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Citizen insights and consumer insights are two different galaxies

For a long time I was convinced that building projects could be more successful if the collective opinion of citizens was taken into account. Good surveys that generate isights - and everything will be tip-top.

But these issues are more complicated than in business. For some public goods there is no obvious customer. Some public goods mean change in the urban environment and only become goods in the long term. There will always be people for and against, like in politics. But it does not mean that one of those groups is right.

It becomes more clear for me that there is no one truth in the public domain. Citizens' opinions is not the best source of information. Data analytics might suite for evaluating the quality and efficiency of public services, for assessing marketing campaigns, website monitoring, etc. It does not suit for change projects. Pointless inertia of NIMBYs will hold back the development and growth. City planning does not serve individual needs, it creates a product for different (conflicting) target groups with different needs. In this case, asking for individualistic opinions makes little sense.

However, surveying citizens (in a non-boring way) might help the city understand what are the different segments living in a certain area or city as a whole, and understand their needs better. Construction and renovation projects would then be able to target themselves differently towards different stakeholder groups.

Anyways, market research and data science play a very different role in the public sector, compared to the purposes of for-profit companies.

#urban planning #city planning

The Denny electrical substation shows how public infrastructure can bring a community together.

Infrastructure does not have to only be functional.

#urbanization #urban design #urban planning #city planning

Cities worth learning from

In times of increasing urbanisation, population growth and innovation we need to turn our attention to several innovative cities that address these issues in creative ways. Surprisingly, they are not the world’s megacities.

Global Cities Initiatives is launching in Stockholm. On Friday Stockholm Chamber of Commerce hosted a morning seminar on “How can Stockholm Strengthen its Global Competitiveness”. Chicago, London, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and San Diego shared their experiences with Stockholmers.

Three thoughts I found interesting:

1. City to city partnerships that could be initiated using city’s existing network. For example, Minneapolis discovered multiple cultural connections it has with Sweden, Gothenburg especially, but surprising lack of business connections. There links provided a solid ground for a fruitful partnership. 2. In the efforts to strengthen its competitiveness, to support exports, FDI, innovation, etc, cities need to make sure that they do not duplicate what is already there. There might already be institutions that offer various support programs, for example banks. City’s task is to create a strong and aligned ecosystem.

3. Thinking is shifting from considering country competitiveness towards city regions competitiveness. Cities have unique networks and assets that might not be relevant for the country as a whole. Partly because of that, mid-size cities are taking a significant place on the map alongside global economic centers such as London, Paris, New York.

#global cities initiative #cities #competitiveness #stockholm

The internet has only strengthened the appeal of cities as hubs for exchanging ideas, and social and cultural exploration and made face-to-face relationships more valuable

Jonathan Dingel

#creative class #nerdopolis #cities #technology

Greg Verdino’s talk at Telia CONNECT2BUSINESS Conference.

Takeaways:

1. Disruption vs. transformation.

“If the rate of change on the outside exceed the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” How to exceed the speed of external change?

If the change happens to your company as a result outside forces, you are getting digitally disrupted.

Taking the right action on the inside to drive change for yourself and for the industry will allow you to embark on the digital transformation journey.

2. The danger of yesterday’s logic.

“The greatest danger in times of digital is not digital itself, it is to act with yesterday’s logic when trying to define our own futures.” (Kodak)

“The way you have always done business is the way you will go out of business.”

3. Not just the technology, but the vision

“At the end of the day the technology is trivial. Most of tech is already out there or in your companies. The difficult part is to see what you business must become in 5-10 years.”

Tech has to support the value proposition, or improve operational efficiencies. (Domino’s)

4. Not how digital you are, but HOW you are digital.

Start from WHY, rethink the business model without applying the yesterdays logic, rethink what the product is, what content will it provide. (Johnny Walker blue)

5. High expectations.

“What matters is that customers (employees as the first customer) expect that you are as easy to do business with as companies like Amazon, Uber, etc.

6. Increase the speed

“Sustained digital evolution”: - Quick wins, need to increase the speed. - Repeat organisations

IKEA is already testing technology that has just started to ship (Veev agumented reality) .

7. Collaboration vs. cooperation.

“The most successful businesses are the ones that are able build the platforms on which others innovate. Even if everybody wins, the provider of the platform wins the most.”

Which platforms will you orchestrate, and in which you will just participate? (Phillips Hue open API and Apple HomeKit integration)

8. Speed is not enough.

You need to have a direction as well -> Velocity and vision - that is what turns change into transformation.

#digital #digital transformation #disruption #trends #greg verdino #connect2business

Self-driving vehicles are indisputably one of most discussed recent technological trends. Is it possible? Will it be safe? What is needed to make it work?

Stockholm! Great opportunity to test-drive self-driving mini-busses from April 25 - 29 in Kista.

#self-driving cars #mobility #ict

Yesterday I was the Global IoT day in Stockholm. Lots of interesting people, talks and projects, lots of things I still do not understand. But I am getting there:) The most inspiring topic of the day was the Physical Web. First, the guys from Upwis, whose team I joined for a couple of hours, introduced me to this yet another great Google’s idea. Then, Scott Jenson himself joined us over Skype for a brief but engaging discussion.

So what is Physical Web? Simply put, it is a replacement for QR codes and endless apps. It is definitely time to get rid of those wherever possible. As Scott Jenson said, “QR codes are just stupid!”. Low-power bluetooth devices - beacons - send out url links that smartphones are able to scan. The link becomes visible in notifications, and a person could easily follow it without having to scan a QR code (and downloading QR-scanner first!) or getting any other apps. Physical Web frees up people from the necessity to download apps for every small and meaningless thing such as parking payments. Awesome, isn’t it? I believe that Physical Web will soon explode, and even more physical things will be “connected”.

The great thing with Physical Web is that it basically does not have anything to do with IoT, it more of a UX solution. It brings things without any connectivity functions to the Internet just with the help of a little beacon. Similarly to all micro-processors, these beacons will be continuously getting even smaller and cheaper than they are today. Even though PW is not an IoT child, it can definitely be used for all sorts of IoT things. An easy and cheap solution. I wonder what Evgeny Morozov thinks.

There are a couple of difficulties the project has gone through, some of which still remain. At first, ironically, people had to download an app to start using Physical Web. Today, it works through Chrome app. However, Chrome has much lower market share on mobile devices, compared to its desktop version. Here Google made a smart move - PW is and will remain an open platform. Google will not keep it to themselves. Consequences have already followed. Opera announced its plans to integrate PW in their browser. Safari is a big one to be conquered.

One question that immediately pops up in the head is “How to manage the information overflow and protect privacy?” Google is working on ways for identifying and filtering spam beacons, as well as reducing the number of urls. Google claim that they have no ambition for reinventing the web: (1) security should stay on the web level, not on the beacon level, and (2) PW should mainly provide an easier way to connect to the right part of the web, not replace the web.

An example from Scott Jenson. It can get overwhelming in a museum, if every painting has its own beacon, someone’s dog collar is also sending you signals, etc. Instead, though a single museum url you would be able to enter the web, where you will be further guided throughout the exhibition. There are still many open questions, but the stage is open for individual developers to suggest ways for categorising urls, ranking them according to the distance, etc.

#physical web #google #iot #internet of things #iotday

Congestion Level in Moscow decreased by 6% compared to last year, according to TomTom traffic index. These improvements are an indication of the ongoing Transport Development Program that aims to improve mobility in the city. Here are some of the initiatives implemented:

1. New parking policies, including charging for parking and restructuring on-street parking on busy roads, encouraging the use of public transport and improving road speeds

2. Constructing new metro lines and creating bus lanes, resulting in much improved travel times on public transportIncreasing road traffic safety by implementation of a new traffic circulation plan in the central part of the city

3. Adding infrastructure for pedestrians (new fully pedestrian streets in the city center) and cyclists

4. Improving the provision of information to the public through radio and television channels.

5. New solutions to motivate drivers switch to public trasport when going towards the city center - free parking in a parking garage next to several suburban metro station in case the driver takes the metro back and forth.

#moscow #traffic #tomtom

The Mayors Challenge encourages cities to generate bold new ideas that solve urban challenges and improve city life – and have the potential to spread.

#mayorschallenge #cities #urban planning #urbanism

humanscalecities

Smart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing By Beth Simone Noveck

urbannina

“Public decision-making could be more effective and legitimate if our institutions knew how to use technology to leverage citizens’ expertise”. “New vision for participatory democracy rooted not in the paltry act of occasional voting or the serendipity of crowdsourcing, but in people’s knowledge and know-how”.

Oh how I love these “Before and After” pictures! Here are some basic principles behind: 1. Replace snow, rain, dirt and grey sky with sunny weather 2. Add large 20-year old trees 3. Remove ACs and downpipes from the buildings 4. Clear the sky from all hanging cords (okay, maybe it is possible) 5. Add happy people!

The good thing is: it works. And it is not only Moscow cheating;) Even though I am a great admirer of Vuchic’s ideas, would be nice to see the new traffic system plan accompanying these changes.

#urban planning #moscow #strelka #stadsplanering

Waste food still remains a massive problem in developed countries. Only this year did France passed a law banning supermarkets from throwing away waste food, instead asking them to donate it to charities or food banks. That’s why WeFood opened in Denmark in February. The shop is the country’s first selling only food that has gone past its sell by date, with prices up to 50 percent cheaper than in normal shops. The store is located in the country’s capital Copenhagen, and is run by volunteers. The company has already secured deals with retailers and importers to sell the food that would otherwise go to waste. According to the organizers, Danes throw out more than 700,000 tons of food each year, costing the nation around DKK 11.6 billion annually. The shop also aims to help some of the world’s 800 million people who live in hunger and food poverty by giving the profits from WeFood’s flagship store to the charity DanChurchAid. Hoping to tackle the food waste issue, a digital discount rack has been developed for supermarkets, a public food-sharing fridge has been set up in Spain, and nutritious powder made from food waste was created in Malaysia. How else can consumers and producers be encouraged to stop wasting food?

"As the reality of autonomous cars draws closer, tyre manufacturer Goodyear is preparing in advance. The company recently unveiled two new tyre concepts at the 86th Geneva International Motor show, designed specifically to deal with the opportunities that driverless cars will create. The Eagle 360 is a spherical tyre, which can move in every direction. While the IntelliGrip is a smart tyre that can communicate with the car, sharing information about the road surface and weather conditions." The tire design also uses biomimicry — using a 3D printed sponge-like surface, which softens when wet and stiffens in dry conditions.

Finally conceding that fragmentation is hurting the development of the internet of things, a group of tech industry giants, including chip rivals Intel and Qualcomm, have joined forces to create a standards group called the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF). The new consortium includes Intel, Microsoft, Samsung and Qualcomm and will push the Iotivity standard for …

Big news in the IoT world

#weave

Backyards

IoT Prototyping weekend workshop at SSES

Finally got to play with Littlebits, try out Flic, WeMo, IFTTT, Cloudbits! We had a very simple idea of office space customization, which becomes more and more relevant in the world of home-offices, co-working spaces, and the rise of precariat freelancers.

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