Local Accelerator Programs Towards Increasing Innovation within Smart Cities

As every part of our life changes due to digital transformation, innovation is the key enabler for radical transformation towards smart cities. Innovation is a process of generating, applying, testing, improving and up-scaling new ideas, concepts or products. Even though it cannot be planned, it can be guaranteed if it is embedded in the best available environment that allows rapid prototyping/testing, provides real-time feedback and encouraging great ideas so they become resilient new offers towards the market, triggering demands and interests. Former industry-driven cities nowadays increasingly step-up as active agents to drive and support local innovation through co-working areas, accelerators, open data policies and other areas of action. They intrinsically push for sustainable, digital and inclusive innovation that benefits the greater wealth of society. In this research, the links between cities and local innovation ecosystems are investigated. The self-referential and autopoietic capability to Smart City innovation ecosystems distinguishes it from industry-led innovation. It can only be understood with the new theme which digital transformation brings into play. By driving local innovation, cities can support the growth of local companies, solving societal challenges by referring back to market dynamics.