Big data, open data and telepathy: building Smart Cities as if people mattered, 1st March, 2016

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Building better places to live, work and travel:
from steam engines to Big Data and the Internet of Things
Dr Rick Robinson FBCS CITP FRSA AoU, IT Director, Smart Data and Technology
rick.robinson@amey.co.uk http://theurbantechnologist.com @dr_rick
Smart Data & Technology

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2050: 3 billion more citizens
The United Nations World Urbanisation Prospects: http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/

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Our best cities fail us (and even kill us)
http://life.mappinglondon.co.uk/

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Traditional hotel chain
• Founded in 1919
• Over 680,000 rooms in 91 countries (2015)
• Over 310,000 employees and franchise employees
(2015)
• Market capitalisation $29.6B (2015)
1997 2003 2006 2006 2007
Online peer-to-peer market for temporary
accommodation
• Founded in 2008
• Over 800,000 rooms in 192 countries (2015)
• 600 employees (2013)
• Estimated value $13B (2014)
Disruptive business models

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In search of Matthew Boulton …
James Watt, inventor of the world’s most efficient steam engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt
Matthew Boulton who used it to revolutionise manufacturing and
commerce
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Boulton

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Service science and platform businesses
http://value-
basedservicesystem.blogspot.
co.uk/
https://enterprisersproject.com/sites/
default/files/New%20Patterns%20of
%20Innovation.pdf
http://www.slideshare.net/Info
Econ/mva-mit-strategy-and-
competition-dist
http://www.thecurveonline.com/

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Smarter cities and regions?

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Cities and technology in the 20th Century
“The Second Machine Age”, by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson, summarised in
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2014-06-04/new-world-order
Throughout the 20th Century UK cities that did not adapt
their economies to new technology lost jobs, employers,
residents and investment.
“Cities Outook 1901”, Centre for Cities:
http://www.centreforcities.org/publication/cities-outlook-1901/
Since the 1980s as computers spread into homes and
businesses, growth in GDP has not created growth in US
household wealth. New wealth is primarily being captured
by the owners of “platform businesses” such as Amazon,
Apple, Uber and Airbnb.

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22%
Services to energy
and water utilities
39%
Roads and
railways
Environment
11%
Facility
Management
18%
Consulting
10%

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Public sector outcomes-based procurements:
Smarter roads

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Regulated industries:
Smarter sewers
http://assessingtheunderworld.org/

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Responsible business practise:
Smarter safety

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A future opportunity?
The circular economy
http://senseable.mit.edu/trashtrack/

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Closing thoughts
• New business models are just as important as new technologies
• If you’re not a natural entrepreneur, look to the academic literature: service
science and platform business models
• It’s not rocket science: do we create enough value to pay for the technology by
getting the right thing to the right place at the right time?
• D3: “dirty, dull or dangerous”
• Population growth and climate change will transform the economics of resources
• Government aspirations will (eventually) lead to changes in industry regulation
and public sector procurement
• New opportunities are appearing in the supply chains of traditional businesses
• There’s never been a better time to be a tech startup – but you need to think like
Matthew Boulton, as well as thinking like James Watt

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Thankyou
Dr Rick Robinson FBCS CITP FRSA AoU, IT Director, Smart Data and Technology
rick.robinson@amey.co.uk http://theurbantechnologist.com @dr_rick