Amsterdam wins European innovation award

The Dutch city has been awarded the European Capital of Innovation, or iCapital, for 2016, during a ceremony hosted by the European Committee of the Regions.

This year the Commission awarded the European city that is building the best ‘innovation ecosystem’–connecting citizens, public organisations, academia, and businesses, of which Amsterdam was deemed to be the winner by a jury of independent experts.

“We are very glad to win this prize because it is also a prize for the citizens of Amsterdam,” said Gerard den Boer, Strategy and Development from Amsterdam City, on accepting the award. “They have done it and made it possible. We are more or less enabling this as a city. We are a platform and we give the opportunities but the citizens take that chance and innovate the city as much as possible. You don’t have to be a large or super smart city to innovate in this way.”

Amsterdam’s prize of €950,000 will be used to scale up and expand the city’s efforts on innovation. Two more cities, Turin and Paris, were selected as runners-up, and will receive prizes of €100,000 and €50,000 respectively.

“Amsterdam fully deserves to be our European Capital of Innovation for its holistic vision of innovation in and for the city,” said Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. “But the competition was very tough and the outstanding achievements of all nine shortlisted cities are an inspiration to others.”

Amsterdam received the award in recognition of its approach to innovation related to four basic areas of urban life: governance, economics, social inclusion, and quality of life.

“This award is all about speeding up change: we must encourage cities and regions to tackle burning societal challenges by jumping on the innovation train and spreading bottom-up experiences,” said Markku Markkula, President of the European Committee of the Regions. “We need pioneering cities and regions like the winner, Amsterdam, to lead the way.”

The nine finalists were:

• Amsterdam – for embracing a bottom-up approach based on smart growth, startups, liveability and digital social innovation,
• Berlin – for performing as an urban living lab where innovative Information and Communication Technology solutions can be tested,
• Eindhoven – for combining digital technology with creativity in its world-leading urban smart lighting strategy,
• Glasgow – for its replicable innovation model based on partnerships across industry, science and communities,
• Milan – for enhancing social inclusion and alternative models in the delivery of public services to create more opportunities for employment,
• Oxford – for its vision to openly share the wealth of knowledge within its world-class innovation ecosystem,
• Paris – for its strategy based on open innovation, connectivity and ingenuity aiming at becoming a world hub for start-up,
• Torino – for its open innovation models supporting social innovation start-ups and creating new market opportunities for urban innovations,
• Vienna – for its innovation and ICT strategies based on a citizen-centred approach and long-term developments in economy, education, research and technology,