In this episode of Smart in the City, we travel to the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg in Germany to explore how a mid-sized municipality is driving digital transformation through a human-centric approach. Petra Schwerdtfeger, Smart City Officer for the City of Aschaffenburg, shares details on the city’s "Dialog City" strategy. This initiative focuses on integrating digital and analogue worlds to ensure technology serves the common good and remains accessible to everyone.

The conversation highlights the successful implementation and replication of the Smart Data Dashboard and the AschaffenBürgerGIS, both built on Open-Source technology. Petra provides insights into the practical benefits of city-to-city collaboration, explaining how Aschaffenburg adapted existing solutions from Münster and Hamburg to save costs and avoid reinventing the wheel. We also examine the realities of municipal decision-making, the importance of data sovereignty, and the challenges posed by limited internal resources when accelerating urban change.

Like our show? Remember to subscribe and rate it!

Want to join us for an episode? Fill out the form on our Podcast Page.

And for more insights, visit our BABLE Smart Cities Knowledge Hub