At the Smart City Expo World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, the City of Helmond, Monotch, and Argaleo presented an innovative solution that brings together urban data into one integrated system. This helps cities improve accessibility, safety, and livability.
From data to insight, from insight to action
Across the city, countless data streams are generated: smart traffic lights communicate with vehicles, sensors measure air quality and noise, and mobility platforms track traffic flows. Yet much of this valuable information remains unused — scattered across departments and systems that are not connected.
The joint solution from Helmond, Monotch, and Argaleo breaks through that fragmentation. Data is securely, standardised, and privacy-proof integrated to create one coherent view of what is happening in the city. This reveals, for example, where ambulances can drive faster, where cyclists can cross more safely, and where environmental measures are having an effect. What were once isolated data points are transformed into actionable insights that can inform policy and operations.
This creates the foundation for data-driven governance: from individual data points to targeted, measurable actions.
Real-time overview in a digital city
The solution’s strength lies in connecting real-time data to a digital representation of the city. Mobility and traffic information, logistics data, and environmental factors come together in one interactive environment.
Here, cities can identify trends, analyse bottlenecks, and explore scenarios — for instance, what happens if a bridge is closed, or if the city promotes more bicycle traffic?
In this way, data is not only measured but also understood. Policymakers can see the impact of measures, emergency services can anticipate delays, and road managers can make proactive adjustments. The city no longer reacts to problems — it anticipates them.
Collaboration is the key to success
The solution is designed for collaboration. Policymakers, traffic controllers, emergency services, transport operators, and technology providers all work with the same information — speaking the same language.
Helmond demonstrates how this works in practice: a city that not only collects data but uses it to achieve its goals and make policy measurable. This creates a flywheel effect: more insight leads to better decisions, which in turn generate new data and understanding.
Decision-making becomes faster, more transparent, and better substantiated. This joint approach demonstrates how technology and policy can reinforce one another.
A future-proof foundation for every city
Any city that wants to manage accessibility, safety, and sustainability through data can adopt this approach today. Whether improving emergency response times, promoting sustainable mobility, or reducing emissions, this technology offers a scalable, future-ready foundation for urban innovation.
By making data understandable, urban complexity becomes manageable. The city of the future learns, decides, and improves — with data as its compass.
The partners behind the solution
The City of Helmond is a pioneer in data-driven urban development, linking innovation and practice through the national Dutch Metropolitan Innovations (DMI) program.
Monotch develops the Traffic Live Exchange Platform, the foundation for the national standard for safe and real-time data exchange between vehicles, infrastructure, and road authorities.
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Argaleo makes urban data visible and understandable through its Digitwin platform — a digital 3D representation of the city that gives policymakers, emergency services, and administrators instant insight into what’s happening and where opportunities lie.
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Together, these partners are building safer, cleaner, and better-connected cities — with data as their common language.
Source: Monotch