FUTURE CITIES CATAPULT

Their core work

Future Cities Catapult was a UK government-backed innovation centre (part of the Innovate UK Catapult Network) set up to help cities adopt new technologies and help SMEs sell urban innovation into the public sector. Their work combined urban research, pilot design, and consortium brokering — running living labs, testing IoT deployments with real municipalities, and advising on smart-city strategy. In H2020 they showed up as a partner in large European smart-city experiments focused on citizen co-creation and interoperable city platforms. In 2019 the organisation was merged into Connected Places Catapult, so the name "Future Cities Catapult" now refers to a closed chapter rather than an active partner.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their H2020 trajectory moved from citizen-driven experimentation (OrganiCity, 2015-2018) toward market-oriented IoT standardization (SynchroniCity, 2017-2019) — a shift from "let's test ideas with residents" to "let's make city tech commercially interoperable across Europe". Budget exposure grew sharply too, from a EUR 582K participant slice to nearly EUR 3.9M, signalling deepening involvement in larger market-facing deployments. Note: the organisation was absorbed into Connected Places Catapult in 2019, so this evolution ends with H2020.

By the end of H2020 they were moving from pilot experimentation toward commercial interoperability — however, the organisation was merged into Connected Places Catapult in 2019, so any future engagement should be pursued through that successor entity.

How they like to work

A dedicated partner rather than a lead — they joined both projects as participant, never as coordinator. They work in very large consortia (52 unique partners across just 2 projects) alongside municipalities, universities, and technology companies, which is typical for city-scale pilots. Expect them to contribute urban innovation and co-creation methodology rather than technical lead roles.

Well-connected across Europe with 52 unique partners in 16 countries through just two projects, reflecting the large multi-city consortia typical of smart-city pilots. Based in London, but their footprint was clearly pan-European rather than UK-centric.

What sets them apart

Future Cities Catapult sat at an unusual intersection: a UK government-backed innovation centre (part of the Catapult Network) that brokered between cities, SMEs, and researchers rather than producing its own technology. That convening role made them valuable for projects needing a neutral urban-innovation partner with real city relationships. Importantly, the entity was dissolved in 2019 and merged with Transport Systems Catapult into Connected Places Catapult — so anyone wanting to collaborate today should approach the successor.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SynchroniCity
  Their largest engagement (EUR 3.88M EC funding) and a flagship EU effort to create an interoperable IoT marketplace for European cities.
• OrganiCity
  An early and influential experiment in citizen co-creation of smart city services, establishing their credentials in urban living-lab methodology.