Mission statement

Living-in.EU is a European initiative that brings together cities, regions, and member states to promote ‘European way of digital transformation’ that is inclusive, innovative, and sustainable, balancing technological progress with European values and diversity. 

Over 160 cities, regions, and Member States have committed to the initiative’s Join, Boost, Sustain Declaration. The political advisory body, the Mayors Digital Assembly has set the initiative’s priorities for the next two years. 

Living-in.EU priorities 

1. Advancing the twin green and digital transformation at local level 

  • Objective: Promoting and fostering a more innovative use of technologies for addressing environmental sustainability challenges at local level. 

  • Key tools: Local digital twins and Citiverse: virtual representations of city assets, using data analytics and machine learning to simulate scenarios, test measures and involve citizens.  

  • Living-in.EU’s actions: Making available and promoting a Local Digital Twins toolbox including assessment instruments, procurement guidelines and a helpdesk to support cities and regions in developing and using local digital twins. Strategically positioning the Steering Board and the Mayors Digital Assembly to provide advice to the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) on LDT towards Citiverse.  

2. Fostering technological innovation (city as a platform) 

  • Objective: Facilitating technological innovation development to boost local economies by putting public authorities in a more active role in the technological innovation ecosystem. 

  • Key tools: Open and interoperable standards, such as the Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs) to build an independent European market for interoperable solutions, services, and data.  

  • Living-in.EU’s actions: Further developing open standards and technical specifications for interoperability (MIMs Plus), to foster knowledge sharing, scalability, and cost reduction, and avoid vendor lock-in. Promoting compliance with those standards of upcoming digital infrastructure and projects supported by the LDT EDIC, though the Living-in.EU technical working group. Providing public authorities with a curated catalogue of digital transformation tools and instruments to increase their technological innovation capacities.  

3. Better-informed policies through data 

  • Objective: Fostering a more transparent and systematic management and use of quality data for better-informed policy making and improved service provision.  

  • Key tools: Data spaces to facilitate secure and efficient data sharing and management. Data Spaces for Smart and Sustainable Communities (DS4SSCC) Blueprint and DS4SSCC implementation action, to stimulate data interoperability and standardisation.  

  • Living-in.EU’s actions: Supporting the creation and deployment of data spaces, supporting cities and regions in navigating and implementing EU legislation on data. The data spaces implementation action will support local and regional authorities in setting up and testing a multistakeholder data governance model to make data more accessible in compliance with the highest standards. 

4. People-centred digital transformation  

  • Objective: Ensuring secure, inclusive, and democratic digital transformation, protecting digital rights, providing digital skills and bridging the digital divide.  

  • Key tools: Standards for transparent use of AI and data schema algorithm registers to set common guidelines on the information collected by AI systems and their use by public authorities. Standard contractual clauses for the procurement of AI by public organisations, to ensure a transparent, accountable, and secure implementation of AI systems. Digital rights governance framework to safeguard human rights in the digital context.  

  • Living-in.EU’s actions: Promoting a more responsible use of AI compliant with EU legislation (e.g. procurement clauses on AI aligned with the AI act). Providing tools to measure and progressively assess public authorities' digital maturity (e.g. LORDIMAS assessment tool and interactive dashboard, testing and further development). CommuniCity Open Calls will provide grants for 100 innovative pilots leveraging AI and other emerging technologies for social inclusion in line with the needs of vulnerable communities. A Living Labs approach, to develop local/region ecosystem where citizens and stakeholders are at centre of technological evolution. Promoting digital skills development programmes as a priority in the Digital Europe programme. 

 

Download the mission statement here!

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