[Video] Bringing Osborne Clarke's Experience to smartCITY Hamburg

Smart cities are ones which deploy innovative technology, create more innovative ways of delivering public services and make better use of data. 

Smart cities have the ultimate objective of becoming more prosperous, sustainable and a better place to live. Located in the north of Germany, Hamburg is pursuing a series of smart initiatives. A notable initiative is the smartPORT in Hamburg which is a primary economic driver in the city. In 2012, the Hamburg Port Authority initiated the smartPORT project in collaboration with the Department of Urban Development (BSU) and the Department for Economics (BWVI). smartPORT has two objectives. The first is to improve the logistical efficiency of the port. Amongst its many initiatives, one is to establish an intermodal port traffic centre that collects processes and then distributes traffic information to port users, enabling them to select the fastest mode of transport to transport goods to their final destination.

We need to build smarter cities to cope with larger populations, as well as remaining economically and socially competitive in an increasingly globalised market. This challenge is faced by all cities no matter their stage of development.  No single city, country, government, economic bloc, or company can build a smart city alone. It will require rallying expertise around some big ideas and then collaborating to overcome the challenges and sharing best practice, which, in turn, will enable innovation and accelerate the development of smart cities.

Here Christoph Torwegge, Head of Osborne Clarke Hamburg, discusses how Osborne Clarke brings expertise to smartCITY Hamburg.