Questions/Answers

Public space is the flagship of a modern city, where different interests and needs come together. In Vienna, various departments of the public administration are responsible for individual aspects of approval procedures. Potential users often need to consult several departments for a single project. "Vienna provides space" rethinks the use of public space by citizens and businesses: starting from an innovative customer interface, the underlying procedures up to the feedback to the customers are reorganised in the light of digitalisation. The goal is seamless end-to-end digitisation without media disruptions throughout the whole customer journey. The basis for many steps is the digitization of public space by "mobile mapping", which provides survey-precise 3D image data of public spaces, thus documenting the current status and keeping it up to date. The high-precision geodata enables virtual site inspections, data-based planning and faster and more efficient proceedings. A digital One-stop-shop for the use of public space is being developed in cooperation with citizens and businesses. It bundles comprehensive and easy-to-understand information and digital application options. The networking of relevant departments and the formation of competence centers is be promoted to provide one central point of contact for customers where they receive all permits from one source. This is achieved by legal changes, a redesign of the process landscape and the introduction of a common software system that functions fully integrated with the One-Stop-Shop and the existing system landscape. The data-based overview of public space creates more fairness and transparency and enables a "decluttering" of public space. Furthermore, the transparent presentation of regulations and possibilities for the use of public space enables a more active participation of citizens and businesses in the design of public spaces. Based on this data, simplifications for citizens and businesses throughout the whole processes were implemented and are improved.

"Vienna provides space” is fostering innovation to deliver inclusive and equitable services by a complete digitalization of procedures for the use of public spaces. Citizens and businesses can find the information and application options that suit them in just a few steps. Their concerns are dealt with more quickly and they receive digital feedback. A digital One-stop-shop for the use of public space is developed that enables citizens to co create public space. This is supplemented by physical One-stop shops to prevent a digital divide. Moreover, the competences within the administration are cleared up by legal changes and process redesign.

(9) By fostering an innovative spirit as an administration by making strong partnerships with research institutions and start-ups. Also by providing valueable open data sets that have been achieved with tax money for industry applications and scientific research without any further cost. (11) By promoting the sustainable and fair use of public space and making it a subject of debate. By actually making it more accessible for all citizens and especially for non-commercial uses to realize ideas in it. Moreover by breaking grounds for data based planning and decision-making and to integrate complex data in understandable form into systems (e.g. geodata as layers). With those data models can be built to identify e.g. heat/cool spots, to manage green spots in large cities or to systematically analyze public space. Based on this data based decision-making can transform a city to a more inclusive, accessible and green place. (16) By ensuring that commercial uses of public space contribute to society and by making regulatory and legislative rules clear and understandable.

The approach is sustainable, since it is a specific answer to the increasing pressure (of use) on public space in a rapidly growing city while maintaining the same level of resources in the administration. Due to the fast growth, the density of population is posing new challenges. Planning of public spaces based on reliable data is key to identifying opportunities – this can be the case for example in identifying and dealing with heat islands or identifying and offering suitable spots for participation projects in public areas.

As in many historically grown cities, the administration and planning of public space have changed fundamentally. Different concepts of public space and its usage coexist in laws, administrative processes and of course out in the “real” streets. It is a fact that the life quality of a modern city is to a significant part perceived by the quality of public space. Improving the accessibility and quality of public spaces means directly improving the quality of life for the inhabitants. Moreover, public spaces are limited – thus different commercial and non-commercial usage demands collide. In addition, a paradigm shift is apparent: While public spaces used to be perceived primarily as transit space, in many European cities there is a noticeable trend towards more diverse and intensified usages, resulting in increased pressure on public space. For a very long time, public administration has been merely administering objects and activities in public space. The ruling paradigm has been motorized individual traffic. With a shift towards more sustainable, human centered cities the task has changed to a more proactive, planning perspective. Initiatives like „Vienna provides space“ put this paradigm change into practice.

Studies have shown that women carry many initiatives on the use of public space, but at the same time that traditional administration structures pose a significant obstacle for women being heard and to carry through their ideas. In this view, „Vienna provides space“ enables citizens of all genders to put their idea into life by providing easy accessible information and services for the use of public space. Also the data created on public space is freely available to anybody and open to be used by initiatives, e.g. to identify safe spaces or conduct gender research on public spaces.

Potential users of public space often face complex application processes for a simple use like a small flea market, a parklet or a street festival. Business owners are confronted with complex regulations on advertising or a pavement café. Very often the approval of several municipal departments for a single project is needed. Making this process simpler and more transparent means enabling people to use the space in a better and more diverse way. Providing information in advance, opens up possibilities for co-creation. Often stakeholder groups using public spaces do not feel sufficiently heard by public administration. Actively involving stakeholders creates new opportunities for change and specifically addresses their needs. It also opens up the administration to new ideas. Start-Ups and Scientific institutions often lack data to put their projects into practice. By making the digital data of public space Open Government Data, „Vienna provides space“ opens up opportunities for both these groups to create new applications or to foster scientific research like automatic driving simulations or applications of artificial intelligence.

Geodata: Two "mobile mapping" campaigns have been completed (2018 and 2020) – digitizing more than 4,200 km of road axes in the urban area. The resulting 400 TB of highly precise geodata serve a growing user base of 2000 users in more than 45 organizational units. The use as Open Government Data is being prepared and the data has already been used in research cooperations with Universities and research institutes. Digitizing public space: In 2018 alone, more than 100,000 objects in public space have been digitized at very low cost. The image data service is used for digital on-site inspections, being cost-, time- and effort-saving for the administration as well as citizens and business owners. Service team for the use of public space: By 2019, an operational team has been established, “decluttering” public space and ensuring fairness. Experience shows that 30% of the objects in public space lacked permission. Fines for business owners who did not comply with the applicable laws and regulations amounted up to 1,5 Million Euros per year. Digital Applications: By 11/2018 digital applications for all common use cases of public space were made available within the framework of the city’s One-Stop-Shop platform. This is extended into a participative process with citizens and business operators. ICT Expert System: After analyzing the underlying processes a new process model was created, which is now fully supported by the common ICT system. The software for the relevant departments was fully rolled out in 2021. It is integrated in the One-Stop-Shop, SAP, the Electronic File System and the Geodata created by the programme, replacing a total of 37 individual systems.

Since data is key to the solution, privacy was a big concern. These concerns were addressed by actively engaging with the data protection community and by using the highest privacy and data security standards. Another obstacle was organizational change. The administrative processes were altered radically, changing the work environment of people. So comprehensive change management became an important part of the programme. Accordingly, organizational, legal and ICT projects were planned in an integrative manner. This holistic view, in which all stakeholders of the programme are involved, enables the digitization of these administrative processes in the true sense.

The programme "Vienna provides space" is based on three fully integrated pillars, in order to create a seamless end-to-end digitalized process for the customers and the administrative staff alike. Thereby the quality and efficiency of public space management as well as the transparency and service quality of the administration are increased: 1) Digitization of public space 2) Fully integrated ICT solution 3) Digital one-stop-shop. The holistic approach that integrates process design, ICT solutions and legal aspects is a prototype for the digital administration of the 21st century.

International knowledge transfer has already been carried out with Berlin and Paris, both of which are dealing with similar problems and put into practice some smaller initiatives to make the use of public space easier. However, the linking of geodata, administrative software and internal processes at "Vienna provides space" reaches beyond their solutions.

An important part in the solution is big data, connecting geodata – accounting data – procedural data – external registers (persons, businesses). The interconnection of these data makes a fully customized experience possible and makes applications and procedures for them easier. Another aspect is the use of geodata acquired by mobile mapping: 3D Images, point clouds and laserscanning make it possible to give a precise representation of reality on the screen, making it possible to do many steps of proceedings (like measurements) “on-line”. This also is the foundation for geolocating objects or recognizing objects like traffic signs with artificial intelligence.

The Viennese approach has already been presented comprehensively to representatives of the Cities of Berlin, Zurich and Dusseldorf, who considered (and) the findings by "Vienna provides space" highly transferable. International transfers were conducted with representatives from Ethiopia and Singapore. Within Austria, there is a lively exchange on this topic with the cities of Graz and Linz. The innovative approach was discussed at several conferences like the Smart City Expo World Congress, the World Summit Awards or the Major Cities of Europe IT User Group as well as the Austrian Association of Cities. In the course of shortlisting the project for the iCapital Award of the European Commission 2018, the approach was also presented to and discussed with great interest by an international audience in Brussels.

The comprehensive solution of " Vienna provides space" has a high transfer potential for urban spaces. All larger cities face a similar problem: an ever-increasing pressure on the use of public spaces. By integrating the surveying and recording of public space into an overall concept of process digitisation, the Viennese approach exceeds conventional approaches. Several ideas implemented in the programme point far beyond the actual realisation scenario and will be used for an exchange of knowledge and best practise in national and international context: 1) The use of geodata in official procedures in order to obtain aggregated representations, geobased queries or, in medium term, automatically created cadastres is a big chance for administrations to re-develop data based decision making. 2) The model of a participative reform process of administrative proceedings, in order to obtain first-hand information about the needs of the stakeholders. 3) The process design that strives for a seamless end-to-end digitisation without media disruption throughout the whole customer journey and a holistic concept of software that embeds ICT solutions into organizational change. 4) The organizational model of the project with a strong focus on internal and external stakeholder engagement and a maximum of transparency.

Based on business design and business case analysis, the financial resources for the programme were estimated a total of 6.25 million euros. Expenses exceeding this amount will be refinanced through structural savings; the programme is cost covering over a period of 10 years. The team consists of two co-programme leaders and 50-70 staff members of the implementing organizational units. The expenses for the IT implementation (incl. project overhead) were estimated to reach 50.000-65.000 hours. The digitization of the public space needs resources of approx. 650,000 euros every 2-3 years, plus 2.5 FTEs for one year for technical support.

The programme was planned for permanently anchoring the developed components and organizational changes to the organization. The support and involvement of top management and political representatives was assured from the beginning. The individual components have been developed centralized, thus taking the pressure of financing off the individual organizational units. The experts and departments responsible for these components in the programme establish staff continuity with the line organization. For maintenance and development, all processes and financing issues are clarified within the programme. The solution uses relevant standard systems in the respective areas (e.g. SAP, electronic file system…), which ensures long-term usability.

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The programme is managed, documented and controlled according to IPMA standards. Thus, the programme itself as well as the projects inside it are controlled by IPMA standards. There is a periodical controlling by an external finance controller, ensuring that the funds are used accordingly. The defined goals of the projects are monitored and reported to a steering committee as well as the strategic unit for city development and building. The structural savings are controlled and revised periodically in order to update the business case. On a technical level, the quality of data is ensured by a complex review system.

For budget controlling time and material was collected via SAP and mapped to the estimates via excel. For the monitoring of the goals, operational milestones were set and aggregated to give an indication on the status of a specific goal. For the structural savings indicators like work hours, hours for onsite inspections replaced by digital measures, revenue from controls/fines and savings on the lifecycle of outdated ICT infrastructure were calculated. The indicators were brought into a model, mapping out several cases. For the review of the massive data a system was designed in collaboration with the TU Vienna.

The ICT budget was constantly held over the years, without giving up any of the initial scope. The quality of the implementation is very good, thanks to the deep integration of KeyUsers and Experts. Up to now the initiative shows to be sustainable, since different parts of the administration are taking up their work in the line organization, using the solution in their daily work. Also the monitoring of public space usage is picking up well: In 2020 a total of 29.792 locations have been checked, showing that 30% of the objects in public space lacked permission. Fines for business owners who did not comply with the applicable laws and regulations amounted up to 1,5 Million Euros per year. The programme also established a coordination structure for public space issues connecting all relevant organizational units in order to support a further programme development in the long term. The One-Stop-Shop is constantly evaluated through customer feedback. More than 2000 applications are already submitted digitally, resulting in more than 500 actual proceedings every month. It shows that citizens want an even more integrated experience, making it possible to have a personal dashboard or payment options. This gives valuable input for future development.

As in many historically grown administrations, the tasks of creating a legal and organizational framework for interests and needs in public space are divided between numerous departments. In Vienna 9 (of 57) different municipal departments are involved in these processes, facing challenges of coordination and managing competence conflicts. Tackling procedures limited to their respective part of process chain reduce the overall picture and miss out on shared information. A survey had revealed a total of 37 IT systems/tools in those departments to administer over 300.000 objects and 25.000 approval cases per year. Accordingly, system and media discontinuities created additional obstacles to coordination. The lack of reliable data made on-site inspections to check the feasibility of new projects necessary. Data on current approval status was usually only available in paper form or if digitized, without exact geolocation. This made in-depth analyses based on permit data, comparison of application and permit data from different agencies, but also control activities de facto impossible. Customers often had to face incomplete information and unclear competences for a specific project. The situation being even more challenging if applicants need to obtain permits or approvals from different authorities for one and the same usage of public space.

Stakeholders and prospective users of the solutions have been involved in the whole process of service design via workshops and surveys. Thus, the agilely developed applications are tested at an early stage by means of surveys and/or focus groups in order to guarantee the most sustainable and demand-oriented service. Key to the success has been the personal contact: The programme is continuously presented at platforms, events and festivals, picking up ideas from the customers. New ideas are obtained for digitizing application processes and are implemented on the way – answering direct demands. Due to the important role of geodata in all steps of the process, data protection issues also arise. Thus, the data protection community was proactively involved, with the aim of making the data available to the public in compliance with all legal framework conditions. A key success factor of the programme is the comprehensive project communication and actively practiced project marketing. Due to the large number of internal and external stakeholders, information and communication has proven to be an important success factor for shaping change. A wide variety of communication channels are available for internal and external stakeholders, e.g. a website, newsletter and successful, proactive media work is done.

The main lesson learned is that the deep interconnection of process redesign, ICT solutions and proactive change management is key to success. It also showed that an honest, open relation to stakeholders and customers opens up many opportunities for the administration to become better and more demand oriented. Since the programme was tied to a certain timeframe and budget, it turned out that this restriction was a chance and a course at once. There would have been many other opportunities to broaden the solution to a more holistic, digital twin of the city. On the other hand the restriction kept the project manageable. Therefore, a plan to improve is definitely to widen it to other uses like parking space management, traffic management or park management. On the technical page, the use the use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality with the geodata created is a big issue. This goes towards a digital twin of the city. Pursuing this road, “Vienna provides space” has already been a catalyst for innovation in the mid European administrational landscape. In addition, the deepening of scientific cooperation with universities provides promising results on getting a better grip on the topic of data based administration.