i-City, testing ground for a

wireless society

testing ground for a wireless society

i-City is the largest research lab for mobile

applications in the world

Together with users, different companies are building mobile applications for the future. IT-companies as well as others.i-City is the largest testing ground for mobile applications in the world. i-City turns Hasselt and Leuven into one big lab. By doing this, i-City can already develop the applications of tomorrow on a large scale, and test them in lifelike situations.

aim mobile internet platform

Maintain broadband leading position

Test platform for mobile applications

Allow non-PC users to consume internet based services

Service roaming: operator independent availability of service

Incubator function for new companies

Attract competence centres to Flanders

examples from a mobile future

VoIP. i-City’s telephony platform provides a unique mobile VoIP service. Your PDA is allocated a telephone number and can be reached from throughout the world.

Parking application. Look for vacant parking places via your handheld. Once you’ve found a place, you can reserve it too .

Heart monitoring. Medical equipment, linked to a handheld or PDA, ensures that heart patients are monitored constantly while at the same time remaining mobile. If a heart patient becomes ill, the PDA automatically warns the hospital.

Crèche. Using these applications parents can take a peek at their baby or toddler in the day nursery. Their loved ones appear on the PDA’s screen via the webcam.

the i-City components

components of the living lab

Infrastructure: hotspots

Software platform

Testusers and mobile devices

infrastructure: hotspots

Area: Hasselt and Leuven

Aim: Complete city covered by public wireless high-speed Internet

Timing:

2006: 300 Access Points per City aiming to reach 80% of its inhabitants/visitors

2008: a full 100% wireless coverage

Rollout

Hasselt 2005-2006

Leuven 2006

The user decides what information he wants

i-City is a trusted party making a secure walled garden in an insecure internet

i-City guarantees the users’ privacy

Access to

users

Paym

ent

build

ing b

lock

Location retrieval

User P

refe

rences

Perso

nal b

ehavio

ur

Permission based

End-User services

Me-centric

profileØ retrieve user location

Ø add / delete user profile

Ø manage subscriptions

Ø accept payments

Ø storage service for

application data

Ø preferences of user

Restaurant service“resto.be”

Cu

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info

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even

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nd

ar

“netevents

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co

mm

un

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site

asl, c

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“chat.b

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Uniform Look & Feel User defined portal layout

Presentation Layer

software platform

CSP platform: built in services

Online TV IM Mobile Blogging LBS Photo Album

Mail Local News Forums Info VoIP

test users

Various usergroups are defined

– 4.000 citizens with wireless PDA/XDA/smartphone to be allocated

– 4.200 students with wireless laptops active

-, - and - userprograms

– -users: 120 actively collaborating tech-savvy users

– -users: 4.000 users with sponsored device

– -users: enthusiastic users with own device

mobile devices

Pocket PC = your office in your pocket

Consumers don’t need an office,they don’t want to sync with a PC

PDA needs to become a connecteddevice like a mobile: turn it on, itworks

Naked PDA is too difficult to turninto a fun and useful tool

i-City bridges the gap with an ownRuntime Environment (Mercator)

founding members

member structure

The strength of i-City lies in its members:

Cross-fertilisation

Knowledge access

Members of i-City can Realise ideas for mobile applications

Test ideas for mobile applications

Step in at different levels and membership categories

Be part of the different i-City advisory bodies

Take part in a wide range of ‘wireless’-oriented activities

advisory board

6 (co-)founding members + all BoardMembers + 4 diamond partners + 8 platinum partners + honorary members

High level: Nominative representation

Expert backbone

Tasks Formally ratify decisions and ideas of workgroups

Advice on government policies

Touchstone on mobile data communication

4 plenary advisory boardmeetings / year

Start 2006

Advisory Board

Food &Retail

Leisure & Tourism

Education Mobility Healthcare e-GovFinance& Legal

Network& Security

Research

ReportsResearch

Reports

Research

Reports

Research

Reports

Research

ReportsResearch

Reports

Research

Reports

Research

Reports

Workgroup WorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroup

Advisory Board

Food &

Retail

Leisure &

TourismEducation Mobility Healthcare e-Gov

Finance

& Legal

Network

& Security

Research

ReportsResearch

Reports

Research

Reports

Research

Reports

Research

ReportsResearch

Reports

Research

Reports

Research

Reports

Workgroup WorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroupWorkgroup

work groups

8 workgroups with different angle

In touch with the needs for wireless applications

Companies, organisations, alphas, academics and other organisations take part

Participate in inventing and optimising mobile applications, ideas and services

Bottom-up information from a user point-of-view, that can lead to concrete applications

Food &

Retail

Leisure &

TourismEducation Mobility Healthcare e-Gov

Finance

& Legal

Network

& Security

Input Output

Non-Members & Members:Outer sectors

i-City + academics+

specialists

Part 2:

product development

Process

Bridge

between in-

and output

Facilitate

execution

of ideas

Part 1:

obtain ideas

Members

alpha profile

People

with ideas about wireless applications

who see the advantage of a wireless city

who do not only dream ideas, but realise them

with an ICT background who see the wireless future…

… or people who don’t know much about software, but from their background have ideas for wireless city projects

Strong selection process

Campaign to stimulate innovation

1.500 candidates, out of which >100 selected

Inactive members regularly removed

alpha organisation

alpha process

Alfa Workgroups

knowledge

Research, knowledge and know-how are vital for i-City:

Knowledge needs to be shared (cluster)

Knowledge needs to be accumulated (research)

Knowledge needs to be made concrete (spin offs)

Knowledge needs to be put across (education)

academic world

Embedding of knowledge through

the development of a Master after Master at the university

a strategic collaboration with the innovationcentre of the GOM (IWT) and the ICT-fund LRM

involving universities (KUL, VUB, UG, UH) and colleges (PHL, Xios, …), also through joint projects, and research institutes (IBBT, IWT, IMEC, FMV, EDM, …)

Brokerage in March 2006 together with IBBT

the i-City organisation

2001 2002 2003 2004

09/01: laptopproject Provinciale Hogeschool Limburg (PHL)

10/01: Sinfilo makes PHL wireless

02/02: Sinfilo gets help from Siemens

Telenet takes over Sinfilo: 10/03

03/02: Hasselt interested in wireless

09/02: Voka introduces Hasselt on Microsoft conf. Rome

05/02: Grote Markt Hasselt wireless

Felmish Goverment approves support: 06/04

IBBT gets to know i-City: 01-02/04

Start Consortium: + Fujitsu Siemens + Concentra: 12/03

Founding non profit ass. i-City: 07/04

Start development: 10/04

i-City history