Stay Connected“Making Smart Communities that are Accessible, Liveable and Sustainable for All”
The Smart Community Podcast is a hub where Smart and exciting people from all around the world come to discuss all things Smart City, Smart Town, Smart Region – anything that makes a place more liveable. Together we can create the Smart Community Collective.
Disclaimer: All content is representative of personal opinion only and is not associated with any company, organisation or government agency.
Hi #smartcommunity friends. In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have an interesting conversation with Marcus Foth, a professor at QUT in Brisbane, in the Creative Industries faculty design lab. You might remember, Marcus was one of our first guests on the podcast back in Episode 4 in 2018. In this episode we touch on Marcus's background and his current work across interaction design. As well as how his passion for creating a better world involves tackling things such as sustainability, resilience, climate change, circular economy and data. We talk about the importance of good governance models to create smart cities, and discuss the difference between security and privacy. Marcus then shares with us the Data Care initiative and the sustainability projects he is currently working on. We finish our conversation talking about the emerging trends of the 'more than human theme' and data sovereignty before Marcus shares how government and industry are beginning to recognise the importance of a holistic sustainability approach. As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Marcus via LinkedIn or on Twitter @Sunday9pm Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
Hi #smartcommunity friends. In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a great conversation with Cristina Savian, the founder of BE-WISE, an international consultancy focused on driving the adoption of technology bringing to market the most promising innovation in the construction and property industries across Europe, US and Australia. Cristina tells us about her background in civil engineering and technology in Italy, the UK and now Australia, as well as her passion for digital twins. We start with a bit of a Digital Twin 101 explanation, and Cristina tells us about how she works in this space. We discuss how digital twins fit into the Smart Community space, the benefits of digital twins as well as use cases for how digital twins can help in the area of mobility and construction. Cristina and I then talk about the challenge of working out what data is worth collecting for digital twins, as well as the access, management and governance of that data. We finish our chat discussing how the pandemic has shifted some of the trends in our cities and what cities of the future might look like. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Cristina via email cristina@be-wise.xyz on Clubhouse, or at the websites www.be-wise.xyz or www.cristinasavian.com Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
Hi #smartcommunity friends! In this episode I have a fantastic chat with Jo Palmer, the Founder and Managing Director of Pointer Remote, who work with communities, businesses and individuals to leverage remote work. Jo tells us about Pointer Remote and why she started it, as well as the changes to the business model that evolved over 2019 and 2020. We discuss the common struggles organisations face in being set up for remote work, as well as the opportunities and challenges in the remote work space since the pandemic. Jo and I explore the power of local champions to change mindsets about remote work in regional and rural areas and ways local government can support that. Jo explains why in-person meetings with your remote workforce are still required and the importance of a digital footprint to build trust in our digital world. We finish our chat discussing the impact putting women in work has on local economies, and the emerging trend of attracting and retaining professionals in rural communities. As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Jo on LinkedIn Connect with Pointer Remote at the website pointerremote.com.au or on social media Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
Hello #smartcommunityfriends. I'm back with another bonus episode of the Smart Community Podcast sharing various guests answers to the question, 'Where to next with Smart Cities and Communities?" And this time I'm sharing with you the answers from these guests: •Warren Dean from Episode 196 •Sandra Phillips from Episode 219 •Oliver Lock from Episode 222 •Priscilla Radice from Episode 220 •Chad Ramage from Episode 221 •Elisa Choy from Episode 224 and •Bratton Riley from Episode 225 Some themes come through in the guest answers around data, trust in government, and community engagement. Getting accurate, up to date, open, private and safe data continues to be a core factor in so many aspects of Smart Communities, from better resource management to decision making to the ability to collaborate and integrate across disciplines, sectors and industries. And all of these things, including the communication of data protocols and decisions continue to be factors that impact trust in government and community engagement as a whole. As Elisa Choy says, there's "no shortage of passion and intent. You just need to arm yourself with the right data and then communicate in a way that people actually care." As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.
Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Hi #smartcommunity friends. In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a brilliant conversation with Lea Hemetsberger, the Communications and Projects Director for Open and Agile Smart Cities, which is an international network of cities and communities. Lea tells us about her background in journalism and passion for cities, mobility and literature, before sharing with us how her Masters degree sparked her interest in the Smart City space. We discuss the importance of having a long term vision and strong basic foundations for Smart Cities, as well as a bit about how Open and Agile Cities came to be and what they do. Then we dive into a great chat about digital twins, exploring the real use cases as a way of moving through the hype-disillusionment cycle and the mindset changes that are needed to get all stakeholders onboard. We finish our conversation discussing the emerging trends of standards and interoperability. As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Connect with Lea via LinkedIn or email lea@oascities.org Follow Open and Agile Smart Cities on Twitter @oascities Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
Hi #smartcommunityfriends. In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a interesting chat with Bratton Riley, the Founder of CitiBot, a customer service tool for governments and companies. Bratton tells us about his background in local government and community, and his shift into business and technology, as well as his passion for connecting residents and government through digital platforms. We discuss how important trust is between local governments and residents, the challenges and opportunities of working in public service, and why supportive leadership is so important in local government. Bratton then shares with us a bit about CitiBot and the work his company does, as well as why it's so important to them to facilitate equal access to government institutions in underserved communities or those with accessibility challenges. He tell us about some of the key learnings and successes from working with cities and counties in the US, as well as ways local governments can use data to make better decisions, improve user experience and create opportunities for residents to be engaged. We finish our conversation talking about the emerging trends of evolving government to support innovation and developing vision- and outcomes-focused local government leaders. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Bratton via email bratton@citibot.io or the website citibot.io Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a brilliant chat with Elisa Choy, an economist and data strategist and the Founder of Maven Data. We talk about Elisa's background in data and strategy and her passion for making better decisions with data, as well as why it's important to the Smart Community space. Elisa tells us what Maven Data does and shares some really interesting examples of some of their research and insights, such as around the COVID vaccine in Australia, racism in Australia, and also wellness trends globally. We talk about the way data can help us predict trends and behaviour change, and what local governments can learn from the insights from Maven Data, as well as bringing traditional research methods, new market data insights and key stakeholders together to have better conversations. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of questioning existing systems and challenging the status quo, particularly with regards to the rise of women's voices, and diversity and discrimination in general. For a little bit of context, we recorded this episode on the 5th March 2021 shortly before the Women's March4Change here in Australia on the 15th March, and you will hear Elisa share how her insights had been predicting the rise of the female roar. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Elisa on LinkedIn or find Maven Data at mavendata.com.au or on YouTube and Instagram @mavendata Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
Hi #smartcommunityfriends! In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast I have a great conversation with Ashleigh Wilson, a Community Manager at Coder Academy and a Neurodiversity Advocate. We recorded this in late 2020 so you may hear us refer to 2021 a lot. In this episode we talk about Ashleigh's background and how an interest in tech led to her studying IT and then becoming passionate about diversity and community in the tech world. Ashleigh tells us about her experience disclosing her Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis to her work and community and how this has led to her public speaking and neurodiversity advocacy work. Ashleigh explains the importance of neurodiversity in Smart Communities, and why she advocates for hybrid approaches to work and business rather than traditional silos. We talk about Ashleigh's role at Coder Academy and how her willingness to follow curiosity and give new things a go has led to her career progression there. Ashleigh and I then discuss the importance of community and checking in with each other in this digital world we live in now, especially in the wake of the pandemic. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of online education, Coworking 3.0 and career pivots. As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Ashleigh on LinkedIn and Twitter @ashlebug Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
Hello #smartcommunity friends and welcome back to #mobilitymarch! In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a great follow up conversation with Oliver Lock, Urbanist and Spacial Data Scientist currently finishing up his PhD in Participatory Analytics. You might or might not remember that I spoke with Oliver way back in episode 41, in 2018 back when we were called the Smart City podcast. We talked then about engaging people with smart cities and so in this episode Oliver tells us about his passion for engaging people with how their data is being used. Oliver tells us a bit about how he got into this space and what's changed since he was last on the podcast, before we dive into a great chat about his PhD and key findings from his research into participatory analytics. He tells us what participatory analytics is and how it works to connect the tech, decision makers and the community, plus a bit about the Civic Labs accelerator program he's currently working on. We discuss the power of local council relationships with their communities and the possibilities for regional areas since the 'flee change' of people leaving cities post COVID, as well as the opportunities that now exist for community engagement due to people's willingness to use QR codes for Covid check-ins. We finish up discussing emerging trends of transformation in transport modelling and not just big data but big participation in data. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Oliver on LinkedIn Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
Hello #smartcommunity friends and welcome back to #mobilitymarch! In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a great follow up chat with Chad Ramage, Founder of Accessibility in the City, an online mapping solution that helps support those with accessibility issues with navigation. You might remember I spoke with Chad about this time last year in Episode 162 about about inclusivity and accessibility in Smart Cities. In this episode, Chad tells us about how his experiences trying to find accessible places for his wheelchair sparked his interest in the accessible Smart Community conversation and he tells us how that eventually led to his business Accessibility in the City. We discuss the development of the MVP of the platform and the community engagement they've been doing with underserved groups, plus the opportunities and challenges of mapping accessibility points of interest like noise level and accessible toilets, which aren't quite as simple as things like whether or not there's a ramp into a building. Chad tells us why accessibility is key to Smart Communities and what's changed since we last spoke to him, plus how far he thinks we've come in the accessibility conversation in Australia. We finish our chat discussing emerging trends of renewable energy districts, and accessibility being part of a Covid-Safe future, as well as how accessibility audits can help us all learn more about the accessibility of our businesses and local areas. As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it! Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Chad via LinkedIn, email info@accessibilityinthe.city or accessibilityinthecity.com.au Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
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