In September 2016, Eindhoven had a first: the launch of the very first CBS Urban Data Centre (UDC). The collaboration with Statistics Netherlands (CBS) is in keeping with Eindhoven’s ambition to develop into a smart society, which is a city that uses the power of technology and design for its inhabitants in the best possible way. Now, two years later, it is time to look back together with the municipality and with CBS to see what has been accomplished so far.

A new flexible public transport service is now available in Eindhoven-Zuid, Waalre and Veldhoven. Hermes launched its “on-call” Bravoflex service.

Travellers can book a seat on a mini-bus using an app. The special bus picks up passengers at a selected bus stop. Passengers are then driven to their selected bus stop.

A new European photonics project has kicked off in Eindhoven this week. The R&D costs that are involved in developing photonic chips are high, 12 12 partners from northwestern Europe are creating an open access pilot line that will drastically reduce costs and time for the pilot production of new products. The facility is meant for shared use by European SMEs. The 14 million euro project (OIP4NWE) is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and led by the Eindhoven University of Technology. The production facility that is going to be built is expected to create a thousand new companies and thousands of jobs. It should be fully operational in 2022.

In recent years, we have seamlessly progressed towards connected-communities. As such, an ever-increasing wave of new smart products is meshing into our lives. Welcome to the new era of Smart Society.

Eindhoven’s High Tech Campus (HTC) currently holds the top spot on Innovation in Europe. As a matter of fact, HTC is quickly becoming the driving force on several key technologies in the global arena.

It may be a small Dutch city, but it’s home to a powerful roster of major global automotive companies; it’s also strong economically, thanks in part to the pan-industry, cross-discipline Brainport initiative. As a result, Eindhoven has secured its place in the future mobility race.

The city’s culture of sustainability, innovation and industry-academia collaboration have helped to attract global companies to invest, and the Dutch government’s active involvement, coupled with its ambition to cut emissions and make the country globally competitive, have created the ideal home for developments in smart mobility.

Barcelona is one of the world’s leading examples of Smart City developments. And that is even more so during the annual Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), from 12 to 15 November in that city. “It is the meeting place for companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups, cities and knowledge and research centres involved in smart cities”, says Johann Beelen, who is helping to enthuse a Dutch delegation for the conference on behalf of Brainport Development. This year this delegation will be led by the Eindhoven mayor John Jorritsma.

“Our goal is to present the offer and the added value of Dutch organisations and companies within the Smart City sector as concretely as possible”, says Johann Beelen. This is done along six different tracks:

A recent influx of expat professionals into the Meerhoven district of Eindhoven has resulted in the area’s rechristening as Expathoven.

The Dutch city of Eindhoven is bidding to be the Netherlands’ most international city due to a massive influx of expat tech professionals, most of whom have settled in the Meerhoven district. The vast majority of the 11 thousand residents in the area are highly skilled expats who’ve arrived to take up jobs in ultra-high tech companies such as leaders in the semiconductor sector NXP and ASML. The area has now been dubbed ‘Expathoven’ by local residents.

The Dutch government has signed an agreement with the province of North Brabant on the further development of 'Brainport Eindhoven', the industry and research hub in the province. This covers investments in improving the infrastructure and investment climate in the area, including efforts to attract talent to the region.

“The purpose of life is not to increase its velocity.” – Gandhi

My ancestors came to America from the southern regions of Italy and populated New York City, as well as many small towns in Upstate New York and Pennsylvania. It surprised people unfamiliar with the unique and specifically local and regional nature of Italy that, even though I am of Italian ancestry, I did not visit Venice in northern Italy until I was nearly 40 years old.

I was there for my honeymoon. It was a glorious, sunny day. The Grand Canal and especially the Rialto Bridge at dusk captured me like love itself, and though northern and southern Italy are as different as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, I knew I had, in some deep sense, returned “home.”

My new wife and I were headed to the site of La Fenice, the iconic opera house which had mysteriously burned to the ground in the late 1990s. She loves opera and I love walking in cities and meeting people.

The Netherlands might not be present at the World Cup in Russia but students at Eindhoven University of Technology have taken the world RoboCup title after beating a Portuguese team 1-0 at the final in Montreal.

It is the fourth time the Eindhoven team, known as Tech United, have taken the title. They lost the final last year to a team from China.