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Beyond Tech-The True Meaning of a Smart City | Paula Kwan | TEDxDonMills | Paula Kwan | TEDxDonMills

Mar 23, 2024
Imagine a world where cars fly through the sky, where robots manage our homes effortlessly and we discover that parking is not a problem because the cars fold into a briefcase instead of walking, you are dragged directly to your destination thanks to the mobile walkways. This sounds familiar It should be the Jetsons This was a popular cartoon in the 80s and 90s that depicted what

smart

cities would be like in the 21st century While preparing for this talk, I asked a lot of my friends how they define

smart

cities and they really I didn't know beyond the Jetsons image, so to come up with a consistent definition for my talk today I did what everyone else does.
beyond tech the true meaning of a smart city paula kwan tedxdonmills paula kwan tedxdonmills
I look in google. I was a little surprised to see that the Internet describes smart cities more in terms of data integration. electronic sensors for data collection and information management. I don't really know what they mean either, but I know the focus wasn't on the people, as exciting as it is to live in this

tech

nological revolution. I hate to burst your bubble, but there's a problem with this idea of ​​smart, simple, smart cities as just a world of cool gadgets and brilliant

tech

nologies, let me tell you why most of my career has been spent on the front row of new technologies. and emerging.
beyond tech the true meaning of a smart city paula kwan tedxdonmills paula kwan tedxdonmills

More Interesting Facts About,

beyond tech the true meaning of a smart city paula kwan tedxdonmills paula kwan tedxdonmills...

I have worked with talented teams driven by founders and visionaries. I traveled around the world to see tech hubs up close and met customers who were stealthily building the next version of their products in the hottest industries, like sports media and entertainment, baking automotive and retail products that many of you probably used today for almost two years. A while ago I decided to undertake a period of civic service, leaving the hustle and bustle of the tech startup world to try public service. Little did I know I was headed straight for the next big government innovation movement.
beyond tech the true meaning of a smart city paula kwan tedxdonmills paula kwan tedxdonmills
My job changed from solving business problems for corporations to solving social problems for the people in my

city

I went from focusing on revenue and profitability goals to going to communities in need in my own backyard that I had never been to I went from working with technology centers to working with peers of public servants and small innovation teams sitting in town halls around the world I went from working on the most brilliant tools and applications to unleashing projects II but that would have a positive social impact that I had never seen before if you had asked me ago even two years what is a smart

city

If I had described a city powered by flying cars and flashy technology too, but my opinions and perspective have changed a lot.
beyond tech the true meaning of a smart city paula kwan tedxdonmills paula kwan tedxdonmills
I'm here to talk to you about how to think beyond technology when it comes to smart cities, so if smart cities aren't just technology, what are smart cities? Smart cities are about people connecting with people. Smart cities are more than just technological advances. It is about designing the advancements of a community experience that include elements of culture, music, art and language along with technology. example of Hannah Beekler who was hired to create a film city from scratch, when Hannah was hired as a production designer to create the visual world of Wakanda for the film Black Panther, she spent almost a year researching to bring the country that only existed in Marvel Comics, which might seem like a long time to create a movie set, but considering that Wakanda is a complex country with more than 50,000 years of history, this country had a lot to tell and Hannah was the perfect person to tell it, she and La Black Panther's crew flew to Africa to study the people, their stories and traditions from their travels, completely immersing themselves in the lived experiences of the people and the atmosphere there.
He was able to create beautifully practical yet futuristic experiences that take advantage of tools like a public train. which was powered by vibranium, a special mineral only found in Wakanda. Running on vibranium meant that the trains needed no fuel or engine vibration and sound was their power source, which was great for the environment and good for the people who lived and worked on the trains. way, who wouldn't want Hannah to actually, in this fictional world, create a story for every teacher and construction shop-owning family who lived there? Her stories were not part of the main plot of the film, but they were part of the backdrop and so it was important for her to recognize their names and her lives.
I was surprised to learn that Hannah did not research technology, but rather she researched people and traditions to empathize and understand the different perspectives people can have on an aspect of a city. The result was not to create a story about how stylish or modern the city was, which is what many people expect from smart cities, it was about the legacy of the people, it was about the importance of human connection that was being lost today. in day. race against technology hannah said that the best technology is here to serve our lives, not for us to serve technology, we may not exactly live in a world or a place where we can create a new city from scratch, but if If we did, we would have to focus on the people of our town when Hannah, when Hannah wrapped production, she created a book, she gave everyone a 500-page book that she called the Wakanda Bible.
This was the key to everything about Wakanda, including the places where the characters even process, like vibranium, the special mineral. Anything was taken out and everything was inside that book. We may not exactly live in a city where we can create a new city from scratch, but I think there are definitely principles and values ​​that we can use in our real cities. Smart cities are designed around the principles. and the values ​​of the people who live there imagine if your city had a detailed book like the Wakandan Bible, how would they describe you? What would the images of York's buildings and communities say?
How would you describe wealth and poverty in your city? What would your relationship with technology be told and technology's relationship with you, how would your story be told and your relationship with others? The good news is that there are ways to refocus the debate towards the humanistic side of smart cities. There is a growing network of passionate and talented people who are working hard to connect technology creators with the forgotten and often forgotten people in a city, this is important work as a major blind spot in the technology industry has been the lack of diverse perspectives that make products and services inadvertently difficult to use and access, and sometimes impossible.
Not to say they designed them to be harder, but aggressive growth and revenue goals aren't necessarily incentivized to build for the public good. Smart cities build technology for the public good and with diversity, accessibility and inclusion that improve experiences for much more. people and actually leads to better business outcomes, don't believe me, let me show you that there is an innovation team that is working hard to reduce trauma and improve services for the homeless using blockchain. There is another entrepreneur who is fighting poverty by teaching at-risk and underserved people. young people how to code and how to launch their own businesses after seeing enough people struggle to speak English and even my own work, my team is now testing ways to overcome the language barrier with technology with translation tools to ensure we hear the various voices and opinions. of people in real time, these aren't flashy, but I hope you can see how incredibly important this work can be as we all look to the future of cities and the changes that lie ahead.
We must remember that smart cities are about people and when they come. Together to solve problems for the common good, we are actually enabling people to live their best lives and that is how all together we will build the smartest city. Thank you.

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