Rotterdam and Riga strengthen AI readiness with European Commission support

This week marked the official launch of the AI Ready Municipalities project in Tallinn, an important step toward strengthening AI readiness in the cities of Riga and Rotterdam.

Implemented in collaboration with the City of Riga, the City of Rotterdam, and the Reform and Investment task force of the European Commission, the 18-month initiative aims to build a strong foundation for the responsible and scalable integration of artificial intelligence into municipal services. The project, implemented by the e-Governance Academy, will focus on assessing AI readiness and developing clear, actionable roadmaps to guide future developments.

“All governments are striving to adopt AI-enabled services in a secure and responsible way. Building on more than 20 years of eGA’s experience in supporting governments and municipalities with emerging technologies, we are proud to collaborate closely with the cities of Riga and Rotterdam to strengthen capacities, develop skills, and advance AI readiness together,” said Ingrid Toonekurg, the Member of the Management Board of e-Governance Academy.

In his opening remarks, Florian Hauser, from the European Commission, highlighted the strategic importance of transformation at the municipal level: “As cities are the first point of contact for citizens, fragmentation of data and policies is directly reflected in service delivery. By focusing on strong digital and data foundations — and their integration — we aim to enable a more coherent, silo-free way of working that helps municipalities thrive in the age of AI.”

Anchored in key European Union frameworks, including the AI Act and the Digital Decade, the project seeks to translate policy ambitions into concrete, operational reforms within municipalities.

A central pillar of the initiative is collaboration and knowledge sharing. By bringing cities together, the project creates a platform for mutual learning, enabling Riga and Rotterdam to exchange experiences, address common challenges, and scale effective solutions in their AI journeys.

During the two-day kick-off event, participants established a shared starting point by aligning expectations, gaining a deeper understanding of each city’s context, and defining the methodological foundations for the work ahead.

Both cities bring strong experience and momentum to the project. Riga has a well-established digitalisation track record, including fully digital document workflows, alongside several promising AI pilot initiatives. At the same time, it continues to address challenges such as legacy systems, interoperability gaps, and resource constraints.

Rotterdam contributes extensive expertise in smart city development and data-driven innovation, guided by principles of public value, sovereignty, security, and resilience. The city has already implemented internal AI pilots, developed an algorithm registry, and established a Social AI Lab, while now focusing on scaling AI responsibly across public services.

Through this collaboration, the partners aim to tackle organisational and data governance challenges to foster a more integrated, silo-free way of working.

The project is funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument. It contributes to the broader initiative “Support to EU Member States in the implementation of reforms under Governance & Public Administration”, which supports the reform efforts of Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands to build more resilient public institutions, encourage investments, as well as support sustainable economic and social development across the European Union.