WP 7 - Exploitation and Business Ecosystems

This document provides a comprehensive set of guidelines for organisations and cities looking to organise a successful start-up competition in the field of Smart City interventions. It serves as a toolkit for future start-up competition organisers within and beyond SPARCS. It is based on the lessons learnt from the smart city challenges deployed in the project’s Light House Cities Espoo and Leipzig. The paper provides a list of nine important considerations for prospective start-up competition stakeholders. The key considerations identified are:

• competition objectives, vision, and expected results
•  detailed plan
• competition design
• finance
• legal and contractual obligations
• event management and logistics
• communication and public relations
• partners and stakeholders
• jury board and team of mentors

Furthermore, the paper details a step-by-step approach to planning and executing a successful start-up competition, highlighting key considerations for each stage. It emphasises the importance of clearly defining the competition goals and criteria, identifying and engaging relevant stakeholders, developing effective communication strategies, and leveraging appropriate technology platforms. It also provides
recommendations directly from the organisers of the Espoo and Leipzig smart city start up competitions.

Overall, the paper serves as a valuable resource for organisations planning to organise a start-up competition and provides a toolkit of guidelines and recommendations to help ensure success.