Who we are
Data for All is an alliance of nineteen partners, hailing from seven different countries in the North Sea Region. As diverse as our backgrounds are, being municipalities, regions, research organisations, and companies, we are working together closely to design sustainable data solutions for citizens and businesses. We also strive to promote an understanding of how data can be used for the greater good of society.
Our ambition
Data for All's ambition is to position the North Sea Region as the front-runner of data-driven innovation. Its seven pilots will each create pioneering local data ecosystems, gathering knowledge in three fields: the technical, organisational and regulatory / ethical dimension of municipal and regional data utilisation.
Our pilots
Our seven pilots, one from each participating country, will lead the way towards innovative, sustainable data solutions.
Meet the Data for All partners
Intercommunale Leiedal is a regional public partner for thirteen municipalities in South-West Flanders, Belgium. Its core activity is urban and regional development. Leiedal aims to develop an innovative and sustainable smart region. It therefore supports its municipalities in their digital transformation and in the daily provision of digital services to citizens and companies. Leiedal’s Data as a Service (LDAAS) platform collects, updates, processes, and makes data available in multiple applications, thereby offering data services to municipalities, companies, and citizens in the Leiedal region and beyond. LDAAS will be enhanced into a platform for processing and sharing data across administrative levels. Its functionality is proven through a use case.
The City of Kortrijk is a prominent city among the in total thirteen municipalities of the Leiedal region in Belgium. It is a historical city situated in South of West-Flanders, Belgium. The Kortrijk agglomeration is embedded in the dynamic Eurometropolis Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai.
Kortrijk has, up to now, implemented several basic dashboards. Kortrijk is currently working to set up a data warehouse, integrating data from multiple heterogeneous sources to support analytical reporting and decision making. It furthermore collects data for reporting on the relation between city crowds and their expenditures as well as passenger counting. Kortrijk will work closely together with Leiedal and VIVES to develop a use case around traffic monitoring and regulation, starting with a thorough data inventory and data landscape analysis while later setting up and testing both a technical infrastructure and a digital service, based on data exchange with LDAAS.
VIVES University of Applied Sciences is a state-recognized higher education institution. Its core mission is to ensure higher education for students at bachelor level in the study areas of Applied engineering & Technology, Biotechnology, Education, Commercial Sciences & Business Management, and Health Care & Applied Social Studies. VIVES will accompany Leiedal and Kortrijk in the strategic and technical definition and implementation of the pilot. It will provide them with framework knowledge around ethical consideration in gathering, analyzing, and visualizing data.
Vejle Municipality is a local public authority in Denmark with high interest in digital development and innovative solutions. Vejle already offers a range of digital services to both citizens and businesses, among them apps and web-forms to ensure efficiency and accessibility. It has also developed digital solutions for infrastructure and urban space, and keeps expanding its use of technology and data.
Vimento is a start-up company based in Aalborg, Denmark. Vimento’s origin comes from the telecommunication industry where its founders worked more than seventeen years in planning, developing, and facilitating the telecommunication infrastructure.The company consists of experts within the field of identifying, organising and visualising data from different public and private backgrounds.
Vimento has extensive knowledge within strategic technical developments. This includes applications made from public data extracted from Danish governments and made available to clients, but also services made by request.
Brest Métropole in the Brittany region, France, wants to help the creation of a sovereign data marketplace, by producing a use case based upon a general interest policy, the attractiveness of the territory and the tourism.
Brest’aim is a facility manager and event organiser for Brest metropole. It manages and coordinates more than a dozen major facilities in the Brest basin, including Océanopolis, the biggest Ocean Discovery Park in Europe, as well as several harbour, sport and cultural facilities. Brest’aim plays a major role for the development of a sustainable and strong tourist economy in the region.
aconium accompanies the public sector, focusing on key areas such as digitalisation, energy, mobility, health and education. Its mission is to facilitate collaboration among municipalities, counties and companies to build the infrastructure necessary for the future. Together with German and European partners, aconium engages in funding initiatives, driving impactful projects for the digitalisation of rural areas, the development of smart local ad regional mobility concepts, and the implementation of intelligent strategies to promote sustainable development.
Together with Intercommunale Leidal, aconium assumes responsibilty for the overall coordination for the Data for All project, which encompasses transnational project, communication and financial management.
The University of Oldenburg is one of Germany‘s youngest universities. Its goal is to find answers to the major challenges society faces – through interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research. Data is the oil of the 21st century. Its usage, in a way that safeguards European values like privacy, is a key factor in solving diverse current challenges (such as disinformation or effective environmental protection) and in developing new business models. The Software Engineering group at the University of Oldenburg brings competencies in the fields of data analysis and data processing.
DLR is a renowned German research institution with more than 9.000 employees working in the fields of aviation, space, energy, transport and digitalisation. Its Institute of Transportation Systems (TS), situated in Braunschweig and Berlin, employs about 240 experts working on ground transportation (automotive, railways and traffic management).
With its “Information Acquisition and Modelling” (IGM) department with sub-departments “Architecture Principles and Platform Systems” and “Data Management and Quality”, DLR gathers significant knowledge and experience in the field of smart cities and smart mobility.
DLR is involved in specifying and building up the European Cloud System GAIA-X, particularly in the transport domain. It drives various national projects aiming at building up large-area test beds for innovations in transport, communication and data-based services.
The Heinrich Böll Foundation Schleswig-Holstein is an NGO which aims to foster sustainable development and to empower civil society to take an active role in shaping a digital future. It provides educational programmes and events and develops practical solutions and engagement tools, including digital ones, for citizens, communities and civil society actors.
The association works on democratic will formation, energy transition, socio-political engagement and international understanding. It also promotes art, culture, science and research as well as development cooperation. As a member of the overall Heinrich Böll Foundation, it cooperates with Böll institutions in all other fifteen German states, as well as the Federal Böll office in Berlin.
The Heinrich Böll Foundation Schleswig-Holstein emphasizes that digitalisation, i.e., technological applications and services, need to be accompanied with human participation. The sustainable transformation of regions into smart regions lays on co-operation and engagement with civil society.
KielRegion is a sectoral agency for regional development that combines the power of the state capital Kiel and the districts of Plön and Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Germany. It utilises the potential and resources of the entire region and constitutes an interesting location for young start-ups, innovative companies and traditional businesses.
It works on the fields of living, mobility, business and science. Together with strong partners, it is actively developing the entire region surrounding Kiel and opens up new perspectives for the future.
KielRegion is a member of a national German smart regions network and develops in this context a regional data hub. It is experienced in designing and implementing data-driven solutions.
The province of Drenthe in the Netherlands is a regional government organisation responsible for a range of tasks, including spatial planning, infrastructure, and public transportation. In the Data for All pilot, the province will play a key role in data sharing with its municipalities. Through the pilot project, the province will work closely with the municipality of Emmen to establish a framework for data sharing that addresses technical, legal, and ethical challenges, ultimately improving public service delivery across the region.
The Greenwise Campus Emmen will support the regional pilot in Drenthe and Emmen by providing specialised knowledge and expertise in the areas of data sharing, privacy, and security. They will also work to integrate the latest academic research and best practices into the pilot project, helping to ensure that the framework developed is based on the most current and effective approaches.
The municipality of Emmen is one of the twelve municipalities in Drenthe, the Netherlands and is responsible for tasks such as public safety, social welfare, and waste management. In the Data for All pilot project, the municipality will play a crucial role in sharing data related to these tasks, providing insights into community needs and data value at the municipal level.
The University of Stavanger (UiS) educates students at Bachelor, Master, and PhD levels and conducts research on different aspects of digital transformation such as smart cities and regions.
As part of UiS, the Cluster on Industrial Asset Management (CIAM) has developed and shared knowledge about industrial asset management for 20 years. It acts as a collaboration network between member companies and the University of Stavanger.
In Data for All, UiS and CIAM – Cluster on Industrial Asset Management will take an active part in all work packages as local project manager. UIS/CIAM will collaborate with ENH towards the goal of a usable tool for the municipality and companies, and in the process disseminate the results. UIS/CIAM will collaborate with the tandem partners in Vejle, Denmark, and Brest, France. UIS/CIAM have access to many different people at UiS and will include these as needed.
Eigersund is a municipality in Rogaland County. It created an organisation, Eigersund Næring og Havn KF (ENH), whose mission is to ensure a competitive, sustainable and coordinated industrial development within its three main areas of responsibility – harbour, industry and tourism. As a port authority, ENH is responsible for the operation and development of Eigersund harbour – one of Norway's largest fishing harbours.
As a partner in the Data for All project, ENH will be working closely with the UiS/CIAM to develop a data-centred business support model that enables data sharing between public authorities and local businesses or industries. By utilizing available data sources, ENH will create an integrated platform that combines various data sources and presents results through visualisations such as interactive dashboards, maps, and charts. The platform will be a gaming tool/ digital twin that enables stakeholders to filter and explore data according to their needs. ENH will also play a crucial role in identifying stakeholders' needs, providing feedback on system features, and facilitating user adoption and engagement.
Kungsbacka is a growing municipality located on Sweden's west coast. Through open data, it aims at creating and running digital services in all its areas of responsibilities, including opening new opportunities for businesses locally and internationally. Kungsbacka is already a member of two regional networks of Swedish municipalities that promote open data and create common standards. It intends to share the lessons learned in the Data for All project with these two networks. Additionally, Kungsbacka has started working with open data on various topics (e.g., traffic and road work, information ofsocial and sport facilities) and wants to extend and deepen its utilisation.
The University of Gothenburg (GU) is a multidisciplinary university that dates back to 1891. It consists of eight faculties and 38 departments, as well as a large number of research centres that span across several academic disciplines.The Department of Applied Information Technology is Sweden's premier department for studies of the digitalisation of society. It also hosts the Swedish Center for Digital Innovation. It identifies the challenge of digital government as a relevant domain for the public sector, and is actively involved in over 20 projects targeted at developing new methods and knowledge for municipalities, regions and agencies, in close collaboration with industry and the association for Municipalities and Regions.