Terms of use

We value your participation and want you to be able to use our services to their full extent. Therefore, please take a moment to read through our Terms of Use. They contain important information about your rights and obligations on the platform. If you have any questions or concerns about our Terms of Use, please do not hesitate to contact us.

1. Introduction

The Knowledge and Networking Platform of the Coordination and Transfer Office Model Projects Smart Cities (KTS) (hereinafter referred to as the "Knowledge and Networking Platform") is the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB), hereinafter referred to as "we", "us" or "our". The knowledge and networking platform is an online platform for people interested in smart cities, integrated urban development and related topics. It offers services and opportunities to obtain information, network, share resources and work together on innovative projects.

2. Access and use of the platform

  1. Use of the platform is free of charge and is open to natural and legal persons who are interested in Smart Cities.
  2. Persons under the age of 16 should not transmit any personal data to us without the consent of their parents or legal guardians.
  3. You must register in order to gain access to the platform. When registering, you agree to provide true, accurate and complete information.
  4. You are obliged to choose a password as part of your registration. Everyone is entitled to change their password at any time. Each password is transmitted and stored in encrypted form. We are therefore not in a position to provide users with information about their password.

You are obliged to ensure that no other person gains knowledge of your password. We would like to point out that anyone who knows a user ID and password of a user can carry out unauthorised actions on behalf of the user using the knowledge and networking platform. If you have discovered the loss or theft of your password or its misuse or any other unauthorised use of your password, or if you suspect this, you are obliged to inform us immediately so that your account can be blocked.

You are also obliged to inform us immediately after discovering any unauthorised or incorrectly executed action using the knowledge and networking platform under your user ID. In the event of culpable breaches of the obligations under section 2d. of these Terms of Use, you shall remain liable for any damages arising from the use of the knowledge and networking platform.

3. Contents of the platform

  1. The platform offers you services such as a contact database, virtual workspaces, contributions, the uploading of documents and the organisation of events. We reserve the right to change, suspend or terminate any part of our services.
  2. You are solely responsible for the content you publish on the platform, including posts, documents and events. These must not violate applicable law or infringe the rights of third parties.
  3. The platform allows companies to offer their products and services as long as this is done to an appropriate extent and does not impair the user experience. We welcome companies that want to showcase their innovations and provide valuable resources for our community. However, advertising should not be excessive or intrusive so as not to annoy or distract users. We reserve the right to remove advertising that violates this policy.
  4. We reserve the right to remove content that violates these Terms of Use.

4. Restriction of use

Users are prohibited from

  1. content that promotes or glorifies violence or hatred,
  2. content that is discriminatory or promotes or glorifies discrimination,
  3. content that is harmful to minors, in particular content that is pornographic, glorifies violence or
  4. otherwise immoral content,
  5. false factual claims,
  6. content that withholds material information, and/or
  7. vulgar, obscene, disrespectful, provocative, racist, anti-Semitic and/or aggressive content
    to upload or disseminate and/or link to the knowledge and networking platform.

Users are also prohibited from doing so,

  1. upload viruses, worms, Trojans and other malware or mechanisms to the knowledge and networking platform, distribute them via the knowledge and networking platform or set links to them from the knowledge and networking platform,
  2. take any other action that impairs the functionality of the knowledge and networking platform and/or
  3. upload or communicate content to the knowledge and networking platform that violates the rights of third parties.

In the event of violations, we are authorised to block individual or all functionalities as well as a user's access to the knowledge and networking platform and/or to delete content.

5. Intellectual property / copyright

  1. All content not published on the platform by the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building remains the property of its respective owner.
  2. By uploading content to the Platform, you grant us a non-exclusive licence to use, reproduce, adapt and distribute such content in connection with the Platform.
  3. Copyright: Unless otherwise stated, the copyright for images and texts is held by the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building. Texts, parts of texts, graphics, tables or images made available on the Internet pages of http://www.smart-city-dialog.de may not be reproduced, distributed or exhibited without the prior consent of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building.

6. Data protection

Our privacy policy governs the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data. By using the platform, you agree to this privacy policy.

7. Disclaimer

The content of the Internet pages of http://www.smart-city-dialog.de and https://wuv.smart-city-dialog.de is intended to facilitate access to information about the National Smart Cities Dialogue Platform, the federal government's "Smart Cities Pilot Projects" funding project and its accompanying research on Smart Cities, the International Smart Cities Network and the knowledge and networking platform of the Smart Cities Pilot Projects Coordination and Transfer Office. Care is taken to ensure that the information provided is accurate, up-to-date, complete, comprehensible and available at all times.

Nevertheless, the following restrictions must be made:

  1. Disclaimer: The links on these pages to content from third-party websites ("third-party content") have been created to the best of our knowledge and with the greatest possible care and merely provide access to "third-party content". Attention has been paid to the trustworthiness of third-party providers and the accuracy and legality of the "third-party content".

    However, as the content of websites is dynamic and can change at any time, it is not possible to continuously check all content to which a link has been created. The Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building therefore expressly does not adopt the content of third-party websites linked to its own website as its own and expressly distances itself from all content that may be relevant under criminal or liability law or offend common decency.

    Liability for damages arising from the use or non-use of "third-party content" lies exclusively with the respective provider of the linked page. The Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building is not liable for damages arising from the use or non-use of the information provided. No liability is accepted for any damage caused by computer viruses or the installation or use of software when accessing or downloading data.
  2. Error messages: The editorial team asks users of http://www.smart-city-dialog.de to draw attention to illegal or erroneous third-party content to which a link is provided on the website. Users are also requested to send a message to the contact address provided if their own content is not error-free, up-to-date, complete and comprehensible.

8. Cancellation

You can cancel your account at any time by using the corresponding function on the platform. We reserve the right to cancel your account or block access to the platform if you violate these terms of use.

9. Up-to-dateness and amendment of these terms of use

These terms of use are currently valid and were last updated in September 2025.
Due to the further development of our website and offers or due to changed legal or official requirements, it may become necessary to change this privacy policy. You can access and print out the current privacy policy at any time at http://www.smart-city-dialog.de and https://wuv.smart-city-dialog.de.

10. Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of Germany. Any disputes arising in connection with these Terms of Use shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Berlin.