On January 18th and 19th 2011 the international R&D project Smart Cities is holding an Academy regarding the application of geographic information systems (GIS) to support administrative processes in future-oriented public administrations.

Decision-makers of local and regional governments as well as representatives of scientific institutions from six countries will meet at Oldenburg’s Technology and Start-Up Centre (TGO). The event focuses on the usefulness of GIS regarding the development of new electronic Services provided by public administrations and the improvement of administrative performance via e-services.

“Geographic information systems (GIS) relate information on objects and processes to defined spatial positions on the globe. As about 80% of all information data used in local decision-making hold a spatial relation to a geographic position the significance of GIS becomes obvious: GIS is a powerful tool to raise efficiency in decision-making for administrations of all sorts”, says Professor Manfred Weisensee. Professor Weisensee is Vice-President for Research and Development at the Jade University of Applied Science and a partner of the Smart Cities project.

He continues: “On an administrative level the proper use of GIS-instruments forms an important prerequisite for a substantial improvement in planning and process efficiency. Thus, for quite some time, GIS-based technologies have become an increasingly more important application for modern administrations and will continue on this path.”

The GIS Academy as a part of the Smart Cities project is aiming for a fruitful exchange between experts from the fields of application and development regarding the benefit that geographic information systems can provide for the design and implementation of new citizen-oriented services by public administrations on a local or regional scale, e. g. in terms of new eGovernment-services to offer new ways of information or participation to citizens.

The Smart Cities partnership is made up of thirteen partners from six countries in the North Sea region. All of the government partners are leading cities and regions with considerable experience in developing and delivering e-Government. The Smart Cities project is creating an innovation network between governments and academic partners in the North Sea Region that is leading to excellence in the development and take-up of e-services and e-government, and which is setting new standards for eservice delivery across the whole North Sea region.

Smart Cities is partly funded by the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme of the European Union. The North Sea Region Programme 2007–2013 works with regional development projects around the North Sea. Promoting transnational cooperation, the Programme aims to make the region a better place to live, work and invest in.