Launch of European funding instrument to upscale Digital Twins towards the CitiVerse through Living-in.EU

Brussels, Belgium – The European Commission, together with 5 member states, announced the launch of the ‘Local Digital Twin & Citiverse EDIC’. The European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) is an instrument of the Commission Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 and creates a vehicle for shared investments in knowledge & funding at European scale. This EDIC is led by Estonia and supported by Germany, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Spain. On the short term more Member States are expected to follow.

Living-in.EU , the movement for the European way of Digital Transformation of cities and communities will support the EDIC in the actual deployment of Local Digital Twins and virtual worlds through ‘the Citiverse’ projects at local level. Through Living-in.EU cities, communities, regions and member states will have access to standardized and interoperable instruments to implement Local Digital Twins on local or regional level. The next step is to create the European alternative for the metaverse: the Citiverse. Based on European principles and values.

Today in the Digital Assembly 2023 taking place in Stockholm, the European Commission kickstarted leveraging tools such as the EDIC’s. In her opening speech at the first Living-in.EU Mayor Digital Assembly Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director General in charge of Digital Policy at the European Commission, invited other Member States to join this EDIC.The first Digital Mayors Assembly taking place at the same time in Brussels echoed this message by showing support to the initiative.

I believe a multi-country project, supported by an EDIC will facilitate the large scale deployment of digital transformation we need in Europe; starting with Local Digital Twins.” says Cristina Martinez, also representing the European Commission at the same event. “We can only do this by working together at all levels, the EDIC will enable us to do this, and Living-in.EU has an important role to play.

With the recent launches of new virtual reality hardware and virtual platforms to the consumer market, the development of the spatial web has accelerated. With the Digital Decade program the European Commission provides an answer to develop the digital transformation the European way. The development of the inclusive and community driven virtual worlds, via the citiverse, is this answer and will be delivered. But new ideas aren’t innovations until you apply them.

Therefore living-in.EU and the development of the EDIC will create the conditions for success to accelerate the twin and just transition in Europe. By and for the citizens.

Living-in.EU is the movement of EU cities, regions and member states on digital transformation. It is a multi-level governance cooperation platform supporting cities and communities to accelerate in their digital transformation in the European way – ensuring technological leadership while respecting European values, diversity and digital rights. Find out more here: Living-in.EU The first Mayors’ Digital Assembly of the Living-in.EU movement was organised on 15 June 2023, in the framework of the Brussels Urban Summit, taking place from 12-15 June 2023. Eurocities wants to make cities places where everyone can enjoy a good quality of life, is able to move around safely, access quality and inclusive public services and benefit from a healthy environment. We do this by networking more than 200 larger European cities, which together represent some 130 million people across 38 countries, and by gathering evidence of how policy making impacts on people to inspire other cities and EU decision makers.

Connect with us at https://eurocities.eu/ or by following our F acebook and Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC) is a non-profit, international smart city network that has the goal of creating and shaping the nascent global smart city data and services market. They are already today at the forefront of tomorrow’s standards for city data, services, and technology – and we work based on city needs with support from industry. Unlike any other city network, OASC is driven by implementation and focused on open platforms and citizen engagement. https://oascities.org The European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) is the international federation of benchmarked Living Labs in Europe and worldwide. Founded in November 2006 under the auspices of the Finnish European Presidency, the network has grown in ‘waves’ up to this day. LLs operate as intermediaries among citizens, research organisations, companied, cities and regions for joint value co-creation, rapid prototyping or validation to scale up innovation and businesses. LLs have common elements but multiple different implementations. https://enoll.org The European Commission helps to shape the EU’s overall strategy, proposes new EU laws and policies, monitors their implementation and manages the EU budget. It also plays a significant role in supporting international development and delivering aid. https://ec.europa.eu The European Committee of Regions (COR) is the voice of regions and cities in the European Union (EU). It represents local and regional authorities across the European Union and advises on new laws that have an impact on regions and cities (70% of all EU legislation). https://cor.europa.eu