Mainz, Ludwigshafen, Trier, and Koblenz Seal AI Partnership
The cities of Mainz, Ludwigshafen, Trier, and Koblenz have formally agreed to collaborate on the use of artificial intelligence in public administration. With the signing of a cooperation agreement in mid-May, the joint project “Four Cities, One Digital Ecosystem—Shaping the Future Together in Public Administration with AI” has been established for the long term.
The goal of the collaboration is to jointly develop and test AI applications so that solutions do not have to be built in parallel by individual municipal administrations. The cities intend to pool their experiences, jointly further develop successful applications, and, in the future, make them available to other municipalities as well.
The plan is for each of the four cities to test AI applications in different administrative areas. Proven solutions will then be implemented in the other municipalities as well. The planned applications include, among other things, a smart search function for council information systems—which will make it easier to find policy proposals and resolutions—as well as an internal AI assistance service to support employees with research, writing, and routine tasks.
The cities are also collaborating more closely in the area of open data. The network’s statistical offices aim to provide data in a more standardized manner and make it more usable. In addition, the transfer of knowledge between the municipalities is to be strengthened, for example through joint exchange and working formats on future digital topics.
The cooperation agreement builds on a grant of 370,000 euros from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The city of Mainz is coordinating the project. The collaboration is scheduled to last five years and is intended to permanently strengthen intermunicipal cooperation on future digital topics.