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Testbeds and Sandboxes

Explore 19 projects in the Testbeds and Sandboxes category of the Civic Tech Field Guide.

Programs that lower the barriers to innovation in a dedicated area of a larger place (like a city). These programs allow private sector companies, researchers, and others to pilot new tech like self-driving cars and drones in a real urban environment, often before they're ready for broader roll-out.

19 projects

Interoperability Test Bed

The Interoperability Test Bed is a service offered by the European Commission’s DIGIT to facilitate the conformance testing of IT systems.

Rue Royale 941000, Brussels, Belgium

Urban Innovation Toyonaka

Toyonaka City project solving social issues through collaborative experiments with startup companies

Urban Innovation JAPAN

Urban Innovation JAPAN is an open-innovation platform that matches startups with local-government staff to co-develop and pilot solutions to real municipal problems through fixed-term proof-of-concept collaborations across Japan.

Sendai-shi, Japan (Nihon or Nippon) 🇯🇵

Urban Innovation KOBE

Urban Innovation KOBE ("+P") is Kobe City's startup-government co-creation program, the original model behind the national Urban Innovation JAPAN, pairing startups with city staff to pilot solutions to real municipal problems.

Open Space Sandbox

Like a city-building game—but real life. Open Space Sandbox turns play into planning data

Philadelphia
2025

Interoperability Test Bed AI assistant

The Interoperability Test Bed launches an online AI assistant, trained on its official documentation, to support test developers and users of its services.

Belgium
2025

European Commission's Interoperability Test Bed

The Interoperability Test Bed is a service offered by the European Commission’s DIGIT to facilitate the conformance testing of IT systems.

Belgium

Zürich Innovation Sandbox for AI

The Innovation Sandbox for Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a test environment for the implementation of AI projects.

Zurich
2022

Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection, IMY, finishes its second regulatory sandbox pilot

During the summer and autumn of 2023, the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY) has conducted its second pilot within its regulatory sandbox.

Sweden
2024