At the closing conference, Materna presented key findings from the SmartLivingNEXT research programme and invited companies, start-ups and the housing sector to play an active role in further developing the data ecosystem.
How can housing, energy supply and healthcare services be better integrated in future? This question was the focus of the closing conference of the SmartLivingNEXT research programme in Berlin. The event demonstrated how a sovereign data space can help to connect previously separate sectors via secure, standardised and purpose-built data flows.
The aim of SmartLivingNEXT is to enable digital sovereignty in Germany and Europe and to create a foundation for sovereign AI services for residents, housing companies, federal states and local authorities, as well as energy suppliers, care service providers and other market participants.
SmartLivingNEXT thus addresses a key challenge facing the smart living market: a great deal of data is already available within buildings or will be generated in future by smart meters, IoT sensors, smart home systems or digital assistant solutions. However, this data often remains locked away in individual systems. The SmartLivingNEXT data space is designed to overcome these data silos without centrally collecting data or replacing existing specialist systems. Rather, the data room connects the three levels: from the smart building that collects data, through digital operations where this data is utilised economically, to the building as part of the infrastructure, integrated into neighbourhoods, local authorities and cross-sectoral infrastructures.
“SmartLivingNEXT is not a new centralised platform that pulls all data towards itself,” says Filip Milojkovic, Team Leader for Data Management & AI at Materna and Project Manager for SmartLivingNEXT. “The data space creates an infrastructure through which existing systems can exchange their data securely, for specific purposes and in an interoperable manner. The data remains in its original environment, but is made usable via shared semantic concepts.”
At the conference, Materna presented, amongst other things, technological building blocks and demonstrators for the transition from research to real-world operation. These include an energy efficiency data portal and the SmartLivingNEXT app. The energy efficiency data portal demonstrates how, in particular, federal states and local authorities can fulfil statutory reporting obligations with the aid of AI.
The app makes energy consumption and costs more transparent and can support landlords and tenants in multi-occupancy buildings with energy-saving measures and tenant electricity schemes.
Further application scenarios demonstrate the breadth of the data ecosystem. Preventive risk detection based on vital signs and home automation data, AI-based step-by-step recommendations for untrained care staff, or incentives to save energy via live consumption data are just some of the possible applications.
“The practical benefits arise where data from different areas is meaningfully brought together,” explains Milojkovic. “The energy sector needs real-time and consumption data for more efficient control. The care sector needs contextual data to identify needs at an earlier stage. The housing sector often sits at the interface, but does not wish to become a software house, energy supplier or care service provider itself. This is precisely where the data space clearly separates the roles whilst still enabling collaboration.”
SmartLivingNEXT thus opens up a new strategic role for the housing and property sector. Housing companies do not need to develop digital end-user services themselves. However, they can provide data access, building infrastructure and tenant communication in such a way that new services emerge within the neighbourhood. This ranges from energy efficiency and heat protection, through to mould prevention, and includes assistance services for older people or those in need of care.
Once the research programme has concluded, the SmartLivingNEXT data ecosystem is to be continued and opened up to new participants. Materna is committed to operating the data space in a technically stable manner during a transitional phase and to facilitating a structured onboarding process for new partners. This will allow companies to prepare for the next phase at an early stage and contribute their own use cases.
“It is now crucial that as many stakeholders as possible get involved,” says Milojkovic. “Start-ups, PropTechs, energy companies, care providers, local authorities and the housing sector can jointly develop business models that currently fail due to proprietary, stand-alone solutions. Our call to action is therefore: anyone who wants to do more than just observe smart living – but help shape it – should join the ecosystem now.”
New partners can register via smartlivingnext.de/partner-werden to join the SmartLivingNEXT data ecosystem once the project has ended.
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