Smart Cities for All at a Glance

New Round of City Assessments on Digital Inclusion Maturity

G3ict, Smart Cities for All, and partners continue to bring the Digital Inclusion Maturity Model assessment tool to cities worldwide. As we announced in the previous newsletter, in November the SC4A team in partnership with Microsoft piloted the online version of the assessment tool in two cities – Boston and New York. Having a digital version of the tool allowed both city employees and the public to evaluate the level of maturity of their respective cities in terms of the digital inclusion of their smart city efforts. This digital version will support scaling the deployment of the tool to more cities around the world and more opportunities for partnering in support of digital inclusion of persons with disabilities in cities worldwide.

Smart Cities for All Travels to Spain, Kenya and Australia 

On October 23-25, the Third International Congress on Technology and Tourism for Diversity took place in Malaga, Spain. James Thurston, G3ict Vice President and Smart Cities for All Managing Director, was invited to be part of a panel discussion on inclusive Smart Cities along with Victor Calise, Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Gema Igual Ortiz, Mayor of Santander, and Francisco José Ramírez Criado, Director of the Malaga´s Interurban Bus Station and Director of Marketing in the Malaga´s Transports Enterprise. Smart Cities for All country representatives Parul Sharma (India) and Andres Balcazar (Mexico) spoke about inclusive emergency preparedness and response.  Learn more about the Third International Congress Technology and Tourism for Diversity.

On October 27-30, Smart Cities for All met in Eldoret with representatives of the five largest cities in Kenya. The cities are cooperating on development efforts and investments for smart solution. James Thurston worked with the cities to understand how to support greater ICT accessibility and the digital inclusion of persons with disabilities in smart cities. The five cities were meeting at an inter-agency technical committee focused on private sector financing of urban areas and cities.

Finally, James Thurston was invited on behalf of G3ict and SC4A to the A11y Camp in Sydney, Australia on November 12-15. The A11y Camp is an annual digital accessibility (a11y = accessibility) and inclusion conference. James Thurston presented a keynote on “Redefining Smart – Creating More Inclusive Cities” and also conducted a workshop on “How Inclusive is Your Smart City”, where participants did a self-assessment of how inclusive their city is today using the Digital Inclusion Maturity Model. More about Ally Camp.

Digital Inclusion Maturity Model Presented at Smart City Expo World Congress

On November 19-21, James Thurston, G3ict Vice President and Smart Cities for All Managing Director, and Yulia Sarviro, Smart Cities for All Senior Project Manager, took part at the annual Smart City Expo and World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. G3ict and its Smart Cities for All global initiative were invited to be a partner in the Microsoft booth. In Barcelona, G3ict partnered with Microsoft Consulting Services to discuss with visitors and delegates how to use the SC4A Digital Inclusion Maturity Model Assessment tool to help cities and agencies measure progress on and commitment to ICT accessibility and digital inclusion as part of being a smarter city.

In addition to the expo presence, James Thurston moderated a panel session on “Lowering Social and Digital Gaps for More Inclusive Cities.” The session included speakers from Mexico, Spain, the US, and India. The discussion included the perspective of civil society, international organizations, and the technology sector and spotlighted challenges of and good practices for bridging existing gaps and build more inclusive cities.

Finally, on behalf of G3ict and its Smart Cities for All initiative James Thurston was invited to present our work and tools for cities at the Inaugural Convening of G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance by World Economic Forum. Established in June 2019, the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance on Technology Governance unites municipal, regional and national governments, private-sector partners and cities’ residents to advance the responsible and ethical use of smart city technologies. At the SCEWC, discussions focused on five key areas: (1) transparency and privacy; (2) safety, security and resiliency; (3) interoperability and openness; (4) operational and financial sustainability; and (5) equity, inclusion and societal impact.