It’s Good to CTalk

Before the pandemic, Smart City events could all appear quite similar. Differences in approach may now be emerging as regions respond practically and culturally to their experiences of the last 18 months. 

Earlier this week, Stephen Hilton, Founder and Director of City Global Futures, was privileged to represent Bristol and Bath at CTalk, the global Smart City innovation event hosted by the City of Taipei.

Every year, CTalk serves as a platform for leaders and decision makers from public and private sectors to share insights and exchange ideas. This year, CTalk focussed on the latest discussions on “How Innovations Lead the Way in Building Smarter Cities”.

Stephen represented Invest Bristol+Bath, the West of England inward investment agency. His presentation addressed the region’s strengths in, digital networks; creative technologies; sustainability and smart mobility.  Stephen took the opportunity to promote the Invest Bristol+Bath innovation book and video, which are brand new.

Afterwards, Stephen joined a distinguished panel of speakers from, Taipei, Moscow, Eilat in Israel and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.  Professor Shuo-Yan Chou, Director Of the Centre for Internet of Things Innovation at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology skilfully Chaired the session. 

The impact of Covid-19 and the climate emergency were central to the discussion at CTalk with some notable differences emerging from the participating regions. 

Ms. Hsin-Pei Wu, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development, Taipei City Government and Mr. Chen-Yu Lee, Director of the Taipei Smart City Project Management Office presented local projects and priorities, with particular consideration of the new opportunities provided by “the working at home economy” and the future importance of “contact free services”.

In contrast,  Mr.Vasily Medvedenko, Project Manager at Moscow’s Agency of Innovations, presented a confident view that we should treat the pandemic as a short term interruption and plan for a future where everything will soon return to normal.  

For Mr. Elad Topel, Smart City Coordinator For Eilat City, Israel, the impact of climate change was the most pressing concern. Average daily temperatures in Eilat are soaring and Mr. Elad made the stark observation that the city could become uninhabitable by 2050 if current trends continue.

Finally, Mr. Ha Than, Vice Chair of the Ho Chi Minh City Computer Association presented his experience. Mr Ha Than reported that just 1.5% of the population has so far been vaccinated against COVID-19. Amongst the Smart City innovations he outlined was a rice vending machine, aimed at tackling food poverty.

It will be interesting to observe the extent to which these different Smart City approaches now come to the fore: from planning for new economic opportunities associated with continued social distancing; accelerating adaptation to the extreme urban heat impacts of climate change; tackling entrenched issues such as food poverty, or anticipating a return to ‘normal’ pre-pandemic investment models.

In City Global Futures’ view, the post-COVID Smart City opportunity will be to build a fair and inclusive approach, where all communities have access to digital skills, knowledge, assets and resources needed to drive innovation, creating balanced solutions where people, nature and the economy can all thrive.