During the leading 5G ecosystem event in Europe, Techritory, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed to commit to forming a European Metacities Partnership. The Memorandum was signed by 15 public and private organizations from six European countries – Latvia, Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium, Finland, and Cyprus.
By signing the MoU, organizations have expressed their commitment to fostering greater collaboration and developing joint Metacity initiatives around Europe, as well as forming a European Metacities Partnership association in the future. The objectives of the Memorandum include promoting mutual cooperation, idea exchange between committed parties, creation of joint efforts, projects, and consortia for funding proposals, and more.
“In 2024, Techritory was proud to host several European Metacity initiatives and provide space for fruitful discussions and exchange of experiences. We had representatives from Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Finland, and Italy, as well as high-tech companies from outside the USA, visit Riga for the event. During Techritory, various organizations decided to work towards forming a new ecosystem called the European Metacities Partnership, showing what Techritory has always been about – co-creation and common work towards shared goals,” – Neils Kalnins, Techritory Director
As stated in the MoU’s Preamble, there has been a notable increase in the emergence of the next generation of Smart Cities, dubbed ‘Metacities,’ primarily across Europe. They already deliver tangible benefits in sustainability, safety, education, and urban operations, including one of the first such Metacities in Europe, Riga, Latvia, which launched a state-supported initiative to develop its own Metaverse in 2022.
There are several funding programs and regional projects across Europe, helping to explore new technologies and create the path toward the next generation of smart cities, including the MetaCities Excellence Hub project in the South of Europe, the MetaCities Project in the North of Europe, and the Smart Partnership “METACITY – OUR FUTURE LIFE”. However, to create a larger ecosystem that may become a center for current and future European Metacities, more dedicated cooperation is needed.
The organizations that signed the MoU have also committed to taking specific coordinated actions, such as sharing insights in technologies, use cases, and business models, identifying EU-funded projects and inviting partners in consortia to write and submit proposals, and organizing industry workshops and discussion forums.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by JCS “Electronic Communications Office of Latvia”, Valmiera Municipality, Liepaja City Municipality, Kuldiga Municipality, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, SIA Vividly Urban Solutions, SIA Exonicus R&D, SIA STUDIO PERSPECTIVE, p-NET new generation emerging networks & verticals, University of Patras,
University of Peloponnese ESDA Lab, EIT Digital IVZW, Innovative systems-Burgas Ltd, CYENS Center of Excellence, and Primetel PLC.
