Physical services
Overview
Within the CitCom.ai ecosystem, the majestic Flemish city of Mechelen set out to tackle a very concrete urban challenge: making cycling safer and more comfortable in public spaces.
To do so, the city launched an innovation challenge structured as a public innovation procurement, inviting companies to bring forward new ideas and test them directly in real-world conditions. Selected participants received funding and, in return, committed to piloting solutions that were not yet available on the market.
Among them was XenomatiX, a Belgian scale-up offering a high-precision mapping solution based on lidar and camera technology, designed to assess the condition of roads, cycling paths, and sidewalks.
Impact
This first innovation challenge marks an important step for Mechelen in experimenting with new ways of working, bringing together public needs and emerging technologies in a practical, results-oriented way.
By opening itself as a real-world test environment, the city not only enabled companies like XenomatiX to validate their solutions, but also gained direct access to insights that can improve its cycling infrastructure.
The Challenge
Improving cycling infrastructure is a priority for many cities, but understanding where to intervene is not always straightforward.
Urban environments are complex, and traditional methods for assessing infrastructure conditions can be slow, fragmented, and limited in precision. At the same time, cities are under pressure to make targeted investments that deliver visible improvements in safety and usability.
For Mechelen, the challenge was twofold: attract innovative, AI-driven solutions and ensure they could be tested in real conditions, delivering actionable insights that could directly support decision-making.
The Solution
Through its participation in Citcom.ai, Mechelen made it possible to move beyond theory and into practice. Within this environment, XenomatiX deployed its XenoBike technology to map more than 50 kilometres of cycling infrastructure across the city.
The focus was on ‘wijkroutes’, key cycling corridors connecting surrounding municipalities to the city, ensuring that the pilot targeted routes with the highest strategic value.
The result is a detailed, high-precision dataset that allows the city to identify priority areas for maintenance and upgrades, turning data into concrete action.
More in general, as part of the growing ecosystem around Citcom.ai, this experience shows how cities can actively shape innovation by creating space for testing, learning, and collaboration, turning complex urban challenges into opportunities for smarter, data-driven solutions.
