Brussels gets half a million for EU smart cities project

The Brussels-Capital Region has been selected to take part in the EU’s Smart City project bIoTope, in which a range different kinds of sensors are linked in a network to create a “smart city”. Three Brussels projects will share €575,000 in grants, said ministers Bianca Debaets and Pascal Smet, responsible for digitalisation and mobility, respectively.

One project concerns the neighbourhoods around schools and how motorists and schoolchildren behave in the areas, using information from wi-fi connections, smartphone traffic and road traffic flows. The information will supply data that will inform traffic control around schools.

Another bIoTope project concerns cyclists, making it possible, for instance, to allow them priority at traffic lights. A third project covers emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire trucks. Data from a smart city system can help drivers choose a route to an emergency not hampered by vehicles such as buses or rubbish trucks.

Photo courtesy bIoTope