Backed by hundreds of organisations worldwide, including cities, governments, multinational bodies, companies, universities, civic-networks and standards bodies, the City as a Platform Manifesto emerged as a global call to action. It redefined how cities collaborate with technology ecosystems to drive inclusive, sustainable growth.
Developed by Carl Piva and Paul Wilson at TM Forum, the Manifesto explored the essential components of helping city authorities work with large and small technology companies from around the world. What began as a framework for collaboration became an international movement.
Filmed in London and Yinchuan, China, in 2017, this initiative marked the beginning of a four-year partnership with the city of Yinchuan, a period of deep collaboration and shared learning around urban innovation, platform governance and digital transformation.
The Manifesto: A Shared Framework for Digital Cities
At its core, the Manifesto recognised a simple truth: technology alone will not solve the complex challenges facing cities. We love our cities, and the people who make them great. We share a common desire to improve the quality of life for people and the planet, knit local communities closer together, and offer a new economic agenda for local government by using digital platforms.
But meaningful transformation requires more than infrastructure; it requires a collaborative framework that brings together residents, public institutions and the private sector to drive the desired outcome of sustainability, inclusivity and targeted innovation that benefits cities and their residents.
By understanding, adapting and applying platform business model principles, cities can become regional or global knowledge hubs and innovation centres, attracting talent, creating jobs and unleashing innovation with greater insight, precision andtransparency.
By signing the Manifesto, organisationscommitted to the following core principles:
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City platforms must enable services that improve the quality of life in cities; benefitting residents, the environment, and helping to bridge the digital divide.
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City platforms must bring together both public and private stakeholders in digital ecosystems.
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City platforms must support sharing economy principles and the circular economy agenda.
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City platforms must provide ways for local start-ups and businesses to innovate and thrive.
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City platforms must enforce the privacy and security of confidential data.
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City platforms must inform political decisions and offer mechanisms for residents to make their voices heard.
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City platforms must involve the local government in their governance and curation, and are built and managed by the most competent and merited organisations.
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City platforms must be based on open standards, industry best practices and open APIs to facilitate a vendor neutral approach, with industry agreed architecture models (see below for examples).
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City platforms must support a common approach to federation of data or services between cities, making it possible for cities of all sizes to take part in the growing data economy.
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City platforms must support the principles of UN Sustainable Development Goals: making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
The Manifesto also advocated for the use of common standards and technical specifications, such as those supported by the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and TM Forum’s Open APIs, offering a direct pathway to creating an open, flexible and interoperable city platform model.
The launch generated international coverage and catalysed global dialogue on platform-based urban innovation, like this:
