Bitkom publishes Smart City Index 2023: Dresden in 6th place

Bitkom, the industry association for the German information and telecommunications sector, presents its fifth ranking of Germany's smartest cities: this year, Dresden is in 6th place with 78.5 points. Saxony's state capital achieved the highest scores in the areas of society and education (95.5), mobility (90.1) and administration (78.1). This makes Dresden the leading digital city in the eastern German states.

With its measures, the model project Smart City is making a significant contribution to the further development of the city in an innovative and intelligent way. The Smart City Awards will be presented to all winners at the Smart Country Convention in Berlin in November.

The top 10 move closer together overall

There are only 3.5 points between 4th and 10th place - less than ever before. All 81 cities with a population of 100,000 or more were analyzed and evaluated in the five subject areas of administration, IT and communication, energy and environment, mobility, education and society. "The fifth Smart City Index shows the level of digitalization in Germany's major cities more accurately than ever before. We have expanded the indicators examined and, for the first time, we have also included the important topic of education. [...] Professional management of digitalization activities and a joint commitment from local politicians, companies and civil society are important," says Bitkom President Dr. Ralf Wintergerst.

Depending on the federal state, the major cities are at different stages in their digitalization efforts. As in the previous year, cities in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony perform significantly better than the average. Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate are just above average, while the results in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia are below average.

University cities benefit from the exchange between science and practice

It is striking that university cities perform better on average. "In cities with universities, the exchange between science and practice is much easier. Cities also benefit from tech start-ups with their innovative use of technology and fresh perspective on challenges," says Wintergerst.

Cooperation with the Technical University is also a success factor in Dresden. Last year, the city administration launched the Smart-City strategy together with the TUD. This will be continued as part of the pilot project Smart City .

You can read the complete ranking and the full press release on the bitkom website:

Smart City Index 2023: Munich displaces Hamburg from first place for the first time | Press release | Bitkom e. V.