Panel, Conference Presentation
Big Cities, Big Data: How "Smart Cities" Improve Lives & Save Money
- Cities and civic organizations are expected to increasingly utilize data and technology to address equity, participation, and efficiency over the next five to ten years, with impacts spanning from garbage collection to public safety and building permits.
- Government transformation is predicted to occur internally by investing in the 20,000 to 30,000 city employees rather than relying solely on large-scale technology expenditures, which is anticipated to improve service design and engineering.
- Long Beach is expected to lead the nation in technology and innovation, with other cities likely restructuring technology departments, creating citizen innovation commissions, and appointing chief data or innovation officers.
- Internal city culture may shift through the involvement of external validators like Code for America and CityMart, alongside university fellows who are expected to enhance departments despite initial capacity concerns.
- Ride-sharing services may supplement public transit with schedulable, on-demand van programs similar to those in Helsinki, while garbage collection may shift to a weight- or volume-based payment model to allow households of all sizes to share costs.
- Early-stage startups in their 20s or 30s are expected to struggle with 9 to 15-month budgeting approval cycles, potentially overcome by creating "living labs" that provide clean data access and stakeholder buy-in to tackle homelessness, resiliency, and emergency preparedness.
- The technology adoption cycle is moving faster than the nine-year business cases in city capital budgets, making it unlikely for cities to capture full predicted returns on infrastructure like LED street lighting; this may drive a shift toward "as a service" models and asset network monetization to offset operating costs.
- Philanthropy is expected to play a significant role in funding new initiatives by filling non-existent budget line items, with the Knight Foundation potentially increasing funding for the civic commons and influencing companies like Niantic to place civic components near libraries or city halls.
- Libraries and public spaces may be reimagined within the next five to ten years, moving away from physical books toward round tables, iPads, and audio books, while also accounting for the impact of small cell towers and data transmission on movement and interaction.
- Cities that leverage human capital are expected to compete for investment in a post-global world, though there is a concern that accelerating technology adoption must not leave seniors and low-income populations reliant on traditional service methods behind.
- The nonprofit sector is expected to require basic technological capabilities, supported by partnerships with the Cal State University system to equip them with data access skills for community engagement.