Smart Cities for All at a Glance

Launched! Inclusive Innovation Playbook

On Monday, May 6, Smart Cities for All launched its new Inclusive Innovation Playbook. The tool details five “plays” and related actions that cities can take to infuse incubators, accelerators, and the innovation process with a commitment to inclusion and accessibility. The five urban innovation inclusion plays focus on a city’s people, economic assets, infrastructure, networking, and enabling public policies. The Playbook draws from successful practices and insights from the private sector, government, and civil society. Cities that want to ensure their innovation ecosystem is inclusive and results in products, services, and solutions that are more accessible and work for everyone can draw from among all five of the inclusive innovation “plays”. The launch event, held at the AT&T Forum in Washington, DC, was attended by a diverse group of leaders from civil society organizations, governments, and industry, including the cities of Chicago and New York, the Council of State Governments, Special Olympics International, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Ford Foundation, U.S. International Council on Disabilities (USICD), American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), Source America, Uber, Microsoft, and others.

Smart Urban Justice Systems – Technology and Justice

On May 9, G3ict and Smart Cities for All partnered with Georgia Tech University’s Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI) to host a discussion of technology and access to justice for persons with disabilities. Courts and justice systems worldwide, including those in and managed by cities, are undergoing significant digital transformations and deploying technology to enable new capabilities such as e-filing, remote and virtual participation, and online dispute resolution. While these technology investments can help courts and justice systems cut costs and increase efficiencies, it is not clear that their technology roadmaps include a commitment to ensuring access to justice by people with disabilities. Very often, while courts may be aware of inclusion, they don’t know what that looks like in a digital, cloud-based environment. Without this understanding and commitment, justice systems risk leaving people with disabilities behind and creating new obstacles to participation. The May 9 event in Atlanta convened administrators and leaders from courts and justice systems across the state of Georgia to understand how they are deploying technology and what are the barriers to justice for persons with disabilities. The discussion also considered how technology solutions might assist people with disabilities in critical parts of the judicial process, e.g. pre-trial meetings and pro se representation. Recognizing that people with cognitive disabilities make up a relatively large per cent of prison populations, the discussion explored how mainstream and leading-edge technologies might be of particular use in addressing barriers to justice for them. There is a clear role for industry and civil society to proactively provide guidance and solutions to courts and justice systems as they look to technology to address barriers to justice. As a next step, next month G3ict and Smart Cities for All will work with partners in Mexico to hold similar focus groups with courts and justice organizations in that country. These discussions are building on the resources that G3ict has already published with partners and for the United Nations on the topic of Access to Justice.

U.S. Urban Disability Convening

On May 8, Smart Cities for All joined disabilities commissioners from across the United States to explore how cities are adopting technology and can focus more on inclusion. The New York City Mayor’s Office for Persons with Disabilities convened this historic, first-ever meeting of disability commissioners and leaders from across the United States. Among the participants were the cities of Chicago, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cambridge, St. Louis, Portland, San Francisco, and others.  Over the course of the two days, the city leaders focused on a range of priority issues in their cities, including employment, financial inclusion, and technology deployment. James Thurston, G3ict Vice President and SC4A Managing Director, spoke with the commissioners about how today’s smart cities are making the digital divide worse, not better for persons with disabilities. The group discussed the suite of Smart Cities for All tools that can help cities worldwide have a stronger commitment to inclusion as they deploy technology assets and smart solutions.

First Annual Smart Cities for All Forum at the M-Enabling Summit

The Smart Cities for All (SC4A) global initiative is launching its first annual Forum at the M-Enabling Summit on June 17-19, 2019 in Washington, DC.  The SC4A Forum will take place on June 18 and 19. The Smart Cities for All Forum at M-Enabling will gather for the first-time decision-makers and stakeholders focused on technologies and solutions that make cities both smarter and more inclusive for persons with disabilities and age-related disabilities. Sessions at the Smart Cities for All Forum at M-Enabling will include Next-Generation Solutions, Accessible Indoor Navigation, Defining an Inclusive Smart City, and more. The Smart Cities for All Forum at M-Enabling is part of the overall M-Enabling Summit. Registering for the Summit allows you to access all the Smart City sessions of the Forum, as well as all the other technology, inclusion, and accessibility sessions of the Summit. Register for the M-Enabling Summit.