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Cities that have already prioritised and budgeted for green transition are now becoming a stronger driving force for AI-demand within CitComTEF’s network of cutting-edge solution providers.

In 2024, the City of Mechelen explored a new way to improve cycling safety through the CitCom.ai project. Instead of buying a ready-made solution, the city launched an innovative procurement process that allowed multiple companies to test emerging, data-driven ideas in a real urban setting—showing how procurement itself can drive learning and innovation.

In CitCom, the interaction between companies, cities, and other public institutions is crucial. They can all bring different perspectives. The role of cities is largely to focus on the challenges that society faces and in this way contribute to qualifying technological development.

The company Gimic develops AI-based systems for automated quality control in the manufacturing industry and is the first to undergo RISE’s new Risk Assessment Analysis Service for evaluating systems in relation to the EU AI Act. The service has been developed within the framework of CitCom.ai TEF.

CitCom.ai TEF had a highly productive and inspiring presence at the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC25), the world’s leading event for urban innovation.

Imagine your city’s traffic cameras doing more than just monitoring. They could be earning money by providing valuable data to researchers and businesses, while protecting citizens’ privacy. A use case together with companies Felicity Smart Infrastructure, Milestone Systems, KMD, Aalborg University and CitCom.ai test sites UPV, LIST and DOLL is making that a reality, showing how AI cameras can safely and efficiently share information, opening new possibilities for everyone.

The LiDAR test was carried out to see whether privacy-friendly sensors can deliver precise, real-time data on how traffic actually behaves at a complex urban junction. The aim was to gain better insight into interactions between cars, cyclists, pedestrians and public transport, in order to improve traffic safety and support smarter traffic management decisions.

The pilot in Mechelen was done to test how advanced lidar and AI technology can map and assess the condition of cycling infrastructure under real-world conditions. By scanning over 50 km of bike lanes and analysing surface quality, the city aimed to gain accurate data that helps identify maintenance needs, improve comfort and safety for cyclists, and support smarter investment decisions in its cycling network as part of its role in the Citcom.ai innovation programme.