This paper provides a brief overview of, and elaborates on, some of the presentations, discussions and conclusions from Day 4 of the ‘WHO EURO 2014 International Healthy Cities Conference: Health and the City - Urban Living in the 21st Century’, held in Athens, Greece on 25 October 2014. The Internet of Things (IoT) is made of sensors and other components that connect our version of the world made of atoms, i.e., humans/our bodies, our devices, vehicles, roads, buildings, plants, animals, etc., with a mirror digital version made of bits. This enables cities and regions to be self-aware and dynamically reconfigurable in real- or near-real-time, based on changes that are continuously monitored and captured by sensors, similar to the way the internal biological systems of a living being operate and respond to their environment (homeostasis). Data collected by various IoT sensors and processed via appropriate analytics can also help predict the immediate future with reasonable accuracy, which enables better planned responses and mitigation actions. Cities and regions can thus become more adaptable and resilient in face of adversity. Furthermore, IoT can link atoms (humans) to other atoms (humans) (again via bits), resulting in the formation of ‘smart(er) communities’ that are socially connected in new ways and potentially happier. Cities, but also less urbanised regions and the countryside, could all benefit from, and harness the power of, IoT to improve the health, well-being and overall quality of life of the local populations, actively engage citizens in a smarter governance of their region, empower them to better care for one another, promote stronger social inclusion, and ensure a greener, sustainable and more enjoyable environment for all. Technology can also help reverse the ‘brain drain’ from the countryside and smaller towns to larger metropolises by making the former more attractive and connected, with better services akin to those found in larger cities. The article also discusses some ways of measuring and benchmarking the performance of smart cities and their impact on well-being. However, it should be emphasised that technology is not a panacea and that other factors are equally important in creating happier and healthier cities and regions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1476-072X-14-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In the time of urban growth, people should be at the heart of development, too often they are forgotten. However, growth poses also a great possibility. Cities can transform into open innovation Living Labs, places to experiment and co-create with creative ideas to improve people’s health and wellbeing. Open innovation Living Lab is one-step for city towards smart and healthy society. This requires bold political choices, strategic level approach, open-minded governance and new operational models. The City of Kuopio has taken this opportunity into action together with Kuopio University Hospital. Living Lab operates as an authentic co-creation environment to enable collaboration between citizens, industry, academia and public sector (Quadruple Helix Open Innovation model). This was implemented through primary health care services bringing together community and citizens´ homes for co-creation of new solutions, which helps people, live longer in their homes and increase the quality of life. The elderly and their close relatives have been enthusiastically involved in the services. Participation opportunities and the feeling of social cohesion have increased. Critical success factors are support from strategic level, well-coordinated services, governance, a broad customer base and solutions made from the genuine need. Collaboration between all stakeholders has made it possible to provide better products and services that can improve health and wellbeing of the community in all sectors of life. At the same time, it promotes citizens’ participation and supports co-creation of new ideas arising from the community and the growth of healthy city.

Despite universal health coverage and a strong public health system, the oral health profile of Finland falls behind in an international age-matched prevalence of oral diseases. The oral healthcare system is organised and funded mainly by municipalities. Other stakeholders include the Finnish Student Health Service foundation (FSHS), government and private practices, where the Social Insurance Institution of Finland plays a major role in funding. Rise in the treatment need in recent years due to the increasing dentulous ageing population has challenged the healthcare system. Governmental response to the demand is an ongoing social and healthcare reform and increase of oral health professional education since 2004. However, the current and future treatment need is not met only by conventional prevention strategies and physical service provision. Finland has over the years supported a determined policy of building a digital healthcare architecture. This applies also to all fields of oral healthcare: virtual education, digital diagnostics, digital clinical workflow, national electronic patient records, patient-generated data registers, electronic prescriptions, remote consultation, digital service management, as well as research and big data mining. These tools could play an important role in improving national oral health and increasing equity. This is an overview of the above-mentioned fields of e-Oral health and teledentistry in Finland based on current scientific literature, national reports, strategies and legislation. Conflict of interest.Anni Palander has worked part time in CSIBIOMED and ODA projects. Arto Holopainen has worked part time for ODA, ISAACUS and MOMEDA teleradiology projects. Tiina Rantamo works part time for VIRSU project.

Health and wellness technology is a growing industry. It has been recognised importance to support health technology companies through new procedures. Collaboration between healthcare professionals and companies facilitates the development of customer-centric and patient-safe products and services.In Finland the City of Kuopio and Kuopio University Hospital (KUH) launched Living Lab to enable companies to develop products and services in an authentic healthcare environment to facilitate development of new innovations. Living Lab is a project funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Regional Council of Northern Savo. The project started in spring 2016 and runs until June 2018. The aim is to enable continuation of Living Lab as a permanent service.Living Lab has two operating platforms. The City of Kuopio platform provides companies with the opportunity to develop and test solutions that are suitable for primary health care. The KUH platform concerns specialised medical care and provides innovation development, testing and clinical research for devices and applications.The patient safety aspect is present throughout all phases of Living Lab processes. Every product is evaluated by professionals before testing. The intention is to identify all possible risks to patient safety and information security in order to support the research and development (R and D) process and ensure that a product or solution meets all safety regulations and requirements (including usability).During test runs and clinical trials, the usability of a product or solution, its realisation and the experimental effects are evaluated and reported. Companies can use the test results to further develop their innovations so that they will eventually offer a patient-safe product on the market.Companies have shown growing interest in the capabilities of authentic testing platforms with healthcare professionals and patients. Living Lab may lead to an increase in the volume and quality of new patient-safe health technology.