The role of smart cities in order to improve older people’s quality of life, sustainability and opportunities, accessibility, mobility, and connectivity is increasing and acknowledged in public policy and private sector strategies in countries all over the world. Smart cities are one of the technological-driven initiatives that may help create an age-friendly city. Few research studies have analysed emerging countries in terms of their national strategies on smart or age-friendly cities. In this study, Romania which is predicted to become one of the most ageing countries in the European Union is used as a case study. Through document analysis, current initiatives at the local, regional, and national level addressing the issue of smart and age-friendly cities in Romania are investigated. In addition, a case study is presented to indicate possible ways of the smart cities initiatives to target and involve older adults. The role of different stakeholders is analysed in terms of whether initiatives are fragmentary or sustainable over time, and the importance of some key factors, such as private–public partnerships and transnational bodies. The results are discussed revealing the particularities of the smart cities initiatives in Romania in the time frame 2012–2020, which to date, have limited connection to the age-friendly cities agenda. Based on the findings, a set of recommendations are formulated to move the agenda forward. CC-BY Original article: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145202 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers "Age-Friendly Cities & Communities: State of the Art and Future Perspectives") https://www.dehaagsehogeschool.nl/onderzoek/lectoraten/details/urban-ageing#over-het-lectoraat
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Contribution to conference magazine https://husite.nl/ssc2017/ Conference ‘Smart Sustainable Cities 2017 – Viable Solutions’ The conference ‘Smart Sustainable Cities 2017 – Viable Solutions’ was held on 14 June 2017 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Over 250 participants from all over Europe attended the conference.
Smart city-policy makers and technology vendors are increasingly stating they want to bring about citizen-centered smart cities. Yet, it often remains unclear what exactly that means, and how citizens are envisaged as actors in smart cities. This article wants to contribute to this discussion by exploring the relation between smart cities and citizenship. It aims to do this by introducing a heuristic scheme that brings out the implied notions of citizenship in three distinct sets of smart city visions and practices: The Control Room envisages the city as a collection of infrastructures and services; The Creative City views the city from the perspective of (economic) geography and ponders on local and regional systems of innovation; The Smart Citizens discourse addresses the city as a political and civic community. These smart city discourses are mapped against two visions on citizenship and governance taken from political philosophy. A `republican' perspective with strong presence in social-democratic countries is contrasted with a libertarian one, most prominent in Silicon Valley approaches to smart city technologies. This provides a scheme to reflect on potential benefits and downsides if a specific smart city discourse would develop. Instances of smart cities may promote notions of citizenship that are based on consumer choice and individual responsibility, alternatively they could also reinforce collective responsibilities towards the common good of society.
With the help of sensors that made data collection and processing possible, many products around us have become “smarter”. The situation that our car, refrigerator, or umbrella communicating with us and each other is no longer a future scenario; it is increasingly a shared reality. There are good examples of such connectedness such as lifestyle monitoring of elderly persons or waste management in a smart city. Yet, many other smart products are designed just for the sake of embedding a chip in something without thinking through what kind of value they add everyday life. In other words, the design of these systems have mainly been driven by technology until now and little studies have been carried out on how the design of such systems helps citizens to improve or maintain the quality of their individual and collective lives. The CREATE-IT research center creates new solutions and methodologies in “digital design” that contribute to the quality of life of citizens. Correspondingly, this proposal focuses on one type of digital design—smart products—and investigate the concept of empowerment in relation to the design of smart products. In particular, the proposal aims to develop a model with its supplementary tools and methods for designing such products better. By following a research-through-design methodology, the proposal intends to offer a critical understanding on designing smart products. Along with its theoretical contribution, the proposal will also aid the students of ICT and design, and professionals such as designers and engineers to create smart products that will empower people and the industry to develop products grounded in a clear user experience and business model.
Het platform Praktijkgericht ICT-onderzoek (PRIO) streeft naar optimale samenwerking tussen ICT-onderzoeksgroepen van hbo-instellingen, tussen onderwijs en praktijkgericht onderzoek, en tussen onderzoekers, bedrijven en maatschappelijke instellingen. We stimuleren samenwerking tussen landelijke gremia en onderzoek aan hogescholen door gericht mensen samen te brengen op verschillende thema's. Bij PRIO zijn 16 hogescholen aangesloten, vertegenwoordigd door ruim 70 lectoren. Daarnaast nog zo’n 50 leden zoals associate lectoren en vertegenwoordigers van regieorgaan SIA, Vereniging Hogescholen, Stichting HBO-I en meerdere universiteiten. De activiteiten van het platform zijn momenteel gegroepeerd in vijf thema’s: Learning & Education - inzet van ICT in het onderwijs om mensen in staat te stellen zich verder te ontwikkelen (KIA5) Responsible Application of Data & AI - toepassing van kunstmatige intelligentie en grote hoeveelheden data op een verantwoorde manier (KIA5) Digital Cities & Communities - toepassing van digitale technologie om de kwaliteit van leven in steden te verbeteren (KIA3 & KIA5) Health & Well-being - inzet van ICT om mensen gezonder en langer te laten leven en hun welzijn te vergroten. (KIA3) Cybersecurity – bescherming van computers, servers, mobiele apparaten, elektronische systemen, netwerken en gegevens tegen schadelijke aanvallen (KIA4). Binnen de KIA’s en topsectoren krijgt digitalisering een belangrijke plek en wordt een bijdrage geleverd aan de MMIP’s: ‘In 2040 is de ziektelast door een ongezonde leefstijl en -omgeving met 30% afgenomen’, ‘Nederland is in staat om op een veilige wijze de economische en maatschappelijke kansen van digitalisering te verzilveren’. De focus op de genoemde maatschappelijke uitdagingen sluit aan op de NWA routes ‘Jeugd in ontwikkeling, opvoeding en onderwijs’, ‘Waardecreatie door verantwoorde toegang tot en gebruik van big data’ en ‘Smart, liveable cities’. Belangrijke topsectoren voor PRIO zijn ICT, HTSM, Energie, en Health & Wellbeing. PRIO is zich bewust van andere lectoren-platformen. PRIO synchroniseert en verbindt ICT onderzoek met inhoudelijk onderzoek van andere platformen.
Making buildings smarter will save energy and make energy systems more flexible to address grid congestion. This is done by adding smart functionalities (such as machine learning and AI) to existing building management systems and by making full use of building data. Applied research and innovation on smart buildings is urgently needed to evaluate the best smart solutions for buildings applicable to different types of buildings across different contexts, and to assess their costs and benefits. Research on smart buildings, therefore, plays a large role in European, national and regional R&I agenda’s on energy, climate and digitalisation. Amsterdam University of Amsterdam (AUAS) has a growing research group on building energy management and smart buildings, supporting the sustainable transition of its own campus and the Amsterdam region. However, to date, AUAS has not been able to engage in international research projects in this area. Recently, AUAS became a partner in an European University Alliance (U!REKA European University), U!REKA comprises of six universities of applied sciences across Europe with its mission focusing on climate neutral communities and cities. Several partners with U!REKA are also conducting research on smart buildings and smart campuses, but, like AUAS, still in relative isolation. U!REKA will provide the collaboration framework for future joint research to be kick-started by the proposed SIA pilot project. In this research project, AUAS will cooperate with the Technical University Eindhoven, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (Helsinki) and Politecnico de Lisboa (Lisbon) as consortium partners. Supporting partners are Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm) and TVVL (Dutch knowledge platform and association of professionals in the installation sector). The research is based on smart building case studies on the campuses of the project partners.
