The Smart City Office of Paradigm, Sibelga and perspective.brussels head for Vilnius
A Brussels delegation visited Vilnius from 25 to 27 October as part of the signing of a cooperation agreement between the city of Vilnius and the Brussels-Capital Region in the field of Smart Cities. The Vilnius delegation visited Brussels last May.
The day of 26 October began with a visit to Vilnius Šilumos Tinklai, Lithuania's largest supplier of heating and hot water, serving more than 210,000 households and businesses in the capital. This first day continued with a focus on sustainable mobility with a visit to JUDU, a public transport provider in Vilnius, which operates trolleybus lines.
A meeting with Ms Sičiūnienė, representative of the Vilnius district municipality, was then scheduled to talk about a project - launched by the city of Vilnius and scientists from the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University -, of intelligent sensors scattered around ten different locations in the city (city centre, industrial and leisure areas) measuring emotions. These sensors record a person's feelings at a given location: happy, pleasantly surprised, interested, angry or disgusted. In addition to facial expressions, various physiological data are measured, which can then be used to establish a happiness index. Once it is known where in the city people feel happiest and what activities give them the most satisfaction, these areas can be extended and repeated in different parts of the city.
In the afternoon, the delegation visited the Vilnius Plan, where a number of Smart City projects have been launched (use of drones by the city of Vilnius, use of AI and data in the city, etc.).
To conclude this rich programme of meetings and visits, a meeting was held at Vilnius City Hall with "Vilniaus apšvietimas", an organisation that ensures that the people of Vilnius benefit from high-quality street lighting services, public spaces and leisure areas that are both energy-efficient and safe. Finally, Mr Nikitin, Chief Engineer of the City of Vilnius, gave more details of the sustainable mobility projects in the Lithuanian capital and spoke, among other things, about the 12 key principles of Street Manual Design aimed at reshaping the streets of Vilnius.
During this visit, the City of Vilnius demonstrated that it is at the forefront of Smart Cities initiatives, and the Brussels delegation is delighted to have discovered a host of projects, each more exciting than the last.