MK:Smart featured in a keynote presentation at the second International ICT for Sustainability Conference in Stockholm on 26 August 2014. The conference brought together leading university researchers in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Sustainability with government and industry representatives.
Dr Lorraine Hudson was a keynote speaker and talked about creating smarter cities through co-design. Lorraine joined the MK:Smart Team at the start of August to write a Smart Cities MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), a course which will be free and open to all. Her keynote talk gave an overview of her experience of working on Smart City initiatives, including what she believes are the 6 key elements of successful smart city initiatives, backed up with case studies. The case study on MK:Smart sought input from the audience to get their ideas and feedback on what the Smart Cities MOOC could cover. There was lots of interest, with other Universities keen to collaborate on and learn from its development.
The MOOC will provide an introduction to Smart Cities and explore the role that ICT can play in addressing city challenges and opportunities, helping to make cities and communities more sustainable. It will introduce the concepts of smart, sustainable and future cities and compare contrasting approaches from city led roadmaps, to business smart technology services, to solutions co-designed with citizens through living labs. Exploring the role of city leadership, citizen engagement and partnerships, technology and data, and innovation and enterprise; drawing on experience from MK:Smart and other cities.
Lorraine is working with Professor Gerd Kortuem, who leads the Education element of MK:Smart, to write the MOOC but also to share her knowledge and practical experiences of implementing smart city initiatives with the wider MK:Smart team. She has worked as an OU Associate Lecturer for 5 years and has also worked in sustainability in local government and business. She developed and led Smart City Bristol from 2011-14 whilst working for Bristol City Council. Lorraine now works freelance alongside her OU work; advising cities, business and community organisations on how to use smart and innovative thinking, tools and technologies to deliver on their sustainability goals through Hudson Sustainability Consulting.
View the slides from Lorraine’s keynote talk here.