District09
District09 is the autonomous municipal ICT company (AGB) of the City of Ghent, Belgium, providing digital infrastructure, proactive citizen services, open APIs, and e-inclusion support to 10,000+ city employees and 270,000+ residents, funded through municipal budgets.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersGent, Belgium
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What District09 does
District09 is the autonomous municipal ICT company (Autonoom Gemeentebedrijf/AGB) of the City of Ghent, Belgium, wholly owned by the municipality and operating as its sole mandated ICT partner. The organization traces to Digipolis Gent (founded 2003) and rebranded to District09 in 2019–2020 with AGB restructuring. It employs approximately 200+ staff supporting more than 10,000 city employees and serving 270,000+ citizens of Ghent. Core offerings center on Proactive Services — a rule-based automation engine that queries federal and Flemish databases (MAGDA, Crossroads Bank for Social Security, FPS Finance) to auto-deliver benefits such as free garbage bags, school bill reductions, UiTPAS cultural discounts, and low-emission-zone exemptions without citizens applying; Open Services, a standardized Open API platform exposing city functionalities to third-party developers; the Digipunt e-inclusion network with 30+ physical access points; an open-source QR Code Toolkit adopted by City of Aarhus; and a Self-Sovereign Identity energy loan pilot built on the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) in partnership with Howest and BOSA.
The technology stack is anchored in a microservices architecture with REST API contracts, container-based application platforms, Microsoft Dynamics CRM for case management, SAP S/4 with Fiori and SuccessFactors for enterprise operations, and integration with the Flemish MAGDA data exchange platform. Citizen-facing surfaces include the Mijn Gent mobile app (with the new Mijn OCMW welfare module), an Open Data Portal, and an accessibility alert service combining public transport and city data for blind and visually impaired users.
District09 is not commercially priced; it operates as an internal service provider funded through municipal budget allocations approved by its Board of Directors. There are no funding rounds, no external private equity or venture capital ownership, and no commercial pricing model. Strategic positioning combines domestic municipal ICT delivery with selective international reach via open-source contributions (Aarhus, OS2), EU-funded project participation (SCORE, SPACE4Cities, BLING), and recognition through the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge (2026) and Mediawijs Awards (2022).
District09 firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- District09
- Legal name
- AGB District09
- Website
- https://district09.gent
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- District09 is the autonomous municipal ICT company (AGB) of the City of Ghent, Belgium, providing digital infrastructure, proactive citizen services, open APIs, and e-inclusion support to 10,000+ city employees and 270,000+ residents, funded through municipal budgets.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
District09 industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Government ICT Services and Smart City Platforms
- NAICS
- Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (92512), Facilities Support Services (561210)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Public Works & Municipal Infrastructure (Streets, Stormwater, Facilities) (BPAIACAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance (BPADAEAL), Community Development & Neighborhood Revitalization (CDBG, Place-Based Initiatives) (BPAIANAE)
Keywords
Where District09 is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Gent
- HQ country
- Belgium
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
District09 business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Municipal Government Funding: District09 is an autonomous municipal company (AGB - Autonoom Gemeentebedrijf) funded by the City of Ghent. Annual budgets are approved by the Board of Directors and published. Revenue comes from municipal budgets allocated for ICT services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Government ICT services for City of Ghent |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
District09 product offering
Product offeringCore offering
District09 is the ICT partner of the City of Ghent, providing a stable, reliable and safe ICT environment for the city, its residents, visitors, commuters, students and employees. It delivers digital transformation, application development, proactive citizen services (such as automatic social benefit delivery via federal database integration), open APIs (Open Services) for third-party developers, an e-inclusion programme (Digipunt), and enterprise systems (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics) for the municipal organization.
Product overview
District09 is the ICT partner of the City of Ghent, providing a comprehensive digital infrastructure and services portfolio. The core offering centers on the Proactive Services system that automatically delivers social benefits to eligible citizens without applications, Open Services providing standardized API access to city functionalities for third-party developers, and the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for case management. Additional products include the open-source QR Code Toolkit for public service digitization, the Energy Loan Blockchain Pilot demonstrating Self-Sovereign Identity applications, and the Digipunt e-inclusion programme spanning 30+ locations. The ICT Infrastructure layer encompasses SAP enterprise management, the Mijn Gent citizen app with OCMW integration, and an Open Data Portal. Together these form a layered architecture: citizen-facing applications (apps, CRM, Open Services), business logic services (Proactive Services, blockchain verification), and foundational infrastructure (MAGDA data exchange, national registry integrations, enterprise systems).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Proactive Services (Proactieve Dienstverlening) Automated service delivery system that queries federal databases through the MAGDA platform and Business Rule Engine to determine citizen eligibility for social benefits (school bill reductions, free garbage bags, UiTPAS social tariff, low emission zone exemptions) and delivers them without requiring citizens to apply or submit documents. Targeted at municipal government administration and citizens of Ghent.
- Open Services Standardized, interoperable API platform providing third parties (IT companies, startups, non-IT companies, associations, students, citizens) with free digital access to city services. Enables external developers to request city data, submit city service requests, and directly invoke city functionalities to build applications.
- QR Code Toolkit Open source tool that facilitates uniform, flexible QR code use in public services, enabling digital interfaces for physical objects, maintenance tracking, citizen feedback collection, and IoT sensor labelling. Adopted by City of Aarhus and integrated into the OS2iot platform for Danish municipalities.
- Energy Loan Blockchain Pilot (BLING Project) Proof of concept using blockchain and Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) built on the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) to simplify the energy loan application process. Citizens receive verifiable credentials from data providers via an SSI wallet and present them to the city, eliminating paper document submission. Developed with Howest and validated through BOSA.
- Digipunt / E-inclusion Programme Digital inclusion initiative providing free computer and internet access at 30+ locations across Ghent, with volunteer digihelpers supporting citizens' digital questions. Includes digital skills training programmes, frontline professional coaching, and partnership coordination with organizations delivering e-inclusion services.
- Mijn Gent App (with Mijn OCMW module) Mobile application providing citizens of Ghent with digital access to city services. Includes the Mijn OCMW module, developed with CEVI and Digitaal Vlaanderen, which allows OCMW (Public Social Welfare Centre) clients to independently view their dossier data through a secure digital connection.
- Open Data Portal Open access portal providing city data for public use, building on the Open Data innovations and expanding to Open Services with standardized API access for citizens and developers.
- ICT Infrastructure & Digital Services Comprehensive managed ICT service for the City of Ghent providing a stable, reliable, and secure ICT environment for the city, its residents, visitors, commuters, students and employees. Includes IT infrastructure, application development, digital innovation, and support for 10,000+ city employees. Funded through municipal budget allocations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Administrative documents for free garbage bags reduced from 1,350 to 60 (95.6% reduction) from 2019 to 2022
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use District09
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
District09 technology and API
TechnologyAPI detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration12 records
AI capability6 records
Feature6 records
District09 partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Voka Oost-VlaanderencoreVoka and District09 co-organize the XpertFinder GovTech Workshop, bringing tech companies together with the City of Ghent and other Flemish municipalities around urban challenges.
- Wintercircus GentcoreWintercircus hosts the XpertFinder GovTech Workshop event, collaborating with District09 and Voka to connect tech companies with city challenges.
- SPACE4CitiescoreEU project involving Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) for satellite data solutions. District09 participates as one of 5 pilot cities, developing and testing prototypes for urban challenges like climate adaptation, mobility, and public space monitoring.
- Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC)coreInternational network of cities that District09 collaborates with through initiatives like SPACE4Cities and CITYxCITY festival, sharing knowledge and comparing insights across European cities.
- City of Aarhus (Denmark)coreCity of Aarhus reuses District09's open source QR Code Toolkit. Thanks to open source development, Aarhus can use the tool for QR code standardization, IoT sensor labeling, and integration with OS2iot platform. This is a result of Ghent's participation in EU project SCORE (Smart Cities + open data REuse).
- OS2 (Danish Public Digitisation Network)corePartnership of Danish local governments using shared digital solutions. Integration of District09's QR Code Toolkit into OS2iot platform allows Danish municipalities to easily add IoT sensors.
- HowestcoreTechnical/academic partner in the BLING (Blockchain IN Government) project. Howest developed the citizen portal for loan applications and the back-end for the City of Ghent to verify credentials.
- BOSA (Federal Public Service Policy and Support)coreFederal partner providing portal through which citizens receive VerifiableID and Verifiable Credentials, including those issued by FPS Economy and FPS Finance.
- EBSI (European Blockchain Services Infrastructure)coreEU blockchain infrastructure used for the Self-Sovereign Identity solution enabling verifiable credentials and citizen-controlled data sharing.
- SCORE (Smart Cities + open data REuse)coreEU Interreg North Sea Region project that enabled international cooperation between cities including Ghent and Aarhus for open source technology sharing.
- MAGDA (Maximum Data Sharing between Administrations and Agencies)coreFlemish government data exchange platform providing access to base registries of citizen and enterprise data. District09 uses the 'Automatic Advice' tool and Business Rule Engine for proactive services.
- Crossroads Bank for Social Security (Kruispuntbank Sociale Zekerheid)coreFederal database that District09 queries through MAGDA platform to check citizen eligibility for social benefits in proactive service delivery.
Scale indicators14 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
District09 competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- OpenGov: OpenGov is a US-based GovTech software company serving US state and local governments with budgeting, procurement, and citizen services platforms, comparable to District09 as a specialist provider of digital government services to municipalities but focused on the US market.
- Granicus: Granicus provides government experience (GovExperience) cloud software for digital communications, service delivery, and records management to public-sector agencies, with partial functional overlap to District09's citizen-facing and case-management capabilities.
- Accela: Accela is a GovTech platform for civic engagement, permitting, licensing, and asset management used by state and local governments, with overlapping citizen-service delivery and government workflow capabilities to District09's Microsoft Dynamics-based case management work.
Broad incumbents
- CGI Group: CGI is one of the largest IT services firms with a substantial public-sector practice delivering systems integration, application management, and digital transformation to governments across Europe and Canada, competing for the same municipal digital transformation mandates that District09 serves.
- TietoEVRY: TietoEVRY is a leading Nordic IT services provider with deep public-sector and municipal government business across the Nordics, comparable to District09 as a regional scale provider of managed ICT and digital services to local government.
- Capgemini: Capgemini operates a dedicated Public Sector business serving European municipalities and agencies on digital transformation, smart-city initiatives, and citizen services modernization, making it a broad incumbent with overlapping scope to District09's mandate.
Others
- SAP Public Services: SAP Public Services provides the SAP S/4HANA, SuccessFactors, and Fiori enterprise platforms that District09 operates and extends for the City of Ghent, making SAP a key enabling technology vendor and adjacent participant in District09's service delivery.
- Sidewalk Labs (Alphabet): Sidewalk Labs is Alphabet's urban technology organization focused on smart-city platforms, mobility, and data infrastructure, comparable to District09 as a smart-city technology participant but at a fundamentally different scale and as a private commercial actor.
- Decidim: Decidim is a free open-source participatory democracy platform used by cities including Barcelona and Helsinki, thematically adjacent to District09's open-source city services and citizen engagement work in Flanders.
Direct peers
- Digitaal Vlaanderen: Digitaal Vlaanderen is the Flemish regional government's shared digital and ICT partner, structurally the closest peer to District09: a public-sector technology organization that builds shared services, data exchange, and digital identity infrastructure for Flemish municipalities, including co-developing the Mijn Gent app with District09.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
District09 social profiles
Digital presenceDistrict09 compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
District09 financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
District09 leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
District09 funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
District09 M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about District09
What does District09 do?
District09 is the ICT partner of the City of Ghent, providing a stable, reliable and safe ICT environment for the city, its residents, visitors, commuters, students and employees. It delivers digital transformation, application development, proactive citizen services (such as automatic social benefit delivery via federal database integration), open APIs (Open Services) for third-party developers, an e-inclusion programme (Digipunt), and enterprise systems (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics) for the municipal organization.
Is District09 a public or private company?
District09 is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was District09 founded?
District09 was founded in 2003. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is District09 based?
District09 is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, in the Europe region.
How does District09 make money?
One revenue line is on record: municipal Government Funding.
Who are District09's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are OpenGov, Granicus and Accela. Broad incumbents are CGI Group, TietoEVRY and Capgemini. Others are SAP Public Services, Sidewalk Labs (Alphabet) and Decidim. Digitaal Vlaanderen is listed as a direct peer.
Does District09 have an API?
Yes. Open Services provide reliable, standardised, interoperable and free digital access to digital city services. Through Open API-access, third parties (IT companies, startups, non-IT companies, associations, students, citizens) can request city data and submit actual city service requests, directly invoking city functionalities behind the scenes. Third parties can connect to the infrastructure to provide the public with applications based on the alert service. The concept represents a transformation where smart city projects shift from 'we need a new app' to 'let's give other parties access to city services as digital building blocks'.
What industry is District09 in?
District09's product category is Government ICT Services and Smart City Platforms. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIACAF, Public Works & Municipal Infrastructure (Streets, Stormwater, Facilities), with a secondary code of BPADAEAL, Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance. Its NAICS code is 92512 and its SIC code is 7370.