act as role model and integrate and experiment even more with processes, organisation and technology.

A digital playground helped along by the city’s IT companies and educational institutions that provide the talents. In the IT City of Katrinebjerg, Aarhus University and the Alexandra Institute are ready to grab this opportunity.

Smart City know-how
Over the past years, both Aarhus and the rest of Denmark have benefitted from projects and experiments initiated by Aarhus University’s Digital Urban Living and by Interactive Spaces at the Alexandra Institute.

The international projects OUTSMART and SmartSantander disseminate research-based technology knowledge from Katrinebjerg to Europa and the rest of the world. In this way, the foundations have already been laid for the Mayor’s vision of Aarhus as a city that provides an environment for experimenting with the smart city solutions of the future.

For further information, contact Martin Brynskov: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tags: Next 2011 | Smart City