The overall objective of the Open & Agile Smart Cities France initiative (OASC France) is to create a Smart City market. OASC France was initiated in 2015 by 4 French cities in the north of France (Communauté d’Agglomeration de Saint-Quentin, Valenciennes Métropole, Amiens Métropole, Ville d’Arras).

A Smart City needs solutions that can be implemented with respect for local practices and job creation. Comparability, easy sharing of best practices, and avoiding vendor lock-in is a necessity to enhance a Smart City. OASC France goal is to link cities in France – and abroad – and advocate de facto standards for participating cities.

Global de facto standards for portability and interoperability are the only way to create a true national and global market for smart city services. Therefor, OASC France advocates cities to adopt four simple mechanisms as de facto standards.

The first mechanism is a driven-by-implementation approach: This implies that communities and developers can co-create their services. The other three mechanisms are technical: an API, a set of data models, and an open data platform.