6th Annual Smart Cities Symposium

Metro21 Executive Director Karen Lightman hosted a panel discussion, "Smart Isn't Smart Enough - Redefining the Smart City Through Co-Creative Parntership" at the  6th Annual Smart Cities Technology International Symposium, hosted by Smart Grid Observer on Tuesday, January 18, 2022.

The term "smart city" often brings with it a connotation of an Internet of Things web of connected devices such as sensor nodes and cameras, webbed together with Artificial Intelligence (AI) - everything humming along in perfect symmetry, optimizing efficiency and output. But for whom and for what benefit? The pandemic has shone a bright light on the inequities that lie within our communities, particularly low-income communities and communities of color and we must turn our focus to creating equitable and sustainable communities for all through co-creative partnerships between academia, government, non-profit and the private sectors. This session will highlight:

• Carnegie Mellon University's Metro21 projects that exemplify this collaboration, including the "Feeding Families in Need Through Artificial Intelligence" project that helped deliver 110,000 meals to three municipalities in Allegheny County. 
• Share examples of best practice and lessons learned on ensuring projects include deliberate and thoughtful user-centered effort, with the community impacted by the project engaged in the design, deployment, and evaluation.
• The use of a user-centered design process, the deployed technology can enable a community to go way beyond just being smart - it can also be equitable, resilient and sustainable.

View the panel discussion here.