Helsinki Region Infoshare (HRI) was amongst the three finalists in the Eurocities 2013 Awards. The Eurocities Awards recognize outstanding achievement by eurocities members in the delivery of local activities or practices which improve the quality of life for citizens and are judged in the context of the theme of the annual conference. An independent jury of five members from the thematic sector, academia, EU institutions, media and NGO judges the entries.
HRI service competed in the Smart governance category. An initiative of the Helsinki metropolitan area, HRI is a portal for public information from Helsinki and its surrounding municipalities. Two other shortlisted cities were Gijon and Edinburgh. Gijon was awarded as the winner with its Citizen Card, which is an access and payment card that holds the key to a wide range of services across the city.
Helsinki Region Infoshare is about making public data available for citizens to access, use and transform into creative new mobile applications. It began with a pilot project, which saw information such as statistics, financial data, public transport and service maps go public. From 2013 onwards, the wealth of data available to citizens and developers is expected to include historical maps and aerial photos and health and wellbeing data, to name a few. The availability of such data has prompted citizens to create many kinds of apps.
The award ceremony was hold in Gent, Belgium 27.11.2013. The two other categories of the competition were Smart Jobs and Smart Living.
Read more on the competition: http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/activities/eurocities-awards/awards2013
Read more on HRI: http://www.hri.fi/en/
Watch a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9h8xznwD6o#t=65
Further information:
Further information
Project manager Ville Meloni,
Tel. +358 400 260 000,
ville.meloni(at)forumvirium.fi