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Good practice Imported

Gemeente Rotterdam's Municipal Algorithm Register — 31 AI Systems Disclosed Under a Shared European City Standard

Netherlands · Rotterdam · See the Netherlands profile · See the Rotterdam profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 24% 73/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Rotterdam has published 31 municipal algorithms — from parking enforcement to benefit eligibility — on the Dutch algorithm register, after a 100+-interview inventory and adoption of a nine-city European disclosure schema co-developed with Amsterdam, Barcelona and Helsinki.

31 systems
AI/algorithm systems disclosed on public register (as of August 2026)
100 interviews
Interviews conducted for inventory
9 cities
European cities co-developing shared disclosure schema
Gemeente Rotterdam's Municipal Algorithm Register — 31 AI Systems Disclosed Under a Shared European City Standard

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Gemeente Rotterdam (City of Rotterdam)
Period
2022–2026
Region (NUTS)
NL33
Keywords
digital government, algorithm transparency, AI governance

Context

Rotterdam, a large Dutch municipality, has been formalising governance of its algorithmic and AI systems since 2022, culminating in the Rotterdam Algorithm Framework 2025-2028.

Objectives

The city aims to give residents visibility into which municipal processes use algorithms or AI, publishing standardised disclosures on data used, purpose, legal basis and human oversight.

Activities

Working with consultancy Highberg, Rotterdam ran an inventory of more than 100 interviews across departments to identify algorithm and AI use, then published entries to the Dutch national algorithm register. It also co-developed an open-source disclosure schema with eight other European cities (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bologna, Brussels, Eindhoven, Helsinki, Mannheim and Sofia) through the Eurocities network.

Results

As of August 2026, Rotterdam had 31 published entries on the register, covering systems such as income-support recalculation, parking enforcement, licence-plate recognition for tax collection, property valuation and resident-facing chatbots. Rotterdam's live entries put it further along in implementation than some peer cities in the same initiative, such as Sofia, which had a schema commitment but no published entries yet at the time of reporting.

Conclusions

The register demonstrates disclosure activity and shared cross-city standardisation, but no independent study yet measures whether it changed citizen outcomes or reduced algorithmic harm.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Gemeente Rotterdam departments, Highberg (consultancy), Rotterdam city council / Rekenkamer Rotterdam (audit office)

Conditions for success

  • Cross-departmental inventory (100+ interviews) to identify algorithm use
  • Formal policy framework (Algoritmekader 2025-2028) with council and audit-office oversight
  • Shared open-source disclosure schema co-developed with peer European cities via Eurocities

Common failure modes

  • Full coverage of all municipal algorithms not yet confirmed complete
  • No independent measurement yet of whether disclosure changes citizen outcomes

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes Digital Europe Programme

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

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