City of Munich Innovation Challenge

How can the City of Munich react to rising summer temperatures so as to better protect pedestrians from heat-related health risks?

Construction measures to provide better heat protection for public pedestrian areas is a laborious undertaking. We want to provide an innovative solution to heat protection through smart optimization of the city’s pedestrian routes. A solution tailored to specific target groups is particularly important to protect the health of heat-sensitive pedestrians. One way of providing this functionality could be via a suitable route planning option for Munich’s citizens and visitors in the City of Munich’s GeoPortal or in another suitable mobile app. Factors that play a key role in planning a route include the shade offered by buildings, structures, and vegetation over the course of the day and season, as well as the cooling effect of green areas. A solution that considers current construction works and individual preferences, including barrier-free access and Points of Interest (POIs), such as drinking fountains and public toilets, would be an additional benefit.

When it comes to developing this progressive form of route planning, we would like the solution to:

• be based on spacial (geo)data from the Digital Twin Munich.
• create a georeferenced route that can be depicted in a digital map and incorporates OGC standards.
• be user-friendly and intuitive, not least for vulnerable groups such as seniors.
• focus in particular on protecting health and helping users avoid physical strain during periods of intense heat.
• be scalable, with possible future use for the entire city.

The co-creation phase will involve expert cooperation with an existing district project where other innovative approaches to heat protection are already being implemented or tested in model projects: Project district “Creating NEBourhoods Together – Neuperlach” or the model project to promote district-focused health “München – gesund vor Ort” in Moosach

for new and future Munich citizens

How can a digital welcome center help new and future Munich citizens obtain all the information that is personally relevant to them?

Challenge
Munich is constantly attracting new citizens. It is important to provide them with relevant information, for example on support and advice services, to ensure they get off to the best possible start in their new home. Obtaining this information alone is currently a wearisome process, as the information has to be drawn from various public sources, rather than it all being available from one place. New citizens therefore often contact the city’s administrative staff, who themselves then face a similar challenge and are unable to quickly find all the required information.

Task
The City of Munich wishes to develop a digital welcome center that allows new arrivals to obtain information easily and independently, and also enables efficient, one-to-one support for citizens from its staff. This would lessen the burden on the administrative employees while at the same time improving the quality of support.

We can imagine a tool that searches various external, public sources as well as, in the future, possible internal information sources (for example with support from AI), gathers the relevant information, and presents it in a manner tailored to individual requirements. Ideally, users would only have to enter keywords into the search function; the tool would then search all linked websites and display the corresponding advisory service.

In the implementation phase in fall/winter 2024/25, the winners of the Innovation Challenge 2024 will test their solution in a real urban environment. This will happen in close cooperation with experts from the Department of Public Order (KVR) and the IT Department (RIT). Employees from, for example, the city’s telephone service hotline can test the solution as part of the process.

Additional background information
The City of Munich already has plans to set up an “analog” welcome center as an initial point of contact for newcomers to the city. The proposed solution should function as a digital counterpart.

The necessary information should be drawn from the various portals for advice and support within the city government (e.g. Department of Public Order, Department of Social Services, Department of Labor and Economic Development, Department of Education and Sports), as well as from partner authorities (e.g. the Job Center, Munich Employment Agency, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chamber of Skilled Crafts), migration services (independent organizations’ advisory services for migrants) and additional entities (e.g. Munich’s transport authority MVG).

Future potential
As well as gathering information for new arrivals to the city, the tool can be used in other scenarios further down the line, for example to help job seekers or City of Munich employees who need more efficient ways to search information from internal sources.

How can a digital, user-oriented form of communication make it easier and faster for companies to recruit staff and for international newcomers to find jobs in Munich, thus benefiting labor market integration as a whole?

Challenge
The current shortage of skilled workers is having a serious impact on many sectors in Munich, and integrating refugees or people with a migrant background can involve many difficulties, from legal and bureaucratic hurdles to laborious, inefficient processes. Misunderstandings and a lack of information among authorities, companies, and newcomers looking for work in Munich make rapid integration more challenging.

Task
The “Job-Integrationslandkarte” (“Job Integration Map”) is an already existing City of Munich information service that offers international newcomers an initial, visualized orientation of what is involved.

Taking this as a starting point, the aim is to develop a digital, smartphone-compatible, multilingual application that, in the form of an individual digital journey, eases access to Munich’s labor market. The digital communication tool should be AI-based and be able to work out individual job seekers’ best path towards finding work and also point them towards relevant points of contact and advisory services. We would like to see a similar concept for Munich companies, to aid their journey in recruiting international skilled workers. In addition, the application should promote better coordination and cooperation between all stakeholders and comply with GDPR data-processing regulations.

Objective
The tool should create greater transparency, help with orientation, and boost communication between authorities, companies, and international newcomers in Munich. The compass and communication functions will record the latest situation regarding supply and demand on the local labor market. In this way, the support structures offered by labor market organizations can be optimized, while the associated services, including clearing, advice, vocational recognition, placements, and training measures can be better coordinated.

Close cooperation and dialog with the relevant City of Munich authorities is needed in order to develop and test the prototype. We envision particularly close cooperation with the IT Department’s InnovationLab and the ReDI School Munich, an educational entity supported by the Munich Employment and Qualification Program (MBQ). Other key public labor market players, such as the Employment Agency, the Job Center, and the Chambers (IHK and HWK) should also be involved.

How can the City of Munich quickly, comprehensively, and affordably collect and analyze the necessary data in order to develop tailored solutions to stationary traffic?

On average, a private car is used for only one hour a day. This means that 96% of the time the vehicle is stationary and taking up valuable public space. While there is a general trend towards less driving in Munich, the number of vehicles owned by Munich residents actually rose by about 6% from 2019 to 2022. In other words, private vehicle use has become even more inefficient. Consequently, lack of parking space is already a major problem in many parts of Munich. Unfortunately, measuring and evaluating stationary traffic – the term used to describe parked vehicles – is a complex process and the City of Munich has too little reliable information about stationary traffic in both public and private spaces. We are therefore seeking innovative ways to record and analyze data on this issue more quickly and efficiently. The proposed solution should save time and money and be sufficiently scalable to cover the entire city. By gaining a better understanding of the parking situation, the City of Munich can develop tailored solutions.

Data on stationary traffic is currently only recorded in a sporadic, manual way and involves considerable time and effort. In addition, the data on private parking spaces is not digitized and cannot be put to use. This is why the Department of Mobility is seeking a creative, digital solution to help identify and evaluate the situation regarding stationary traffic. While not essential, it would be ideal if the proposed solution encompasses private as well as public parking spaces.

Particular attention should be paid to

• the solution’s suitability for long-term use,
• quality of the data (georeferenced),
• an affordable financial framework,
• ensuring that no construction activities are needed (placing sensors at parking spaces, etc.), and data protection.

What tools can we use to promote energy-sufficient mobility routines and lifestyle aspects and thus help achieve lasting changes in citizen behavior as part of the transition to climate-friendly mobility?

Challenge
The term “energy-sufficient” implies a strategy of both “less” (e.g., reducing energy use or distances traveled by car) and “enough” (e.g., when is the basic need for mobility sufficiently met). The motorized transport of people and goods requires energy. Munich’s Department of Climate and Environmental Protection has already launched the programs “Klimaneutrale Antriebe” (“Climate-neutral power units”) and “E-Taxi” to help address the issue. These programs offer the city’s citizens and traders services to encourage them to switch to climate-friendly power units and to use aids such as cargo bikes and trailers. However, services and funding alone will not be enough to achieve the city’s climate targets. The city’s urban planners have been working to minimize individual transport needs and make Munich a “City of Short Journeys” since the 1980s.

We need to make our citizens more aware of the issue and achieve lasting changes in mobility habits. We want to promote the “sufficiency” concept as part of a “slow movement” and “less, but better” culture that is beneficial for the personal well-being and health. To help achieve this challenge, we are keen to learn about new, innovative ideas that go beyond or supplement the strategies used to date (e.g., gamified apps, communication campaigns).

Task
We are looking for an innovative solution that helps Munich’s citizens adopt more climate-friendly mobility habits by learning and internalizing sustainable mobility routines. The solution should be positive and enjoyable, rather than restrictive and prohibitive. It should be directly related to Munich and thus emphasize and serve the City’s climate protection targets.

Future potential
As well as directly serving the aim of climate-friendly mobility, the tool may be applicable to other climate-relevant areas in the future, such as food, consumption, and energy.

The following teams won the awards in 2023:

Topic: „Healthy senior citizens: "Digitalize a service and care network“, winner: Helferportal GmbH & Co. KG

Topic: „Expand places in Munich with digital innovations", winner: Team Puppet

Topic: „Digital monitoring of Munich's Diesel-free zone", winner: Transcality AG

Topic: „Text and the City - text mining in city development “, winner:  Legal-Pythia LLP

More information (in German).

The following teams won the award in 2022:

• Winner of the challenge “Raising awareness of climate change”: Cityscaper GmbH
• Winner of the challenge “Development of a cemetery app”: CI Cloud Item GmbH and proband15 GmbH
• Here you can find more information on the projects and the all the award winners from 2022.

The following teams won the award in 2019:

Topic: Waste avoidance in Munich's schools, winner: upride (formerly  bike|solutions )

Topic: Weekly digital market – Penetrating new target groups, winner Digitaler Wochenmarkt München

Topic: Self-generating calendar of cultural events for urban districts, winner: Neighbor