Smart City LoRaWAN Integration Labs@bw

Local authorities in Baden-Württemberg are currently facing the challenge of utilising limited resources as efficiently as possible and reducing environmental pollution. At the same time, the quality of life and mobility options in urban areas should be maintained and expanded.

According to the coalition agreement signed in 2021, the state government has set itself the task of supporting the path to sustainable, digital, participatory and smart municipalities and regions. Smart cities and regions are to be viewed holistically using networked data streams. LoRaWAN technology is a key technology in this context. LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) offers a cost-effective, energy-efficient and far-reaching solution for the wireless networking of sensors and devices in urban areas. The state government has therefore decided to support innovative projects for the concrete application of LoRaWAN. This type of low-power wireless data network enables fast, simple and efficient networking in the context of battery-operated IoT applications (IoT = internet of things) based on small amounts of data.

By using LoRaWAN, cities can make intelligent, data-driven decisions to improve quality of life, use resources more efficiently and reduce environmental impact, especially in the areas of traffic control and car park monitoring.

‘LoRaWAN Labs@BW’
The aim of the ‘LoRaWAN Labs@BW’ research project is to identify and research practical use cases with a particular focus on mobility-related data. Innovative pilot and implementation projects are to be carried out in Baden-Württemberg in collaboration with local authorities and implementation partners. The aim is to realise the potential of inter-municipal cooperation and promote scaling.

Mobility and the resulting data are key to the digital transformation and the smart city. Since 2018, funding from the Strategy Dialogue Automotive Industry has been used to promote the networking of companies in the mobility industry with local authorities and the discussion and development of mobility solutions. Suitable funding programmes for successful projects are helping these solutions to scale up in Baden-Württemberg. The ‘LoRaWAN Labs@BW’ funding project promotes the objectives of the automotive industry strategy dialogue as well as the state's climate protection goals and the objectives of the digital .Länd digitalisation strategy.