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.
In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I had a fantastic conversation with Sophia Arkinstall. Sophia is the Project Lead at Springfield City Group in the Health, Education and Smart City Division, and she's also an MBA candidate at the University of Queensland. Sophia is passionate about creating healthier and happier cities through creativity, sustainability and design. In this episode, we discuss how we can bring that health aspect into the Smart City and why it's so important to do so, as well as the lessons on this that Sophia has learned from visiting various countries and cities around the world, including France, Switzerland, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates. Sophia also tells us how she sees Australia embracing Smart Community concepts, and about the learning city projects she's working on right now to help with the Smart People aspect of Smart Cities. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of the economic impact of sustainable practices, and the health impacts of commuting. This is the fourth episode in my #selfcareseptember series about wellbeing in our cities and communities, and I hope you've enjoyed it. As always I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I've enjoyed making it! Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Sophia via LinkedIn, on Twitter @sophieark or check out her videos on YouTube Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
In this episode I had a brilliant chat with Dr. Katherine Loflin, an award-winning, internationally-recognized trailblazer in place science, earning her the moniker of The City Doctor. Katherine tells us about her background in social work and why that's so powerful in the place making space. Katherine and I discuss the idea of Smart Community as a deliberate community, and why it's important to be aware when there may be a tale of two cities happening, where one part of the community is thriving while others are just surviving. We explore how fundamental place is to human existence and wellbeing, and the interconnection between place and work. Katherine then tells us about some of the work she does as the Place Doctor, including with cities charting attachment to place, with corporations to help them attract and retain talent, and with Amazing Place Productions, which tells the stories of places. Katherine explains how work-life balance has become more of a focus for citizens and why we need an alternative to the needs-based or social argument when it comes to getting governments and organisations on board with Smart Community concepts. We finish our conversation discussing the need for values-based and common-ground-based conversations around difficult and divisive community issues. As always I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Katherine on LinkedIn or at City-Doctor.com Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
In this episode, I have a fascinating conversation with Monica Olyslagers, the Safe Cities Specialist at iRAP, the International Road Assessment Programme. Monica tells us how moving to Ho Chi Min City at the age of 12 sparked her interest in Cities, and why she is so passionate about cycling and the involvement of women in the transport sector. Monica explains a bit about the work IRAP does in assessing star ratings for road safety for different road user groups. For the past four years, Monica lived in Beijing, China at a time when the city experienced its very own "bicycle revolution" driven by new technologies and we discuss some of the projects she's worked on there. Monica and I also cover the enormous challenge of improving road safety, and how improving health outcomes in the community is inextricably linked with improving transport options. We finish our conversation discussing the need to question emerging technology trends in light of what kind of world we actually want to live in in the future. As always I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Monica on LinkedIn Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a really interesting conversation with mental health disruptor and innovator, Katherine Flynn. Katherine tells us about her background in mental health and PR, and why she's so passionate about Smart Strategies for mental health. We talk about how learning about how data can be used in marketing is what sparked her interest in ways we could be using data and technology to support people's mental health. Katherine shares with us how she sees Australia embracing Smart concepts in this space currently, and two projects she's working on - Listen In and Cre8 Dance - that use music and dance, combined with mindfulness practices and technology to support people's mental health. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of technology such as Apps being used in mental health prevention as well as crisis support. As always, I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Katherine via her websites katherineflynn.net and heartspaceinternational.com Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
I'm back with another bonus episode of the podcast that brings together multiple guests answers to the question "where to next with Smart Cities and Communities?" As it's ASCA August/to round out ASCA August, this time I'm sharing with you the answers from our guests this month. You'll hear from Emily Royall from Episode 122, Matt Schultz from Episode 123, Sean Audain from Episode 124 and Marissa Racolamera from Episode 125. There are a couple of main themes in this episode. You'll hear these guests talk about being community driven and taking the obligations of government towards their constituents very seriously, as well as issues of scalability and questions around ethics and social licence when it comes to emerging technology. All the guests agree that we need to be engaging with these wicked problems and asking the hard-to-answer questions now, so that we can create a future that is more liveable for all in our communities going forwards. This episode was brought to you by the Australian Smart Communities Association, and as always I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I had a really interesting chat with Marissa Racomelara, the Director for Transformation and Change at Georges River Council, and Board Secretary of the Australian Smart Communities Association. We talk about how Marissa's background in criminology and designing spaces to prevent crime really sparked her interest in Smart Cities and Communities, and why she believes they're so important. Marissa shares with us how she sees Australia embracing Smart concepts, as well as the necessary balance between professionals guiding Smart processes and intentional community engagement or feedback. Marissa then tells us about the Smart City projects she's working on at George's River Council and the work we're doing at ASCA. We finish our conversation discussing the emerging trends of having a common purpose when collaborating, and focusing on the 'why' and real problem solving in Smart Communities rather than only thinking about the new shiny tech. This episode is brought to you by the Australian Smart Communities Association. As always I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Marissa on the ASCA website or via LinkedIn Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I had a great chat with Sean Audain, the City Innovation Lead at Wellington City Council in New Zealand. Sean and I discuss the way the public service role of government shapes how decisions are made, and that this comes with both opportunities and challenges for the government that can differ significantly from the responsibilities and operations of private companies. Sean then tells us how he sees New Zealand embracing Smart concepts, and a bit about the digital twin projects that he is working on in Wellington. We talk about the benefits of using digital twin technology and how it's being used to build a new call centre and a new library. We finish our conversation discussing the need for indigenous voices in the Smart Cities discourse and the ways different worldviews shape our Smart Communities. As always, I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Sean via LinkedIn or on Twitter @sean_audain Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
In this episode I had a great conversation with Matt Schultz, City Digital Officer at Ipswich City Council in Queensland and the National President of the Australia Smart Communities Association. Matt and I cover his wide and varied career in technology and local government, and why Matt is so passionate about helping people. We also discuss how important and complex the role of local government actually is, and why Smart Communities are so important. Matt tells us how he sees Australia embracing Smart concepts, as well as the many interesting projects Ipswich City Council is working on to make it an open and interoperable city moving forwards. Matt then explains how ASCA came to be, from its beginnings in 2009 as the Broadband Today Alliance, and how it developed into what it is today, helping with connecting and integrating across different disciplines and industries in Australia today. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of 5G, AI, ML, IOT and blockchain, and the opportunity that lies in the fusion of all of these technologies going forwards. As always I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Matt via LinkedInor the ASCA website Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I had a really fascinating discussion with Emily Royall, the Smart City Coordinator of the City of San Antonio, Texas. Emily tells us about her passion for advancing equity in Smart Cities, and the Community Driven Smart City model that San Antonio is pursuing. We discuss the digital divide in San Antonio and the equity questions municipalities need to think about when being marketed to by the companies mediating Smart City data. Emily then tells us about a number of really interesting and innovative projects the City of San Antonio is working on, including how they've partnered with kids in the local CoderDojo coding program to get viable prototypes for their community. Emily and I finish our conversation discussing her thoughts on integrating across disciplines and the jobs of the future, as well as the emerging trends of digital justice and digital equity. As always, I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Emily on Twitter @emily_royall and LinkedIn Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
This is a quick episode to introduce our ASCA August special here on the Smart Community Podcast. What is ASCA? ASCA is the Australia Smart Communities Association of which Zoe is a volunteer board member. In August, all episodes of the Smart Community Podcast will be brought to you by the Australian Smart Communities Association with a focus on the needs of ASCA members. So we're bringing you conversations, stories and learnings from local government agencies around the world, as well as from the board members. Connect with ASCA at www.australiansmartcommunities.org.au Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook @smartcommpod
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