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Exploring Smart City Solutions in Osnabrück
The Smart City Osnabrück initiative recently welcomed students from the Master of European Technology Law programme for a workshop on digital urban development. The workshop provided an overview of current Smart City projects and demonstrated how legal, technical and organisational aspects come together in the development of digital public infrastructure.
The programme began at the Copenhagen Innovation Centre, where participants were introduced to the Smart City strategy and ongoing projects in Osnabrück. The second part of the workshop took place at Quebecallee, one of the areas where Smart City technologies are currently being tested. During the visit, experts presented the technologies used on site, including sensors, cameras, the city's digital twin and the Smart City app. Participants also observed how the testing area operates in practice, including the use of sensors for pedestrian and vehicle counting, parking availability and shared mobility services. Discussions also explored the role of the digital twin and the Open Data approach, as well as the wide range of different types of data used within the Smart City environment, including statistical, mobility and environmental data. Experts explained how this information is organised, managed and made available to support different municipal departments and public services. The visit further demonstrated how Smart City solutions are designed for different user groups while applying data protection principles, including data minimisation, security measures and GDPR requirements in public spaces.
The workshop provided a practical perspective on how digital technologies are applied in urban environments. Discussions with experts highlighted the legal, technical and organisational considerations involved in developing Smart City solutions.
METL Students visit with Slashwhy professionals
As part of the Master's programme in European Technology Law, students recently took part in a practical workshop in collaboration with slashwhy, a software company based in Osnabrück. The workshop focused on the development process behind digital products, highlighting how legal and technical expertise can collaborate from the earliest stages of innovation.
Building on the student project 'SafeRunCrowd', which was developed during the first semester of the programme by Mary-Rose McGuire, Aneta Ejder and Ben Sam Jones, the workshop explored how digital solutions could contribute to safer running experiences in urban environments through coordinated community-based interaction. This concept explores how digital solutions could contribute to safer running experiences in urban environments through coordinated, community-based interaction.
During the workshop, participants worked on user personas, user story mapping, MVP prioritisation, and technical architecture. Discussions also addressed legal requirements, data protection considerations, and the impact of technological choices on digital products and regulatory responsibilities.
Professionals from slashwhy guided the workshop, introducing students to practical methods used in software and product development. The sessions encouraged participants to consider the needs of future users alongside questions of responsibility, feasibility and implementation, and to think from both legal and technical perspectives.
SafeRunCloud: One of the First Projects from the Master’s in EU Tech Law
To help implement one of the first student projects from the new Master’s in European Technology Law, we would like to ask you to take part in a short survey.
The SafeRunCloud project addresses a real-world social issue: Many people avoid running in public parks because they feel unsafe when they’re alone. Yet the solution lies not in increased surveillance, but in smart coordination: If you know that many other verified runners are on the same route at the same time, you don’t need to be afraid of being alone. This information gap could be addressed by a free app that, in compliance with data protection regulations, shows how many people are running on the route. Of course, this requires a robust security concept. This new combination of data protection and cybersecurity is our project idea.
To implement this project, we need feedback from potential users. It takes just 5 minutes, but if at least 100 people participate, it will be an important first step for us. Since our motto is “Compliance by Design,” you can rest assured that we will only collect the information that is absolutely necessary and that your data is well protected.
Curious about who we are? The goal of our Master’s in EU Tech Law is to enable innovation by involving lawyers in technical development at an early stage and ensuring that engineers choose the legally compliant solution from among several possible options.
As a special feature of this new program, the European Legal Studies Institute will host a lecture series on »Law & Technology« in cooperation with the Osnabrück branch of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. Professors & Practitioners working in the field of AI, Autonomous Robots, AR, Big Data, Digital Twins and the Internet of Things will share their knowledge and insights with us and are happy to take your questions. The lecture series is open to all interested students, doctoral candidates, academic staff and international guests.
The lectures will be in English, questions in German are welcome.
Thursday, 6–8 p.m. | European Legal Studies Institute, Room 44/E04
04.06.2026 Trustworthy AI for cooperative and autonomous systems
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Martin Atzmüller, Dr. rer. nat. Juan Carlos Saborío Morales | University of Osnabrück
25.06.2026 Synthetic Data for AI Training – technology, use cases and IP implications
Dr. Peter Slowinski, J.S.M. (Stanford) | Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań
02.07.2026 Concept of personal data in EU data protection law: latest developments and critical reflections
Prof. Dr. Nadezhda Purtova | Utrecht University
09.07.2026 Code is law – Or Is It? Regulating blockchain in the digital age
Joanna Rindell | Head of Legal at Trilitech, London