evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Smart Dublin — open-innovation testbeds across the four Dublin local authorities

Ireland · Dublin · See the Ireland profile · See the Dublin profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 42% 71/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Initiative of Dublin's four local authorities (since 2016) that runs real-world testbeds and SBIR challenge procurement so startups and SMEs pilot solutions to city problems. A 2018 SBIR round awarded ~€700,000 to 21 SMEs; districts include Smart Docklands and Smart D8.

21 SMEs
SMEs awarded funding (Oct 2018 SBIR round) (October 2018)
700000 EUR (approx)
Total SBIR funding awarded (Oct 2018) (October 2018)
4 pilots
Smart Docklands 2025/26 pilots selected (2025/26)
53 applications
Applications received (Smart Docklands 2025/26 call) (2025/26)
12500 EUR
Funding per Smart Docklands pilot (2025/26)
50000 EUR
Total Smart Docklands 2025/26 funding (2025/26)
16 projects
Smart D8 supported projects (over five years)
21500+ people
Smart D8 people engaged (over five years)
Smart Dublin — open-innovation testbeds across the four Dublin local authorities

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Smart Dublin (Dublin City Council, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Councils)
Period
2016-present
Region (NUTS)
IE06
Keywords
smart city, open innovation, public procurement, IoT, mobility

Context

Smart Dublin is a joint initiative of the four Dublin local authorities — Dublin City Council, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Councils — established in 2016 to engage the open market in solving city challenges and to deploy real-world urban testbeds.

Objectives

To source and pilot solutions to concrete city challenges through challenge-based open innovation and public procurement.

Activities

Its core mechanism is Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) procurement run with Enterprise Ireland: councils define challenges and award feasibility and prototyping contracts to companies that test solutions in live urban settings, supported by district testbeds such as Smart Docklands and Smart D8.

Results

In October 2018, 21 startups and SMEs were awarded approximately €700,000 under an SBIR round structured around five challenges, with Cork and Belfast city councils also participating. The Smart Docklands 2025/26 Call for Pilots selected four pilots from 53 applications, each receiving €12,500 (€50,000 total). The Smart D8 health-and-wellbeing testbed reports 16 supported projects and engagement with more than 21,500 people over five years.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes European Urban Initiative

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

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful

★ 95

Smart Open Lisboa

Portugal

Smart Open Lisboa (SOL) is a startup program focused on the validation and integration of innovative solutions meant to upgrade …