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The following terms apply to all users of the platform "CIPTEC - platform for submitting innovative ideas". The acceptance of these terms of use by users, as always applied and anytime amended, is a precondition for the use of the platform "CIPTEC - platform for submitting innovative ideas".

Background and purpose of the service / crowdsourcing platform

The CIPTEC project: The European project CIPTEC "Collective Innovation for Public Transport in European Cities" (http://www.ciptec.eu) is implemented under Competitive European Programme for Research and Innovation "Horizon 2020" and is being coordinated by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The 12 project partners of the consortium include international organizations / 'networks', public transport bodies, university research groups and research consultancies, concentrated in the fields of transport planning and management, consumer behaviour and innovation management.

The crowdsourcing initiative: In the frame of the project the online "crowdsourcing platform" was developed in order to mobilise and activate city residents to demonstrate, propose and design new innovative ideas, practices, business models, etc. - preferably at the lowest possible cost – for public transport in general, but also on a local site level (especially for the case of four urban areas, particularly Thessaloniki; Frankfurt; Southern Tuscany and Rotterdam; in the frame of which special dedicated crowdsourcing websites and campaigns will run in parallel). The crowdsourcing action aims at the interaction of the citizens and the enhancement of cooperation and communication with each other to achieve the objective of improving public transport. It is an "experiment" about the activation of the people and the inclusion of them in the planning that will allow drawing general conclusions on the effectiveness of the crowdsourcing method concerning urban and transport management issues. Therefore, the platform is encouraged to be used as an open dialogue forum. The potential reward for some users has a moral and symbolic character in order to strengthen participation incentives, rather than strengthening the competitiveness between them.

Clarification of key terms and concepts: here it is necessary to clarify the basic terms and concepts for the better - if possible - use of the platform (namely the Innovation, the Public Transport (PT), and the spatial reference framework for the described crowdsourcing action):

Definition of innovation: The Oslo Manual for measuring innovation1 defines innovation as ‘the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations’ and identifies four types of innovation: product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation and organisational innovation.

  • Product innovation: A good or service that is new or significantly improved. This includes significant improvements in technical specifications, components and materials, software in the product, user friendliness or other functional characteristics.
  • Process innovation: A new or significantly improved production or delivery method. This includes significant changes in techniques, equipment and/or software.
  • Marketing innovation: A new marketing method involving significant changes in product design or packaging, product placement, product promotion or pricing
  • Organisational innovation: A new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations

Innovation goes far beyond R&D - It goes far beyond the confines of research labs to users, suppliers and consumers everywhere – in government, business and non-profit organisations, across borders, across sectors, and across institutions2. 

Beyond definitions, to make it easier to understand the concept of innovation, it could be considered as such, every idea that comes from other fields, and it is currently not applied in public transport or even any idea that, while it has been conceived and may already been implemented in some areas of the world, it has not been so far spread or adopted in a reference local or national context (think for example yours) due to several reasons. Therefore, in a bit more extensive framework, in the current crowdsourcing initiative, it could be defined as innovation a new, original, alternative or modified existing idea, method, product, service, technology developed (or being developed) consciously using the latest knowledge. The main aim of the above mentioned will be the improvement of the current situation and their application in the Public Transport sector towards attracting more customers-passengers (preferably at the lowest possible cost). The ideas that will be posted on the crowdsourcing platform may:

  • be a process (apart from not just an invention)
  • be influenced by science, research, economic, regulatory and political context, inventiveness, etc.
  • involve changes in equipment, human resources, working methods or a combination of the above involve changes in terms of human resources, working methods, equipment, etc. or a combination of the above
  • vary concerning the level of analysis of their description and of maturity development, from very draft concepts, at the level of conception of an idea (conceptualisation) to the full detailed description which can be accompanied with pictures, graphs, drawings, etc.

Definition of Public Transport: Public Transport (PT) (or alternatively ‘mass transit modes’) is usually defined as passengers’ transport systems and services, which are under the control of public or private providers. These are operating with vehicles, - typically with a high capacity (large number of seats) - which are shared by passengers. PT can be used by the general public with equal access conditions on a regular and ongoing basis, usually on predetermined, fixed routes and time schedules, without the possibility of pre-booking. The usual PT systems operating in urban contexts include, among others, the buses (operated with fuel engines, batteries or electricity, e.g. trolleybus), tram, metro, electric city rail, water bus, the rapid high-efficiency buses run in special lanes (Bus Rapid Transit). In addition, there are other means of transport that fall partly under the category of PT or can be considered under certain conditions as part of this. For instance, the demand responsive transport services, cable cars, vehicle sharing schemes (collective transport operated with cars, vans, etc.), the automated guideway vehicle system run along a road or track (Personalised Rapid Transit, or ‘podcars’), etc. PT systems are usually applied according to the local urban needs, peculiarities, patterns and planning, comprise the backbone of transport in any city context and are being integrated (or at least they should be integrated) harmoniously with the soft modes of mobility, such as walking, cycling, etc., succeeding high level of synergy.

Spatial Reference Framework of Crowdsourcing Action: The reference area for uploading ideas consists of all the cities across Europe. Nevertheless, if an idea refers to one of the aforementioned cities (Thessaloniki, Frankfurt, Southern Tuscany and Rotterdam), the user should post it on the crowdsourcing website specifically developed for the case of each one of the four cities (select the city from the site: http://youplan.ciptec.eu/). The ideas should relate to the improvement of service of public transport which operate or may operate in the future in these areas.

Obligations of Users

  • The application is in a pilot operation in the framework of the research project CIPTEC (http://ciptec.eu) and problems may occur during this operation, fact that should be accepted by users.
  • The submitted ideas and comments are checked by the Administrator of the platform before being published.
  • The submitted ideas must be characterized by a level of innovation so as to be published.
  • The selection of the best ideas is based on the users’ evaluation average score of each idea. Furthermore, the best ideas, based on the aforementioned process, will be evaluated by the experts committee assigned by the CIPTEC project Consortium (e.g. representatives of the CIPTEC partners and the CIPTEC Experts Advisory Board). Administrators will explore the possibility of a symbolic gift (or symbolic gifts), by finding sponsors for the best idea (or the best ideas) that will occur through the above process.
  • All users of the service / platform that have submitted an idea will participate in a draw for a symbolic gift.
  • The service is not suitable for complaints about public transport and these will not be published.
  • The service is not an official way of communication with the public transport operators and authorities.
  • Posting or attaching any material which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, offensive, abusive, threatening, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexist, racist, offensive to a person’s privacy, intended only for adults, or else that would violate any international and national laws, rules and regulations is not allowed. Additionally, no standard reports or advertisements are allowed.
  • Administrators of service / platform are not able to guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information published. The submitted ideas are personal opinions, experiences and ideas of their authors, and not necessarily opinions and / or experiences - ideas of service / platform Administrators.
  • Any User believing that a published idea is improper is encouraged to immediately notify administrators of service via the contact form (http://europe.ciptec.eu/index.php/contactus). Administrators reserve the right to content objectionable deletion, if recognized that the deletion is necessary. Because of the nature of the service, it is not always possible a legitimate cancellation of a submission to be performed immediately.
  • The User remains solely responsible for the content of his/her submissions. In addition, User is liable for any financial or legal obligations arise due to misuse of the service. Administrators reserve the right to use the actual data of the User in the event of legal action arising from use that violates the terms of service "CIPTEC - submission of innovative ideas".
  • The user has the possibility of attaching a picture to each submission. By selecting and uploading the photo, the User accepts the use license Creative Commons, which allows free distribution of photography, provided that reference will be made to the author for noncommercial use, and prohibits tampering or modification of the project. Details of the authorization are provided here. User still owns the copyright of the photograph.
  • The user is responsible for compliance with the rules of conduct in the case of the publication of material or intellectual property content (intellectual production) of third person. The User should therefore verify himself/herself if republication of intellectual property (intellectual production) of third person is possible and make the necessary references to it or them, if this is required by the terms and conditions set by them for their intellectual property material (intellectual creation).
  • By subscribing to the service, the User accepts without reservation these Terms of use.

Administrator-Owners rights

Administrators have the following rights:

  • To delete an entry or a comment with objectionable content that violates these terms of use.
  • Not to publish an idea submission or a comment with content that does not meet the frame of the action (e.g. post or comment irrelevant to public transport, or submitted idea that is not expressing the innovation condition, etc.). In these cases the user will be informed of the need for appropriate corrections to the submitted idea or the comment.
  • To exclude the IP address of the User, who repeatedly fails to comply with the terms of use.
  • To delete submitted content that challenges the decision to remove some other improper submitted idea. If the User considers that a decision is wrong or unfair, is requested to contact the Administrators directly through the page "Contact us".
  • To change the category / subcategory of a submitted idea if they consider that the original category is incorrectly selected.
  • To make correction changes in the text, if there are spelling and syntax errors.
  • When an Idea is submitted by a User, the Administrator is automatically informed (via email) and when compliance with the Terms of Use is confirmed, Administrator publishes it on the platform. If the idea requires corrections, the user is informed and should make changes within 24 hours in order to have the idea published. During this period of time the idea will not be published and will not participate in the contest process.
  • The announcement of the results of any draw conducted or ideas ranking under the conditions laid down by the Administrators or award of any gift given to selected ideas or the exclusion of an idea submission are definitive actions without any need for justification announcement and no objection, complaint or other claim against these actions is allowed, extrajudicial or judicial. Administrators have also the ability and right to make no award, concerning the contest, in whole or in part, and not to reveal any winner, if they determine that the contributions and submitted ideas do not meet the expected quality level. This decision of Administrators is sovereign and procedurally impossible to be set under any appeal or judicial objection.

Confidentiality and privacy policy

Registered users enter their personal information, such as user name, full name, email address, home area (and optionally some additional details). These data are used to enable Administrators to have contact with them, if clarifications about a submission are necessary. These are also used for extracting statistical data concerning the use of the service. These data are not disclosed to third parties.

The application uses the service ‘Google Analytics’ in order to collect information about how Users use this site. The Google Analytics service stores information such as which pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you click on, and information about your browser. The IP addresses are hidden (only one part is stored) and personal information refers not to each User but to all Users in total. Administrators do not allow Google to use or disclose the data of analyses for any purpose other than providing them with relevant information.

Cookies - storing information on your computer

To ensure proper operation of the site, sometimes small data files are placed on your computer, the so-called «cookies». Cookies are mainly used so as the User can remain connected to the application without having for every visit to enter user name and password. Most of the large websites or ISPs do the same.

How User can control cookies

The user has the ability to control and / or delete cookies whenever he/she wants. For more details you can click on http://www.aboutcookies.org/.

The user can delete all cookies that are already on his/her computer and can set most browsers in a way that does not allow the installation of cookies. But if User does that, he/she should be identified for each visit in the site.

The site does not use cookies for any purpose other than those mentioned above, or to collect personal information for any other purpose.

Changes in the terms and conditions of use

Administrators reserve the right to update and change these terms of use at any time and without prior notice. The changes will apply to a specific section of this document. Before any submission, you can directly check for the existence of any changes from previous versions of the terms of use.

Disclaimer

The platform and the service was designed and implemented under a contract commissioned by the European Commission. No part of the architecture of the platform can be used, reproduced and disclosed in any form or by any means without the written permission of CIPTEC project partners. 

The sole responsibility for the information and content of the published ideas (posts) and comments lies with the authors, the registered users of the service / platform. 

Submissions of ideas and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinion of CIPTEC project partners, Administrators and European Union. 

The CIPTEC project partners, the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) and the European Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained in the Users’ submissions and comments by third parties, as well as for the process of selection and award of the winners of the competitions and draws.

The platform architecture as designed and developed by the project partners does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither INEA, nor the European Commission are responsible for any use of the architecture of the platform as designed and developed by the project partners. 

The English version of these ‘Terms of Use’ is a translation of the original in Greek for information purposes only. In case of a discrepancy, the Greek original will prevail. 

  1. Oslo Manual (2005),‘Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data’, 3rd Edition Oslo Manual, The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities, A joint publication of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat, ISBN 92-64-01308-3,doi: 10.1787/9789264013100-en.
  2. https://www.oecd.org/site/innovationstrategy/defininginnovation.htm