Post by Sarah Gruneisen 🐉

💚 Last night reminded me that some visions don’t end… they evolve. I had drinks with former colleagues from Civity tonight. And honestly… it filled my heart. Not just because of the laughter, the memories, the familiarity. But because of what we were part of. Civity wasn’t just a company. It was part of something much bigger, the early movement of smart cities. Long before it became a buzzword… Civity was already working on it. Helping cities use data not just to measure… but to understand. To make better decisions. To connect governments, citizens, and businesses in more meaningful ways. Making cities smart! Open data. Shared platforms. Real-time insights. Not for control, but for collaboration. And at the center of it was Arjen Hof, a visionary leader who was, in so many ways, ahead of his time. He saw what cities could become when data was treated as a shared resource instead of a closed system. He understood that the future of cities wasn’t just technology… it was connection. Connection between systems. Between people. Between decisions and impact. 🔥 Today, “smart cities” are everywhere. 🐉 But back then… it took courage to believe in it. Sitting there tonight, I realized something: Even if the company is closing its doors… the vision didn’t. Because the real innovation was never just the platform. It was the mindset. And that lives on in every person who was part of it. In how we think. In how we lead. In how we see systems, data, and people as something that belongs together. I feel grateful. To have been part of something ahead of its time. To have worked with people who believed in a better way of building cities, and futures. And maybe that’s the real legacy: Not what was built. But what was awakened in us. To Arjen, and to everyone from that chapter, thank you for the vision we now carry forward. The story isn’t over. It just changed form. Gil Hilário Isabela Dowsley Georgios Boutoulis Marianne de Neef Niek Arends Erik Saaltink Michael Wood Mathieu Ronkes Agerbeek Richard Zuijdam Bas Vanmeulebrouk Anke de Boer -van Genesen Jeroen Moonen Frits Bijlenga Rosa Postma Muammer Temur Tom de Nooij