Let’s take digital parking as an example: in Scandinavia or the Netherlands, coin machines for parking fees became unnecessary and disappeared. In Germany, 95% of the people still prefer to use them instead of smartphones. As a consequence, on average we pay € 90 extra p.a. We are certainly not at the cutting edge, nor are we early with the transformation to smart cities. However, it is encouraging to see how pushy cities like Monheim am Rhein have been, because they simply executed their ambitious strategies – and citizens are loving it!
Yesterday, I joined the German Forum of the German Cities Association in Berlin. Lots of financing is available, and both citizens and decision-making committees want the change now. The real challenge is to find competent people. Public service is not attractive for young tech talent. This must change. Again, the Netherlands is paving the way here.