The Smart and Sustainable City podcast

In this conversation with Tom Dodd from the European Commission, I deep dive into the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Tom is the team leader for sustainability reporting at DG FISMA in Brussels, and shares with us some very interesting insights about CSRD and its key metrics. View this episode on youtube here: https://youtu.be/ASUuBZWaWmU

Today we talk with Alice Charles. Alice works at the World Economic Forum and is the Lead, Cities, Infrastructure & Urban Services

See us on youtube here: https://youtu.be/jV09X14AOxw  In this episode Alice share with us some World Economic forum insights on Cities, as well as shares some conclusion from a report recently published by the City of Belfast that Alice and the World Economic forum contributed to. With Alice I also discuss some Smart Cities best practices from Amsterdam and Helskinki.

Today we talk with Cristina Bueti. Counsellor at the International  Telecommunication Union in Geneva. When the United Nations defined its Sustainable Development goals in 2015, one of these goals was set to focus on Cities: The SDG  11. “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.   The ITU and Cristina have been a key driver to enable progress against the goals set in this SDG11, providing a framework used by over 150  cities around the world, all aspiring to become smarter & more sustainable.

In this episode, I talk with Andres Guevara, BP vice president for City  Integrated Solutions. It is great to hear, a historical Oil and Gas company, that restructures itself, and pivots to becoming an energy company. In doing so that aims to help its customers, Cities, in particular, become net zero by 2050 or sooner.

Today we talk with Chris Shannon the CEO of FOTECH, a company that was  recently acquired by BP, as part of their Launchpad Initiative.   FOTECH has developed some unique sensing technology, based on Fiber  Optic Sensing, which was initially developed for the energy industry,  and is now being applied to Smart Cities. With Chris, we explore many smart city use cases, whether cities are  trying to better control water pipe leaks or improve their Mobility or  Security.

In the European Commission, the Directorate General focused on Information technology is called DIGIT. Today we talk with Joao RODRIGUES FRADE head of sector for the Building Blocks in DIGIT. A Building Block is an open and reusable digital solution that can be used by a SmartCity or a smart government. Smart cities such as Vienna Austria or Caragena Spain and Smart Governments such as Estonia or Italy, use the DIGIT building blocks. These Building Blocks are of course endorsed by the European Commission and are very helpful to enable a smart city to accelerate its digital services.

In this episode, we look at a startup company called Makemydayapp.  When Electric vehicle drivers start their journey, they wonder how long and how far they will be able to drive without a recharge; and when they need to recharge, they wonder if they will be able to find a charging station available on their way. That is called “Range anxiety”. This is precisely the problem that MakeMyDay addresses and that we discuss with Cnaan Aviv, the CTO and co-founder of "Make My Day".

In this episode, we look at a startup company called Waycare. Since  2016, Waycare has been trying to solve one of the world’s biggest  problems - preventing fatalities due to traffic crashes. The Waycare platform serves as a tool for government agencies to break  down data silos, open new channels of communication, and strategically manage resources. They’ve won multiple awards this year and are cherished by venture capitalists as a promising investment. Today we talk with Noam Maital,  founder and CEO of Waycare tech.

22 million vehicles around the world use Otonomo’s and its partners'  technologies. Together they enable many use cases and services to feed  real-time Live Cars data into data platforms. These data platforms are  then used by cities and fleet owners to manage and improve their  operations.

With Asaf, we talk about the creation and rise of Otonomo, we discuss the Urban  Mobility challenges the company addresses, data governance, data  security, consumer privacy, and data Sovereignty.

On this episode we talk with the Smart city program director for Copenhagen, Marius Sylvestersen. Together we discuss the Smart Steps taken by Copenhagen to address Denmark's capital city main challenges. We talk about the value of Experimentation in Copenhagen's downtown CityLab,  and about the value of Public-Private-Partnerships to accelerate  a city's resilience and sustainability.

The Wi-Sun Alliance is an industry consortium of 250 members of Global  Corporations and World Leaders in Smart Utility, Smart City and Internet  of Things Markets.  In this episode Phil Beecher, Wi-Sun Alliance CEO,  and I discuss Smart & sustainable Cities use cases, Internet of things, Edge computing and LED lighting, as offered by some of its members. More information on Wi-SUN can be found at https://wi-sun.org

The European Network of Living Labs  ( www.enoll.org ) is the international federation of benchmarked Living Labs in Europe with a global reach. Living Labs are all about user-centric  open innovation and co-creation. Our guest today is Koen Vervoort. Koen is the Network Builder @ ENoLL. If you are interested to create a Living Lab in your city or accelerate your existing one, Koen shares some recipes to accelerate innovation in a multi-stakeholder environment. 

The OASC is a cities network which gathers over 150 Small and large Smart cities. The OASC ensures best practices and applications get shared for some of our cities' biggest challenges. My guest today is Davor Meersman, the CEO of the Open and Agile Smart City network. We talk with Davor about the OASC Synchronicity common operating Framework and his vision for Cities's Smart future.  you can find more information about the OASC here : https://oascities.org

Our guest today is Cristina Martinez from the European Commission.  Cristina is the Deputy Head for Smart Mobility and Living at DG Connect.  Cristina and I discuss the sustainability challenges European cities face, and some of the initiatives the European Commission is taking to address them. Thanks for listening!

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 Pully is a small and quiet town along lake Geneva in Switzerland. This little town surprised the smart city community recently by announcing a major milestone achievement: It had verified and validated itself with the United Nations as the first Swiss “Smart City”! We talk with Alexandre Bosshard a member of the board and technical coordinator in the Utility Department at the City of Pully. Alexandre gives us some perspective on the work Pully has done to go through this verification process and shares some tips for other cities wanting to embark on the journey. More information can be found on www.pully.ch 

The Backbone of a Smart City lies in its smart use of technology; to develop its ability to understand what is going on, in real time, and respond to events & incidents in the most effective way. CCTVs, and Camera are some of these technologies. Our guest today is Bob Carter which works at Genetec, the leader in software for IP video surveillance, Access Control; and other security systems, most notably Security Centers. We talk with Bob about some of these use cases. Bob share some learnings and recommendations he gathered from the Smart Cities he engages with. 

Dubai has set itself on a trajectory to become the happiest city on Earth. Today we talk with Hannah Saud from the Smart Dubai organization. Hannah shares her perspective on the city where she grew up, works & lives in today. Dubai, the new regional Innovation hub.

Welcome to season 2 of the smart and sustainable city podcast. A Big Thank you to all of you listeners from around the world ! This program is now in the chart of the top Smart City podcasts. In this season, based on your request, we extend our format and dig deeper in some smart city topics.

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In this episode we talk with Alan Marcus the chief digital officer of Planet Smartcity, a global leader in smart affordable housing. Alan and I discuss  the need for affordable housing powered by smart & sustainable design. We look at how smart technologies can power communities to live better together.

Gulnara Roll works at the United Nations UNECE as the Secretary for the Intergovernmental committee on Urban housing, development and management. We discuss the impact of Covid-19 on cities and citizens as well the upcoming "forum of mayors" hosted by the UNECE next October 2020. 

Energy sourcing and management is a key challenge for Smart and sustainable cities. While being high tech, Solar thermal power is a sustainable energy source, it is more durable than photovoltaic and more cost effective than alternative fossil fuel energy sources. Today we talk to Gilbert Farina, Vice President at TVP solar. TVP solar is the leading manufacturer of solar thermal power plates. Active for the past 10 years, this scale-up company is growing fast and is now ready for prime time.

Martin Klein leads the global industry business unit for Public Sector  at the software company SAP. He shares with us his views on Smart Cities  best practices and reflects on the current health crisis impact on  cities and the private sector.

Our guest today is Olzhas Sartayev,  the CEO of  the Special Economic Zone of Almaty, One of the 13 special economic zones created in Kazakhstan to promote innovation and attract investments. We discuss with Olzhas the attractive conditions created for companies in his "Park of Innovative Technologies" and some best practices and thoughts for other cities around the globe.

Anders Jönsson is the Chief of the innovative Policies Development section of the United Nations UNECE organization. Anders shares with us his expert view on effective Policy development practices for Smart & Sustainable Cities and reflects on those that create the biggest impact. We discuss his views & learnings, built on his engagement with key governments officials and cities stakeholders.  

Open Geneva is the open innovation festival for Science, Technology and   Society. In this episode I talk to Thomas Maillart, the founder of Open   Geneva. We discuss about how the Silicon Valley approach to Innovation   is a Mindset that can be transposed anywhere. Any city around the  world  can leverage this stakeholder innovation collaboration.

In this episode, I talk to Michael Donaldson, The CIty of Barcelona   Commissioner for Digital Innovation. Michael shares his observation on   how Barcelona has evolved into a Citizen centric Smart &  Sustainable  City. We discuss best practices in tackling mobility  challenges and  engaging with Citizens through their Decidim platform.    www.decidim.barcelona

Miguel Eiras Antunes leads Deloitte's Global practice on Smart Cities,  Smart Nations and local governments. Together we discuss about his home  city Lisbon and about his experience in helping Governments and cities  around the globe become smarter and more sustainable.