I’m back with another bonus episode of the podcast that brings together multiple guests answers to the question “Where to next with Smart Cities and Communities?” And this time I’m sharing with you the answers from December guests, plus a number of our guests from earlier in 2019:

• Heath Raftery from Episode 113
• Vitor Pereira from Episode 106
• Cornelia Levy-Bencheton and MIke Barlow from Episodes 114 and 115
• Chad Renando from Episode 145
• James Peet from Episode 146
• Karen Corr from Episode 147
• Paolo Galelli from E148
• Nathaniel Mason from E149

Listen here:

December has been a spotlight on the regions for the podcast, and all the guests—including the ones from earlier last year—stress the importance of the humans, the people in the regions and in all our communities.

The themes that come through in all of the guests’ answers here are collaboration, connectivity, inclusion and engagement. As the Smart Community conversation matures, and as Smart Initiatives start to scale up, the guests all agree that we need both more focus on what’s really bringing value, really solving problems and actually bringing outcomes that are important to the local community, while balancing the support from government, opportunities provided by technology and the connections with other communities, both nationally and globally.

There’s also a strong theme of both informed, engaged citizens and diverse inclusive communities in this episode. Several guests make the point that we must be working towards more inclusive, collaborative societies that recognise and embrace diversity, are made up of informed and engaged citizens who help create better outcomes for all. As we know, it’s about the people at the centre, not the hype or the technology.

At the end of this episode, the last guest, Nathaniel turns the question on me, so the episode finishes with me sharing where I think we need to go next for Smart Cities and Communities, especially with regard to local councils and regional communities.

As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!

Connect:

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

Podcast Production by Perk Digital