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Charlottenburger Chaussee 109
13597 Berlin
030 3325772
marian@ich.ms
Think Tank and Innovation Lab for the Smart City of Tomorrow
The future doesn't happen by itself. Innovation must be encouraged and driven. CityLAB Berlin is at the forefront of digital innovation, from smart city governance to festivals of creative bureaucracy and data analysis to help improve neighbourhoods. Get ready for the smart city of the future.
If you've lived in Berlin, you've most likely visited a government office – be it to register, get a visa, sort out tax issues or some other boring, if necessary, bureaucratic task. You'll most likely have noticed how a surprising amount of these administrative processes can't be done online and require paper forms. And that these offices have shelves creaking under the weight of countless folders full of paper records. On the one hand, the system works – the processes might be slow and frustrating, but they get the job done. On the other hand… could there be a more efficient way? Without paper and snail mail and queues and appointments and frustration? Could we experiment to see if other methods work, too? CityLAB Berlin thinks that we can experiment – indeed, that we should and we must experiment, make mistakes, learn from them and improve. They believe this is how we can use technology to make the city better and more efficient for everyone.
The Berlin city government agrees. According to Frank Nägele, Berlin's State Secretary for Administrative and Infrastructure Modernization, "…the administration cannot organise change processes as well as the start-up scene can. Start-ups have a high tolerance for mistakes and failures. That's different in the administration. Administrations are designed to work error-free. That's why they are inherently cautious, even averse, to change. With CityLAB, the Berlin administration gets a protected space where one can dare to question existing processes, bring in their own ideas and consult experts for the conversion."
CityLAB isn't just focused on improving administrative structures. They're interested in any idea that might transform Berlin into a city of the future, and so far they've come up with many interesting ways to do so.
CityLAB is based in Tempelhof. They hold workshops, presentations, panel talks, conventions and other events at their offices. Some of their recent events have included:
CityLAB Berlin HQ is right beside U-Bahnhof Platz der Luftbrücke in Tempelhof. Since many events are now online, check their event listings to see what's going on. It's still worth a trip to this part of Berlin – Tempelhofer Feld is a wonderful wide-open expanse of urban green space, and the bars and restaurants of Bergmannkiez are not to be missed.