Beyond Smart Cities: The Future of Digital Citizenship

Can cities use data and digital to increase opportunity, equality, innovation, and sustainability? How? MKAI organized a panel on this topic, and I participated.

The recording is here.

Highlights:

➤ More and more, we hear of cities becoming "smart". This means that they incorporate data and technology in new and often far-reaching ways.

This panel reflected on this trend.

➤Discussion topics included:

* Becoming smarter suggests growing the scope of our thinking, but on the contrary, have smart cities reduced the scope and potential of humans?

* How have imposed technologies failed us in our cities?

* Looking ahead what is the role of technologies to create digital citizens that can contribute meaningfully to the places that they live?

* How is the role of technology in cities different around the world? What are the cultural factors?

➤My co-panelists were:

* Alice Higiro – Smart Cities Project Director at The Ministry of ICT and Innovation, Rwanda

* Yining Zhao, Junior Professional Officer at International Telecommunication Union

* Raghu Pandey, Leading expert in Digital Citizenship & Internet Maturity education

* Ana 安娜 Ramirez (She/her)– Infrastructure Consultant Eng. AT&T

➤ Our hosts were

Gerry Copitch, Jaisal Surana, Richard Foster-Fletcher 🌎, and others from the MKAI - The Inclusive AI Community team

➤ See the LinkedIn discussion here.