Ljubljana leads the way in a smart city success story

Ljubljana, Slovenia, the first city to digitalize its public services on electronic paper, continues its commitment to innovative services provided through sustainable technology, becoming the greenest and smartest among the world’s metropoles.

The metropoles of today are setting the stage for a new, interconnected way of living. Using technology and communication, cities across the globe are transforming the urban landscape into smart living spaces.

It is something that Ljubljana, Slovenia has already mastered.

Recognizing the need for a smart city approach that improves the management of urban flows while also focusing on sustainability, the City of Ljubljana has been taking big strides in bettering the lives of its inhabitants through the use of green technology. The city was crowned last year’s European Green Capital 2016, honored for its commitment to resolving the environmental challenges of living in an urban area.

Ljubljana’s dedication to leading the smart city evolution has not lessened in 2017.

Continuing the city’s transformation into the greenest and smartest among the world’s metropoles, Ljubljana has become a hub for the most advanced smart city solutions, propelled by cooperation with the world’s leading information technology companies. Supporting this collaboration, Ljubljana’s mayor, Zoran Janković and his coworkers have visited Visionect, one of the city’s partners in the European Green Capital project.

“When it comes to tackling the challenges of modern life through the use of innovative, environmentally-friendly technology, Ljubljana has become the paragon of good practice, supported by innovative companies such as Visionect,” says Mayor Janković.

Ljubljana is the first city to digitalize its public transportation through the use of electronic paper technology, recognizing the need for digital signage to translate information into better public services. Turning to Visionect, the world leader in implementing energy-efficient digital signs in environments impossible before, Ljubljana installed advanced passenger information displays on bus stops in the very heart of the city center. The e-paper screens show bus schedules, arrival information and route changes. Enabling extremely low energy consumption and featuring minimal environmental impact, they emit no light pollution and can easily run on alternative energy sources. Even more, the e-paper displays can withstand the toughest of environments, as proven in Sydney, Australia.

Following in the Slovenian capital’s green footsteps are London, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Boston and Singapore, all displaying civic information on energy-saving electronic ink.

Visiting Visionect headquarters and further strengthening the cooperation between the company and the city, Mayor Janković congratulated Visionect on its many global successes in implementing eco-friendly technology that improves urban living.

“When it comes to tackling the challenges of modern life through the use of innovative, environmentally-friendly technology, Ljubljana has become the paragon of good practice, supported by innovative companies such as Visionect, a world leader in its field,” commented the Mayor. “We are happy to have Ljubljana, for me the most beautiful city in the world, lead where others can follow.”

Electronic paper features extremely low energy consumption with minimal environmental impact and can easily run on alternative energy sources, explains Matej Zalar, CEO of Visionect, while showing the Mayor the largest eink screen in production, a display that is 42 inches in diagonal.

“We are happy to have Ljubljana, for me the most beautiful city in the world, lead where others can follow.” says the mayor of Ljubljana, Slovenia, the first city to digitalize its public services on electronic paper.