Tag: technology

Florence – Civic crowdfunding

Florence has joined forces with local stakeholders and active citizenship to launch a crowdfunding initiative. Collected funds will help finance projects in areas such as welfare, education and culture. Four projects have already been selected through the platform. These have financed the purchase of medical equipment for a retirement home, a dedicated food delivery system for people in financial difficulty, and the purchase of tablets for students to guarantee access to online education. Read more here (in Italian)

Contact: Alessandra Barbieri

Espoo – Smartbot gives multilingual advice

Espoo is testing a smartbot, a learning artificial intelligence application, to answer questions in more than a hundred languages on the city website. The smartbot is available around the clock and can serve more than 100,000 users at the same time. The bot has been added to the helpline already offering guidance in 16 languages. Read more here and here

Contact: Annika Forstén

Tel Aviv – Overview of measures

Tel Aviv has compiled a summary of the measures it has taken to tackle the crisis. The comprehensive report includes a range of measures, from contact and community activities with residents to education and social services, to technology and businesses support. The city has also dedicated a section to seizing opportunities and one to looking at the future after corona. You can download the document here.

Contact: Sharon Landes-Fischer

Vilnius – Tech savvy help

In Vilnius, volunteers are matched with tasks submitted by people in need through the Strong Together volunteer coordination website. Social media, websites and direct messaging also helped local entrepreneurs raise around €600,000 to help fund the crisis efforts. And while information is dropped at everyone’s door mobilising even drones, medical facilities benefit from free internet. Read more here