London and Helsinki to collaborate on ethical AI and data

The'City to City Digital Declaration', signed by the cities' Chief Digital Officers – London's Theo Blackwell and Helsinki's Mikko Rusama – sets out several new areas of collaboration between the two capitals, including: Both cities have recently set out their smart city plans and both have a strong technology community. More than a third of all Europe's tech giants are based in London and contribute over £56 billion to the UK's economy. Helsinki produces almost 50 per cent of the tech sector's turnover in Finland – more than half of the country's IT companies are based in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The partner cities say they are now keen to share best practices and expertise in order to meet social, environmental and economic challenges. London's Chief Digital Officer, Theo Blackwell, said: "London has made huge advances in the application of data and smart technologies for the benefit of those who live, work or visit here. "We should always embrace the opportunity to share our civic tech innovations, particularly with fellow European cities, as we are demonstrating through the Sharing Cities initiative.