The economies of travel destinations around the globe were greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a dramatic loss in city revenue and massive job losses in the sector. The pandemic and subsequent fallout gave us an opportunity to reflect on what cities offer travelers and how to make interactions with our communities more meaningful. …
On Thursday, July 8th, the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard and City Possible convened experts from around the globe for a virtual conversation to discuss strategies for bringing back tourism in a sustainable way that also produces inclusive prosperity for great destinations. The global pandemic has devastated the tourism and travel industries. In 2019, …
The term ‘innovation’ is used in many different ways and means many other things to different people. In a way, it is a nebulous concept. When applied to our cities the word can be used for anything from the transformation of a paper process to digital or even drones delivering pizzas. This spectrum of innovation …
Innovation is Relative: How to Measure Innovation in Your City Read More »
The concept of splitting a city into multiple districts in order to focus on the unique local requirements is not new. Today, as we see more and more cities using technology and innovation as a means to improve, there is also an increase in the creation of ‘innovation districts’ or ‘smart districts’. In this article, …
Innovation District vs Smart District: What’s the difference? Read More »
Digital Convening March 17, 2020 | 11am EST On Tuesday, March 17th at 11:00 am EST, Dr. David S. Ricketts of Harvard TECH along with the team from City Possible, powered by Mastercard, will assemble global government decision-makers for a digital convening focused on exploring the challenges put forth by COVID-19 and identifying methods …
COVID-19: Understanding the Challenges Cities Face Read More »
Global cities are evolving to become smarter and more sustainable, giving rise to the adoption of smart buildings. In this, the first of a three-part series, we will explore how city leaders and architects are designing smart buildings — or retrofitting existing structures — to reduce or eliminate their impact on the environment. What Makes …
Smart Buildings (Part 1): Creating Sustainability in the Urban Jungle Read More »
Speaking with dozens of global city leaders, common smart city themes for 2020 have already begun to emerge: Data, Citizen Engagement, Internal Governance, and Change Management. However, for many cities, these have emerged after a journey of many pilots, mistakes, and innovation. During our Smart Cities CIO Summit at Harvard, these themes were eloquently illustrated …
The biggest issues we face in implementing smart city initiatives are not about the technology itself but rather the problems that arise when we try to put ideas into action. As a research community, we talk about things like sensor power, sensor performance, and so on. We see neatly crafted smart cities diagrams, and we …
Ask any person involved in the smart city process and they’ll tell you that there are two major components at the base of what a smart city is: the community and data. The challenge for most cities on the smart city journey is how to collect the right types of data and utilize them in …
“As a CIO coming in, I asked the city manager, ‘Who does the integration across 40 departments?’ And she said, “Well, that’s why we hired a CIO!” This experience, shared by Craig Hopkins, the CIO of San Antonio, likely sounds familiar to most Chief Innovation and Technology Officers in cities across the globe. Not only …
10 Steps to Improve Collaboration in Local Government Read More »
