The workshop held in Tampere is part of the pilot for the Tampere VIP AI application, which was carried out in February in connection with UMK. The application can serve as a personalised assistant for residents and visitors. Users can ask it, either by typing or directly through voice control, for recommendations such as lunch places that suit their preferences, events, city attractions and information about traffic congestion.
The shared goal of the cities in the workshop is to create better services for residents and visitors.
– Collaborating with the City of Tampere is a vital opportunity for the City of Los Angeles to shape the future of digital city services. The ‘Tampere VIP’ AI application serves as a compelling model for how cities can leverage technology to offer personalized, proactive support for residents and visitors. We are eager to contribute our expertise and adapt these ethical, scalable insights to enhance our own digital services and accessibility, ensuring the City of Los Angeles is equipped with the best tools to serve our residents, visitors and those navigating City processes during our upcoming major events and beyond, says Dawn Comer, Executive Officer, Mayor’s Office of Finance, Operations and Innovation.
– The positive feedback from the pilot strengthened our view of the innovation’s potential. International interest and cooperation provide a strong foundation for the further development of the services, says Johanna Kirjavainen, Deputy Mayor of the City of Tampere.
The workshop will explore the opportunities that Tampere VIP as an innovation could offer, for example, in supporting equal access to major events, improving the discoverability of nature tourism destinations and supporting small businesses in city centre areas. The ethical use of AI will also be discussed as part of the workshop.
– This workshop captures Tampere’s way of working: we share expertise, learn together and build future innovations through cooperation. In line with Tampere’s digital vision, we want to ensure that AI and digitalisation serve residents, visitors and businesses in the best possible way, Kirjavainen says.
– Business Finland has maintained long-term cooperation with Tampere in strengthening connections with Los Angeles, and this is now the third year that we have welcomed a delegation to Tampere. Companies in the Tampere region have also been highly active in participating and showcasing their technologies to visitors from Los Angeles. We hope to see this kind of collaboration continue in the future, says Elina Puszkarzewicz, the head of Business Finland’s Decarbonized Cities Program.
