(Event slides) Building Smarter Cities: From testing in real urban environments to local deployment and scaling

This is the slide deck of the Event "Building Smarter Cities: From Testing in Real Urban Environments to Local Deployment and Scaling". The event was organised by DEDEP.eu and CoordinaTEF, in coordination with DTA Phase II supporting the network of EDIHs, and was held on 15 September 2026.

Cities and urban communities are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence, robotics, and data-driven solutions to address challenges in mobility, public services, safety, and sustainability — a shift supported by significant investment through the Digital Europe Programme.

Yet the central challenge is no longer discovering promising technologies, but understanding how to move from testing in real urban environments to full-scale, local deployment. This transition is far from straightforward: solutions must be secure, interoperable, and adaptable to the varied regulatory, infrastructural, and organisational realities of different cities and regions. Public authorities and SMEs alike often lack a clear route from validation to system-wide adoption, leaving successful pilots isolated rather than replicated across urban contexts.

Initiatives such as Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs), European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), AI Factories, and other Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) actions each address part of this journey — from testing and validation to deployment support and skills development. However, these initiatives are often perceived as fragmented rather than forming a coherent pipeline, leaving cities, public authorities, and technology providers uncertain about how to navigate the ecosystem and scale AI solutions with confidence.