New smart cities are cutting out the middleman

Here below you find the incipit of a recent post by British independent researcher James Ransom. He is the author of a British Council-funded research project on universities and smart cities whom final report features MEET’s Citizen Data Lab project.

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My report for the British Council on universities and smart cities described the first wave of smart cities led by large technology companies such as IBM and Cisco, followed by bottom-up movements from civil society groups. The report concluded that universities can effectively bridge the two and ensure communities have a say.

A couple of months after the final publication, I’m reflecting on how this picture varies outside of Europe (the focus of the research) and on additional forces that are shaping the story. Since publication I’ve briefly covered the dangers of smart city projects lacking effective partnerships in Canada, but there are two further movements that are worth keeping an eye on…

Read the full post here.

(Foto in apertura Miłosz Klinowski su Unsplash)