City of Things for Researchers

Building on collaborative research

What makes City of Things unique is our strong network of partners with wide expertise in the field of smart city innovation. At the moment, several research institutions and universities already play a crucial role in the City of Things. They are involved in almost all of our projects. As we strongly believe in the strength of collaborative research, we are interested in further expanding our network of research partners.

An attractive ecosystem: bringing stakeholders together

The backbone of the City of Things program is the collaboration between the different stakeholders, including industry, local governments, research institutions and citizens. To drive smart city innovation forward, we need to share our expertise and build on each other’s findings and achievements. If you decide to join the City of Things program, you will become a part of this attractive ecosystem.

By joining one of our research tracks (e.g., on passer-by-scanners, behavior change, digital signage, and many others), you will be able to work together with fellow research experts and industry partners. In this way, you will not only accelerate and expand your own research, but you will also become an active contributor to advancing the state-of-the art of smart city innovation.

Leveraging our technological expertise

The Internet of Things is a driving force behind smart cities. We are setting up a robust network and data architecture to enable the advancement of the Internet of Things. We have brought together a heterogeneous network - based on different protocols and communication standards (e.g. Zigbee, WiFi, Cellular, LoRa, SigFox, NB-IoT, etc.) – to support the sensors, gateways and actuators installed across the city. The data collected in this way is then transferred to a technology-neutral framework for data storage and analysis that offers an extensive set of tools for converting data into real knowledge.

Our living labs methodology

Smart cities are about more than just technology. Imec’s living labs team makes sure that all technological developments reflect the vision of those who will be using them – whether they are citizens, businesses, researchers or governments. All smart city applications developed in the City of Things are co-created, tested and validated by their end-users. As a researcher, you will be able to rely on imec’s extensive expertise with living lab methodology. To find out more about imec.livinglabs, check out our website.

Open access to a vast amount of real-time data

Within the context of the City of Things program, imec is rolling out the Internet of Things in the city of Antwerp by installing sensors, gateways and actuators – all of which are connected to a common data back-end. In this way, we are able to collect and store a wide range of data on city parameters such as traffic flows, energy consumption, air quality, noise, etc.

As we believe that a smart city is also an open and transparent city, we want to provide open access to these data. This results in a platform that provides a wealth of information and relevant feedback to support your research.

Join the ultimate network for smart city research

The City of Things – a collaboration between imec, the City of Antwerp and the Flemish Region – aims to create a large-scale living lab to test and develop smart city technology. With this unique project we aim to become a driving force in smart city research and development.

Could your research contribute to our cause? Join our network of partners!

Contact Nik Van den Wijngaert (Business Development Manager City of Things).