Ashdod: Pioneering Local Economic Sustainability
Ashdod, a tier-2 port city with a strong economic foundation, embarked on an ambitious journey to redefine urban innovation. As a forward-thinking municipality, the city leadership, including the mayor and vice mayors, partnered with Kanarit to establish an Urban Lab—a hybrid model designed to simulate how data-driven solutions impact residents’ quality of life across various aspects.
From Innovation to Economic Revival
The initial vision of the Urban Lab was broad, focusing on a range of urban challenges through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). This initiative attracted participation from Fortune 500 companies, aligning global corporate expertise with municipal innovation. However, as the project progressed, a critical challenge emerged:
Ashdod’s economic capital was leaking into tier-1 cities, weakening the local economy. Recognizing this, the focus of the Urban Lab shifted toward strengthening the Local Economy. Kanarit led the charge by developing a robust methodology aimed at returning a minimum of 10% of the city’s economic capital annually.
The Sails square in Ashdod. Image: Wikipedia
The Kanarit Approach: Data-Driven Local Currency
Kanarit’s innovative model integrated:
- A Local Currency Initiative
- Kanarit introduced a city-backed digital currency to encourage local spending.
- The system ensured that residents and businesses benefited from a self-sustaining micro-economy.
- Advanced Data Analytics for Economic Flow Control
- Leveraging multiple data sets, Kanarit designed an intelligent system that influenced consumer behavior and foot traffic to local businesses.
- This methodology optimized “marketing” strategies, ensuring that economic activity was retained within city borders.
- Blockchain & Encrypted Financial Technologies
- A secure, blockchain-based wallet was implemented to manage the local currency.
- This made Ashdod the first city to integrate a local currency within a state monetary system using cutting-edge encryption technologies.
A park in Ashdod. Image: Wikipedia
The Outcome: A Model for Smart Local Economies
The solution transformed Ashdod into a trailblazer for urban economic resilience. By fostering a localized micro-economy, the city successfully reduced capital outflow and strengthened its business ecosystem. The project not only set a precedent for other municipalities but also proved that data-driven, tech-enabled solutions could create sustainable urban economies within national financial systems.
With Kanarit’s guidance, Ashdod redefined what it means to be a smart city—not just in infrastructure and mobility, but in economic sustainability and innovation.