#Ethics & Privacy

Topic within Digital City
Herman van den Bosch, professor in management development , posted

17. A sociable inclusive neighborhood

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This is the 17th episode of a series 25 building blocks to create better streets, neighbourhoods, and cities. This post is about the contributions of sociability and inclusivity to the quality of the living environment.
Almost everyone who is going to move looks forward with some trepidation to who the neighbors will be. This post is about similarities and differences between residents as the basis for a sociable end inclusive neighborhood.

"Our kind of people"

The question 'what do you hope your neighbors are' is often answered spontaneously with 'our kind of people'. There is a practical side to this: a family with children hopes for a family with playmates of about the same age. But also, that the neighbors are not too noisy, that they are in for a pleasant contact or for making practical arrangements, bearing in mind the principle 'a good neighbor is better than a distant friend'. A person with poor understanding often interprets 'our kind of people' as people with the same income, religion, ethnic or cultural background. That doesn't have to be the case. On the other hand, nothing is wrong if people with similar identities seeking each other's proximity on a small scale.

All kinds of people

A certain homogeneity among the immediate neighbours, say those in the same building block, can go hand in hand with a greater variety at the neighbourhood level in terms of lifestyle, ethnic or cultural background, age, and capacity. This variety is a prerequisite for the growth of inclusiveness. Not everyone will interact with everyone, but diversity in ideas, interests and capacities can come in handy when organizing joint activities at neighborhood and district level.

Variation in living and living arrangements

The presence of a variety in lifestyles and living arrangements can be inspiring. For example, cohousing projects sometimes have facilities such as a fitness center or a restaurant that are accessible to other residents in the neighbourhood. The same applies to a cohabitation project for the elderly. But it is also conceivable that there is a project in the area for assisted living for (former) drug addicts or former homeless people. The Actieagenda Wonen “Samen werken aan goed wonen” (2021) provides examples of the new mantra 'the inclusive neighbourhood'. It is a hopeful story in a dossier in which misery predominates. The Majella Wonen project in Utrecht appealed to me: Two post-war apartment complexes have been converted into a place where former homeless people and 'regular' tenants have developed a close-knit community. It benefits everyone if the residents of these types of projects are accepted in the neighborhood and invited to participate.

Consultation between neighbours

It remains important that residents as early as possible discuss agreements about how the shared part of life can be made as pleasant as possible. This is best done through varying combinations of informal neighborhood representatives who discuss current affairs with their immediate neighbours. A Whatsapp group is indispensable.
Mixing income groups is also desirable, especially if the differences in housing and garden size are not too great. It does not work if the impression of a kind of 'gold coast' is created.
If functions are mixed and there are also offices and other forms of activity in a neighborhood, it is desirable that employees also integrate. This will almost happen automatically if there is a community center with catering.
Most of what is mentioned above, cannot be planned, but a dose of goodwill on the part of all those involved contributes to the best quality of living together.
 
Follow the link below to find an overview of all articles.  

 

Herman van den Bosch's picture #Citizens&Living
Herman van den Bosch, professor in management development , posted

15. Affordable housing

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This is the 15th episode of a series 25 building blocks to create better streets, neighbourhoods, and cities. This post is about one of the most serious threats to the quality of the living environment, namely the scarcity of housing, which is also unaffordable for many.
In many countries, adequate housing has become scarcer and too expensive for an increasing number of people. Unfortunately, government policy plays an important role in this. But good policy can also bring about a change. That's what this post is about.

As in many other developed countries, for a large part of the 20th century, the Dutch government considered it as its task to provide lower and middle classes with good and affordable housing. Housing associations ensured the implementation of this policy. Add to this well-equipped neighborhood shopping centers, ample medical, social, educational and transportation facilities and a diverse population. When the housing shortage eased in the 1970s, the nation was happier than ever. That didn't take long.

The emergence of market thinking in housing policy

During the last decades of the 20th century, the concern for housing largely shifted to the market. Parallel to this, housing corporations had to sell part of their housing stock. Mortgages were in easy reach and various tax facilities, such as the 'jubelton' and the mortgage interest deduction, brought an owner-occupied home within reach of many. In contrast, the waiting time for affordable rental housing increased to more than 10 years and rental housing in the liberalized zone became increasingly scarce and expensive. In Germany and Austria, providing good housing has remained a high priority for the government and waiting times are much shorter. The photo at the top left part shows the famous housing project Alt Erla in Vienna. Bottom shows left six affordable homes on the surface of one former home in an American suburb and top right is the 'Kolenkit', a social housing project in Amsterdam.

The explosive rise in housing costs

In order to adapt housing cost to the available budget, many people look for a house quite far away from the place where they work. Something that in turn has a negative effect on the travel costs and the time involved. Others settle in a neighborhood where the quality of life is moderate to poor or rent a too expensive house. More than a million households spend much more than the maximum desirable percentage of income (40%) on housing, utilities, and transport.
Between 2012 and 2022, the average price of a home in the Netherlands rose from €233,000 to €380,000. In Amsterdam, the price doubled from €280,000 to €560,000. Living in the city is becoming a privilege of the wealthier part of the population.
It is often assumed that around 900,000 housing units will be needed in the Netherlands by 2030, of which 80% is intended for single-person households.

An approaching change?

It seems that there is a shift going on, at least in policy thinking. The aim is to build an average of 100,000 homes per year in the coming years and to shorten the lead time between planning and realization. Achieving these intentions is uncartain because construction is being seriously delayed by the nitrogen crisis. The slow pace of new construction has once again drawn attention to the possibility of using existing houses and buildings for a significant proportion of these new housing units. More so as it is estimated that 80% of demand comes from single-person households.
The existing housing stock offers large potential for the creation of new living spaces. This potential has been investigated by, among others, the Kooperative Architecten Werkplaats in Groningen, resulting in the report <em>Ruimte zat in de stad</em>. The research focuses on 1800 post-war neighbourhoods, built between 1950 and 1980 with 1.8 million homes, 720,000 of which are social rental homes. The conclusion is that the division and expansion of these homes can yield 221,000 new units in the coming years. Eligible for this are single-family houses, which can be divided into two, and porch apartment blocks, which can be divided into more units per floor. Dividing up existing ground-access homes and homes in apartment blocks is technically not difficult and the costs are manageable. This applies even more if the adjustments are carried out in combination with making the relevant homes climate neutral. In addition, huge savings are made on increasingly expensive materials.
Even more interesting is to combine compaction with topping. This means the addition of one or two extra floors, so that a lift can also be added to the existing apartments. In construction terms, such an operation can be carried out by using light materials and installing an extra foundation. A project group at Delft University of Technology has designed a prototype that can be used for all 847,000 post-war porch houses, all of which need major maintenance. This prototype also ensures that the buildings in which these homes are located become energy-neutral and include facilities for socializing and play. Hence the extra wide galleries, with stairs between the floors and common areas in the plinth (image below right).
 
Follow the link below to find an overview of all articles.  

Herman van den Bosch's picture #Citizens&Living
Herman van den Bosch, professor in management development , posted

13. Social safety

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This is the 13th episode of a series 25 building blocks to create better streets, neighbourhoods, and cities. This post discusses the way cities can secure public space, distinguishing symptom control and a more fundamental approach.

Scope of crime

According to the World Health Organization, the risk of being confronted with physical violence significantly detracts from the quality of life. In 2000, homicides worldwide resulted in half a million deaths, nearly twice the number of people who died in a war that year, but less than 40% of fatalities on roads. Many murders are related to drug trafficking. The number of murders in the European Union that year was about 5200. Between 2008 and 2016, car thefts dropped by 36% and robberies by 24%. Both trends leveled off after 2010. However, police-recorded sexual violence in the EU shows an increase of 26% between 2013 and 2016.

Monitoring

Social safety is a precondition for the viability of public space. This applies to who works there, who lives there and who visits it. Frequently chosen solutions are the installation of cameras. Not bad, although streets without cameras run the risk of becoming less safe. Moreover, miscreants know well how to disguise their identity.
In Stratumseind, the illustrious nightlife center of Eindhoven, extensive experiments with CCTV cameras and sensors and, in addition, atmospheric lighting and scents have been executed (photo below right researcher Rinus Kanters in the control room). The city regards this experiment as a 'living lab' and it has continuously been evaluated. The results so far are that no clear connection has been found between this technology and the number of incidents, the feeling of safety among visitors has increased and the police are more quickly on the scene in the event of incidents.

Intensive use

Further conditions are intensive use. The more people on the street, the greater the social security, except for theft. Also 'eyes on the street', apartments in the space above the plinths help. More generally, transparency is of value. Transparent plinths of apartment buildings contribute to it (photo left: the Kleiburgflat, Amsterdam)
Lighting
Lighting is an important issue. It is not even so much about the fierceness of it, which entails other objections, but about the uniformity (photo above right). A particularly wrong idea is to equip lights with motion sensors, so that they only come on when a passer-by approaches. This is at the expense of the ability to keep an overview. There is no objection to slightly dimming the lighting when streets are less busy.

A decent existence

The ultimate policy to reduce crime and improve security is:
• Providing training, guidance and 'social employment', such as the 'Melkert jobs' from the 1990s, to bridge the distance to the labor market.
• Creating guaranteed jobs in the public sector for all. Not only to improve the quality of life of the unemployed, but also to perform numerous tasks that are currently left undone.
• Allocating a decent income to all adults, as long as paid work still falls short. Experiments with basic income show that this increases resilience, self-confidence and the chance of paid work.
• Providing temporary professional (psychological) assistance and guidance with household, and financial management and training on the way to full integration in society.
• The more intensively residents of a neighborhood interact with each other and keep an eye on each other's possessions, the less crime will have a chance. Social control has always been a powerful weapon against crime.
• In anticipation of permanent housing, shelter the homeless to prevent drug-related crimes and give high priority to combating violence and burglary.

It would be naive to think that less inequality and improvements in income, jobs and housing for the poorest groups will eliminate crime altogether. Greed, thrill-seeking, boredom, membership in wrong groups, wrong connections, imitation, mental illness, and alcohol and drugs abuse are not necessarily related to poverty and require judicial action.

Effective prevention and policing

• protection against the relatively small group of repeat-offenders, who are responsible for most crimes, especially violent crimes.
• Close cooperation between residents and the police at neighborhood level
• Police presence on bicycles (better than in cars),
• Detailed knowledge of the police and judiciary of and communication with youth groups that incidentally causes problems
• Sensible and proportionate use of digital resources to track down criminals.
 
 
Follow the link below to find an overview of all articles.  

   

Herman van den Bosch's picture #Citizens&Living
Neeltje Pavicic, Public Tech, Participation, Community Management at Gemeente Amsterdam, posted

OPEN CALL: Sociale digitale oplossingen gezocht

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Heb jij ideeën over en kennis van hoe je technologie zou kunnen inzetten als middel om het leven van kwetsbare of gemarginaliseerde doelgroepen in Amsterdam iets makkelijker te maken? Werk je bijvoorbeeld voor een tech bedrijf met ideeën over digitale oplossingen voor deze Amsterdammers? Bekijk dan de 'challenges' op de website van CommuniCity. CommuniCity - Tweede Open Call
De winnende voorstellen krijgen een subsidie van 12.500 euro om hun oplossing te piloten. De deadline is 31 oktober.

In totaal zijn er door zeven Europese steden twintig challenges uitgeschreven. Maximaal 38 voorstellen zullen worden geselecteerd om een pilot uit te voeren.

De challenges in Amsterdam

  1. Hoe kunnen ouders ondersteund worden in (seks)educatie en veiligheid?
  2. Hoe maak je een lokaal betaalsysteem onder inwoners en lokale ondernemers in Amsterdam Nieuw-West toegankelijk en geaccepteerd?
  3. Hoe stimuleer je meisjes in Nieuw-West om te sporten en bewegen?
  4. Hoe betrek je bewoners bij een gemeenschapspaar- en krediet coöperatie die sociale initiatieven in de stad ondersteunt?
  5. Hoe kunnen doven en slechthorenden worden betrokken bij het uitzenden van informatie over het openbaar vervoer?
  6. Hoe pas je een bestaande technologische oplossing aan voor een specifieke groep?

Voor uitgebreide beschrijvingen van alle challenges en informatie over de beoordelingscriteria, voorwaarden en het aanmeldproces, ga naar CommuniCity - Tweede Open Call

CommuniCity wordt gefinancierd door de EU.

#DigitalCity
Harmen van Sprang, co-founder & CEO Sharing Cities Alliance , posted

AI & The City

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Join us on 28 September to explore how (generative) AI will impact our cities and change the way we live, work & play.

From livability to sustainability, from health/wellbeing to public safety, from transportation to infrastructure, and from economic opportunities to urban planning: there are many opportunities ahead (and already happening).

From ethical implications to regulation, from awareness to safety/trust, and from data quality to technological infrastructure: we also got plenty of challenges to address and overcome.

Like to join this virtual roundtable session on 28 September? Visit http://sharingcitiesalliance.com/events to sign up (for free).

We welcome you to already share your ideas, cases as well as concerns regarding (generative) AI via LinkedIn.

AI & The City is an initiative of the Sharing Cities Alliance & Studio Sentience.

Harmen van Sprang's picture Online event on Sep 28th
Tom van Arman, Director & Founder at Tapp, posted

Responsible Sensing Safari & Workshop

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There is a lot of sensing going on in Amsterdam. Where are these sensors? What kinds of sensors are there? How do these sensors help our city? Join us on October 4th for a hands-on workshop to learn how to use 1) privacy-by-design toolkits, 2) discover citizen centric sensors and 3) learn how to make your own smart city projects more responsible.

Join us for an inspiring afternoon to learn and build human centric smart city technologies.

REGISTER FREE >> Eventbrite Responsible Sensing Safari & Workshop

Are you a concerned smart citizen, or smart city innovator? This workshop is for you! Tom van Arman, from TAPP - Smart City Architecture will guide you through the many legal, technical and even spatial considerations that you'll need to know about before deploying sensors in public space. Participants will go on a real-world Sensor Safari to discover the many devices in their natural habitat. Finally, roll up your sleeves and work together in a ‘Sensing Dilemma Workshop’ where we will field test some sensing projects to see how it can help (or harm) our future city! The workshop will take place on the Marineterrein, an inner-city test ground for a sustainable living environment.
Ethics in smart city technology is not something you assess at one specific point in time in a tech's lifecycle and then can forget about it. In the project Human Values for Smarter Cities, researchers, designers, civil servants (The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam), and citizens look for ways ethical principles can be interwoven in the articulation, making, deployment and adjustment of smart city technology.

Tom van Arman's picture Masterclass / workshop on Oct 4th
Herman van den Bosch, professor in management development , posted

8. Polycentricity

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This is the 8th episode of a series 25 building blocks to create better streets, neighbourhoods, and cities. The question is whether a distribution of services over the whole area contributes to the quality of the urban environment.
 
The central parts of cities like Siena, Amsterdam and Barcelona are overrun by visitors and tourists. Partly because Airbnb has increased its overnight capacity by withdrawing homes from their actual destination. As a result, these cities see their real estate prices rise ans residents leave, making room for expensive apartments, boutique hotels and corporate headquarters. Eventually, old city centers will become amusement parks that offer twenty-four hours of entertainment.

The need for distributed centers

There are no objections against visiting nice cities. The underlying problem is that many of these cities have few other places of interest left, partly due to destruction in the Second World War and their rapid expansion afterwards. Therefore, some cities are in urgent need to create additional attractive places and become polycentric. This aligns with the intention of cities to become a 15-minute city. The figure above is a model developed for this purpose by the council of Portland (USA).
Because of this policy, the prospect is that residents can buy their daily necessities close to home. At the other hand, tourists will be spread. What attractive neighborhood centers look like will be discussed in a subsequent post.

Ancillary centers

Cities without an inordinate number of tourists and visitors also observe a steady grow in the number of events, all competing for the same locations. For this reason, it is advisable that cities have a few ancillary centers each with one or two crowd pullers that divide the stream of visitors. An example is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and its newly developed public space around. In world cities such as London and New York, such centers have existed for years, but they are sometimes difficult to find because they are spread over a large area.
Amsterdam too urgently needs one or more ancillary centers. The area between Leidseplein and the Rijksmuseum has potential but lacks unity due to the chaotic intersections of roads and tram lines. The presence of a train or metro station is an advantage, that is why the area near Station Zuid also has potential.

Peripheral centers

Next decade, many visitors will still arrive by car and the best policy is to seduce them to leave their cars at safe transfer points to continue their journey by public transport. For visitors who intend to stay longer, this solution is not optimal. Many will dismiss the perspective of carrying their luggage to the hotel by public transport, although taking a cab is an alternative, albeit expensive. The alternative is the presence of a couple of affordable hotels next to the car park and the development of these areas into attractive public space, with shops, cafes, and restaurants, as a starting point to visit places of interest in the city. These centers can also accommodate major events, such as a football stadium, a music hall, cinemas and open-air festivities, because of the presence of large scale parking facilities. The Amsterdam Arena district is developing in this direction. It used to be a desolate place, but it's getting better. There are excellent train and metro links.

And what about the old 'old' city center?

The public spaces in the old city centers must meet the same requirements as the whole city to prevent becoming an amusement park for tourists. Aside from its carefully maintained and functionally integrated cultural legacy, centers should provide a mix of functions, including housing, offices, spaces for craft and light industry and plenty of greenery dedicated to its inhabitants. The number of hotels should be limited and renting out by Airbnb prohibited. There will be shops for both residents and tourists, rents must be frozen, and the speculative sale of houses curbed. Space over shops must be repurposed for apartments.
 
Follow the link below to find an overview of all articles.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x39qvzkw687rxsjvhsrzn/overzicht-blogposts-Eng.docx?rlkey=vpf7pwlfxkildpr9r062t5gf2&dl=0

Herman van den Bosch's picture #Mobility
Herman van den Bosch, professor in management development , posted

3. Attractive streetscape

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This article is part of the series 25 building blocks to create better streets, neighbourhoods, and cities. Read how design, starting from the physical aspects of the streetscape en -pattern contributes to the quality of the urban environment. Follow the link below to find an overview of all articles.
 
Streets and squares are appreciated best if there is cohesion between several elements, such as the block height, the number of floors, the type of houses, the building line and the colour. When some elements work together, others can vary. Uniformity without variation results in people avoiding a street.

Coherence and variation in balance

Variation creates liveliness and will extend the time visitors spend on a street. This principle is applied almost everywhere in the world. Walls are fitted with arches, pillars, porches, porches, pitched roofs, windowsills, canopies, balustrades, cornices, dormer windows, linear and vertical elements, see the bottom-centre image of a Paris’ building. At the same time, the attributes of separate buildings that provide variety are most effective against a coherent background. The Parisian avenues illustrate this too, because most edifices are built according to the same principles while the ornamentation of each facade differs. The attractive streetscape in Sicily (top right) and in the Alsace (bottom right) demonstrate an almost perfect balance between similarity and difference.

Use of colour

A good example are the painted houses in the Canadian settlement of Lunenburg, which was founded in the 18th century by German woodworkers and is a UNESCO world heritage site today (top centre). The nature of the construction and the type of buildings ensure cohesion; the colour provides the variation.

Street pattern

A manageable pattern of similarly important streets contributes to the spread of visitors and provides a level playing field for shops and restaurants. A mesh, which does not necessarily have to be rectangular, facilitates orientation. A rectangular street pattern is at the expense of the element of surprise and detracts from the feeling that there is something to discover. Squares will often be found at street intersections.

Landmarks

Understanding of the pattern of the streets is reinforced by providing intersections with landmarks, such as statues, fountains, or distinguishing buildings (photo, top right). These elements help visitors developing a mental map. Maps every here and there are more helpful than signposts. The fewer poles in the ground, the better.

Canals and moats

Canals and moats also contribute to the attractivity of the streetscape. They restore the human dimension in too wide streets, also in new parts of the city. The images on the left show a central street in Zaandam (top) and a 'waterway' in the Amsterdam Houthavens quarter (bottom). The edges of waterways should never be used as parking spaces. Definitely not in Amsterdam, because its unique streetscape.  

Herman van den Bosch's picture #Mobility
Naomi Vrielink, Projectmedewerker at Future City Foundation, posted

Slotevent Summerschool over publieke platformen

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🚀 Hoe veranderen publieke platformen de overheid? Een thema dat ons allemaal raakt! Platformen veroveren de wereld. Uber, Marktplaats en AirBNB kennen we allemaal.

Op 30 aug zal het slotevent plaatsvinden van de Summerschool.
Deze middag staat, geheel toepasselijk, in het teken van de veranderende overheid. De 20e Summerschool gaat namelijk over de vraag: Hoe veranderen publieke platformen de overheid, welke toekomstscenario’s kunnen we daarover schetsen en hoe disruptief zijn deze?

Ontdek het antwoord op deze prikkelende vraag tijdens het spectaculaire slotevent ter ere van de 20e summerschool van het @Kennislab voor Urbanisme! 🌟 We nodigen iedereen uit die ooit heeft deelgenomen aan een summerschool of dit graag wil doen.

Deze Summerschool wordt georganiseerd door 'Kennislab voor Urbanisme' en de 'Future City Foundation' in opdracht van de Provincie Zuid-Holland in Den Haag.

Wanneer:
Op 30 augustus van 12.30 tot 17.00 uur

Locatie:
Provinciehuis van de Provincie Zuid-Holland, Zuid Hollandplein 1, 2596 AW Den Haag

📅 Zet 30 augustus alvast in je agenda, want van 12.30 tot 17.00 uur staat een middag vol inspiratie en innovatie op het programma.

📢Bekijk hier het programma van de middag https://lnkd.in/etuMCCU5
📢of geef je direct op via https://lnkd.in/erHMed74

*Dit event is gratis toegankelijk

Meet-up on Aug 30th
Sophie van der Ploeg, Community Manager & Program Lead Digital at Amsterdam Smart City, posted

Transition Day 2023: Digital identity and implementing new electronic identification methods

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The Digital Government Act (Wet Digitale Overheid) aims to improve digital government services while ensuring citizens' privacy. An important part of this law is safe and secure logging in to the government using new electronic identification methods (eIDs) such as Yivi (formerly IRMA). The municipality of Amsterdam recently started a pilot with Yivi. Amsterdam residents can now log in to “Mijn Amsterdam” to track the status of complaints about public area’s. But how do you get this innovation, which really requires a different way of thinking, implemented?

Using the Change Curve to categorise barriers

At the Transition day (June 2023), Mike Alders (municipality of Amsterdam) invited the Amsterdam Smart City network to help identify the barriers and possible interventions, and explore opportunities for regional cooperation. Led by Coen Smit from Royal HaskoningDHV, the participants identified barriers in implementing this new technology from an organisational and civil society perspective. After that, the participants placed these barriers on a Change Curve, a powerful model used to understand the stages of personal transition and organization stage. Using the Change Curve, we wanted to give Mike some concrete guidance on where to focus his interventions on within the organisation. The barriers were categorised in four phases:

  1. Awareness: associated with anxiety and denial;
  2. Desire: associated with emotion and fear;
  3. Knowledge & ability: associated with acceptance, realisation and energy;
  4. Reinforcement: associated with growth.

Insights and next steps

In the case of digital identity and the implementation of eID’s, such as Yivi, it appears that most of the barriers are related to the first phase of awareness. Think of: little knowledge about digital identity and current privacy risks, and a lack of trust in a new technology. Communication is crucial to overcome barriers in the awareness. To the user, but also internally to employees and the management. Directors often also know too little about the topic of digital identity.

By looking at the different phases in the change process, we have become aware of the obstacles and thought about possible solutions. But we are still a long way from full implementation and acceptance of this new innovation. For that, we need different perspectives from business, governments and knowledge institutions. This way, we can start creating more awareness about digital transformations and identity in general, which will most likely lead to wishes for more privacy-friendly and easier way of identifying online. Besides focusing on creating more awareness about our digital identity, another possible next step is to organise a more in-depth session (deepdive) with all governmental organisations in the Amsterdam Smart City network.

Do you have any tips or questions in relation to Mike’s project about Digital Identity and electronic Identification? Please get in touch with me through sophie@amsterdamsmartcity.com or leave a comment below.

Sophie van der Ploeg's picture #DigitalCity
Zoë Spaaij, Project manager , posted

Summerschool 'Hoe veranderen platformen de overheid?'

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Platformen veroveren de wereld. Uber, Marktplaats en AirBNB kennen we allemaal. De grote vraag is dan ook: hoe gaat de overheid zelf naar een platform transformeren? Op 23 augustus, 28, 29 en 30 augustus 2023 gaan 24 jongprofessionals aan de slag met disruptieve scenario’s rondom digitale platformen. We onderzoeken welke utopieën en dystopieën we ons kunnen voorstellen. En wat de overheid nu al kan doen om kansen te benutten en gevaren te tackelen.

Daarom organiseren Kennislab voor Urbanisme en de Future City Foundation in opdracht van de Provincie Zuid-Holland in Den Haag een Summerschool ‘Hoe veranderen publieke platformen de overheid?’ in samenwerking met de City Deal ‘Een slimme stad, zo doe je dat‘ en de City Deal ‘Slim Maatwerk’.

Wanneer:
Op 23 augustus komen we op een aparte dag bijelkaar en op 28, 29 en 30 augustus blijf je slapen.

Locatie:
In de Eendenkooi, in Den Haag

Meld je nu aan en bedenk samen met 24 andere jongprofessionals hoe je data en digitalisering inzet om de problemen van vandaag op te lossen voor de wereld van morgen.

Ben je zelf geen jongprofessional meer, maar ken je iemand in je netwerk? Stuur deze Summerschool dan aan hem/haar door.*

Waar gaat het over?
Platformen brengen vraag en aanbod op een efficiënte manier samen. Centraal staat de mogelijkheid voor verbinding en uitwisseling waarbij deelnemers elkaar vertrouwen en voordeel halen uit elkaars aanwezigheid. Die platformen kunnen ook, net als de hele digitale transitie, zorgen voor disrupties in en van de hele samenleving. Net zoals Spotify de muziekwereld heeft veranderd, zo kan ook de overheid veranderen. Daar moeten we nu al over nadenken. Want hoe willen we dat publieke platformen zich gaan ontwikkelen? Welke kaders en randvoorwaarden moeten er zijn?  

Tijdens deze Summerschool laten we ons inspireren door experts, futuristen, filosofen, ondernemers en overheidsprofessionals. We gaan met elkaar aan de slag om te komen tot verschillende scenario’s over de vraag: Hoe veranderen publieke platformen de overheid, welke toekomstscenario’s kunnen we daarover schetsen en hoe disruptief zijn deze? Dit alles doen we samen met de Provincie Zuid-Holland in het kader van hun expeditie rondom Publieke Platformen.

Voor wie en met wie
De summerschool richt zich op getalenteerde jongprofessionals (pasafgestudeerden en jonge beleidsambtenaren). Het is onze overtuiging dat de leiders van morgen zich nu onderscheiden door het volgen van extra-curriculaire activiteiten. Als slimme jongprofessional geef je ook de opdrachtgever inspiratie en energie en ben je wellicht interessant voor werkgevers.
We organiseerden deze summerschool in opdracht van de Provincie Zuid-Hollandin het kader van de expeditie Publieke Platformen en in samenwerking met Future City FoundationCity Deal ‘Een slimme stad, zo doe je dat’ en City Deal ‘Slim Maatwerk’

Doe mee!
Je bent geschikt als je begrijpt dat er voor ingewikkelde problemen geen eenvoudige antwoorden volstaan. En soms ook wel. Je hebt een achtergrond in:

  • RUIMTE: ruimtelijke ordening, planologie, stedenbouw
  • BESTUUR: bestuurskunde, beleidskunde, politicologie
  • GEESTESWETENSCHAPPEN: filosofie, geschiedenis
  • SOCIAAL: sociologie, sociale geografie
  • DESIGN: product design, multimedia, marketing
  • TECH: geo en media design, game design, computer science / IT en software developing
  • of iets anders interessants, want verder out-of-the-box is ook welkom.

Wij zijn blij met omdenkers en dwarskijkers. Aan deze summerschool kunnen 24 jongprofessionals deelnemen. Deelnemen is gratis.
MELD JE NU AAN

Meer weten?
Klik hier voor meer informatie over de summerschool.  

Masterclass / workshop from Aug 28th to Aug 30th
Puck Hoogenboom, Communication at Waag, posted

PublicSpaces Conference: For a Collective Internet

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Hoe bouwen we aan een internet dat werkt voor iedereen? Een online ruimte die onze gezondheid, vrijheid en bestaansmiddelen dient en niet in de houdgreep is van Big Tech?

Op 27 en 28 juni organiseren PublicSpaces en Waag Futurelab de derde editie van de PublicSpaces conferentie. Onder leiding van moderatoren Clarice Gargard en Roland Duong onderzoeken we of de democratie bestand is tegen Big Tech en hoe een eerlijke markt met alternatieve software en ethische infrastructuur er uit zou kunnen zien.
Samen met tientallen sprekers uit binnen- en buitenland verkennen we concrete oplossingen en tools voor een gezond digitaal ecosysteem en werken we samen aan een beter internet. Een internet voor en door het collectief.

Programma

Binnenkort maken we het programma en de sprekers bekend voor twee dagen vol met panels, keynotes, rondetafelsessies, talks, drinks, kunst en geestverruimende cultuur. Koop je ticket en werk mee aan een gezond digitaal ecosysteem!

Waar? Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam
Wanneer? Dinsdag 27 juni & woensdag 28 juni 2023
Meld je aan voor de conferentie nieuwsbrief om updates over het programma te ontvangen.

Koop je ticket.

Meet-up from Jun 27th to Jun 28th
Bas Schilder, Mobility , posted

BewustwordingsModel Smart City

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Hoe slim is de ideale leefomgeving wat jou betreft, nu en in de toekomst? Wat betekent dat voor o.a. je strategie, diensten en technologie?
Vanuit phbm voegen we graag een gereedschap toe aan jouw Toolbox voor Smart City-vraagstukken. Eén waarbij we het voorstellings- en inlevingsvermogen activeren en welzijn centraal staat: het BewustwordingsModel. Dit model maakt de positie en wensen van jou en de ander expliciet en voorkomt dat er ruis ontstaat over het niveau van ‘slimheid’ in de leefomgeving. Door de toelichting van de passende organisatie, samenwerking, strategie e.d. bij de niveaus ontstaat een scherp beeld van wat het gekozen niveau betekent voor het individu, de organisatie of zelfs de samenleving als geheel. Eén van de centrale vragen bij het model is: hoe ‘smart’ wil je zijn en waar zit de optimale balans tussen mens en technologie?

Eerste gepubliceerde versie is tot stand gekomen samen met partners in de City Deal (‘Een slimme stad, zo doe je dat’). Het laat op vijf niveaus zien in welke mate een organisatie of bedrijf slim is. Eén van de doelen hiervan is om te bepalen of opdrachtgever en opdrachtnemer dezelfde taal spreken. Vanuit phbm zijn we doorgegaan op het model en hebben onder andere ethiek en mobiliteit als pijlers toegevoegd.

Het model is openbaar inzichtelijk, phbm begeleidt graag in het proces om samenwerkingspartners gezamenlijk bewuster te maken op welk niveau ze staan (gebruikmakend van het model) en met welke ontwikkelingen je rekening kan houden in het vraagstuk wat op tafel ligt (op vlak van organisatie, diensten of ethiek bijvoorbeeld).

Bas Schilder's picture #DigitalCity
Sophie van der Ploeg, Community Manager & Program Lead Digital at Amsterdam Smart City, posted

Demoday #19: CommuniCity worksession

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Without a doubt, our lives are becoming increasingly dependent on new technologies. However, we are also becoming increasingly aware that not everyone benefits equally from the opportunities and possibilities of digitization. Technology is often developed for the masses, leaving more vulnerable groups behind. Through the European-funded CommuniCity project, the municipality of Amsterdam aims to support the development of digital solutions for all by connecting tech organisations to the needs of vulnerable communities. The project will develop a citizen-centred co-creation and co-learning process supporting the cities of Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Porto in launching 100 tech pilots addressing the needs of their communities.

Besides the open call for tech-for-good pilots, the municipality of Amsterdam is also looking for a more structural process for matching the needs of citizens to solutions of tech providers. During this work session, Neeltje Pavicic (municipality of Amsterdam) invited the Amsterdam Smart City network to explore current bottlenecks and potential solutions and next steps.

Process & questions

Neeltje introduced the project using two examples of technology developed specifically for marginalised communities: the Be My Eyes app connects people needing sighted support with volunteers giving virtual assistance through a live video call, and the FLOo Robot supports parents with mild intellectual disabilities by stimulating the interaction between parents and the child.

The diversity of the Amsterdam Smart City network was reflected in the CommuniCity worksession, with participants from governments, businesses and knowledge institutions. Neeltje was curious to the perspectives of the public and private sector, which is why the group was separated based on this criteria. First, the participants identified the bottlenecks: what problems do we face when developing tech solutions for and with marginalised communities? After that, we looked at the potential solutions and the next steps.

Bottlenecks for developing tech for vulnerable communities

The group with companies agreed that technology itself can do a lot, but that it is often difficult to know what is already developed in terms of tech-for-good. Going from a pilot or concept to a concrete realization is often difficult due to the stakeholder landscape and siloed institutions. One of the main bottlenecks is that there is no clear incentive for commercial parties to focus on vulnerable groups. Another bottleneck is that we need to focus on awareness; technology often targets the masses and not marginalized groups who need to be better involved in the design of solutions.

In the group with public organisations, participants discussed that the needs of marginalised communities should be very clear. We should stay away from formulating these needs for people. Therefore, it’s important that civic society organisations identify issues and needs with the target groups, and collaborate with tech-parties that can deliver solutions. Another bottleneck is that there is not enough capital from public partners. There are already many pilots, but scaling up is often difficult.. Therefore solutions should have a business, or a value-case.

Potential next steps

What could be the next steps? The participants indicated that there are already a lot of tech-driven projects and initiatives developed to support vulnerable groups. A key challenge is that these initiatives are fragmented and remain small-scale because there is insufficient sharing and learning between them. A better overview of what is already happening is needed to avoid re-inviting the wheel. There are already several platforms to share these types of initiatives but they do not seem to meet the needs in terms of making visible tested solutions with most potential for upscaling. Participants also suggested hosting knowledge sessions to present examples and lessons-learned from tech-for-good solutions, and train developers to make technology accessible from the start. Legislation can also play a role: by law, technology must meet accessibility requirements and such laws can be extended to protect vulnerable groups. Participants agreed that public authorities and commercial parties should engage in more conversation about this topic.

In response to the worksession, Neeltje mentioned that she gained interesting insights from different angles. She was happy that so many participants showed interest in this topic and decided to join the session. In the coming weeks, Neeltje will organise a few follow-up sessions with different stakeholders. Do you have any input for her? You can contact me via sophie@amsterdamsmartcity.com, and I'll connect you to Neeltje.

Sophie van der Ploeg's picture #DigitalCity
Beep for Help, Direct hulp aan huis. Oplossingen voor een fijn thuis. , posted

Beep for Help, direct hulp aan huis

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Beep for help ontzorgt alle Amsterdammers die wel wat hulp thuis kunnen gebruiken.
De oplossing voor ouderen die prettig thuis willen blijven wonen, overbelaste mantelzorgers of mensen die meer tijd willen voor ontspanning.
Makkelijk boeken van hulp bij boodschappen, koken, schoonmaken, tuinieren, huisdieren of gezelschap. Zonder wachtlijsten. Simpel en snel. Wij zijn er trots op een Amsterdamse startup te zijn. Wij werken graag samen met andere organisaties om elkaar te versterken. Neem contact op voor de mogelijkheden.

Beep for Help's picture #DigitalCity
NEMO Science Museum, posted

Workshop - Klimaatmythes ontkracht

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Hoe herken je desinformatie?

Op social media gaat veel klimaatdesinformatie rond. Wat betekent dit voor ons klimaatgedrag, nu en in de toekomst? In de workshop Klimaatmythes ontkracht gaan we hiermee aan de slag.
Sinds de overname van Twitter door Elon Musk is het aantal misleidende tweets rondom klimaatverandering sterk toegenomen, zo blijkt uit een onderzoek van de Britse krant The Times. Daarnaast kampen we met een groeiend aantal bots dat klimaatdesinformatie verspreid. Dat maakt dat een groeiende groep mensen in aanraking komt met foutieve of misleidende informatie. Hoe moeten we daarmee omgaan? Die vraag staat centraal tijdens de workshop Klimaatmythes ontkracht die het lectoraat Journalistiek en Innovatie van Fontys organiseert in De Studio van NEMO.

In de workshop gaan journalisten en onderzoekers van het Fontys lectoraat Journalistiek en Innovatie in op verschillende vormen van desinformatie, manieren en tools om dit te herkennen en om jezelf weerbaarder te maken tegen de invloed van foutieve informatie.

Over het Fontys lectoraat Jounalistiek

Het Fontys lectoraat Journalistiek en Verantwoorde Innovatie richt zich op het razendsnel veranderende journalistieke landschap. Binnen het lectoraat worden hedendaagse journalistieke uitdagingen door de lens van opkomende technologieën bekeken.
Danielle Arets (lector Journalistiek en Innovatie) verzorgt de workshop Klimaatmythes ontkracht. Samen met Marije Arentze (factcheck expert), Marius Brugman (journalist onderzoeker) en Fleur Hendrickx (journalist-onderzoeker) gaan zij dieper in op de verschillende vormen van desinformatie. Aan de hand van voorbeelden en analyses weet jij straks als geen ander hoe je desinformatie herkent.

Praktisch

Voor een bezoek aan deze workshop in De Studio reserveer je een ticket via de website van NEMO. De toegangsprijs is € 7,50.

De workshop start om 20.00 uur en en duurt ongeveer 2 uur. Voorafgaand aan de workshop kun je vanaf 19.00 uur de tentoonstelling Energy Junkies bezoeken.
 
Op vertoon van een kortingspas ontvangen pashouders voorafgaand aan de activiteit een gratis drankje. Deelnemende passen zijn: Museumkaart, VriendenLoterij VIP-KAART, Stadspas Amsterdam, CJP pas en Collegekaart.
 
De Studio van NEMO is een extra locatie van NEMO Science Museum op het Marineterrein in Amsterdam. De programmering is speciaal voor volwassenen.

NEMO Science Museum's picture Masterclass / workshop on May 25th
Max Kortlander, Writer and Researcher at Waag, posted

The Public Stack: a Model to Incorporate Public Values in Technology

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Public administrators, public tech developers, and public service providers face the same challenge: How to develop and use technology in accordance with public values like openness, fairness, and inclusivity? The question is urgent as we continue to rely upon proprietary technology that is developed within a surveillance capitalist context and is incompatible with the goals and missions of our democratic institutions. This problem has been a driving force behind the development of the public stack, a conceptual model developed by Waag through ACROSS and other projects, which roots technical development in public values.

The idea behind the public stack is simple: There are unseen layers behind the technology we use, including hardware, software, design processes, and business models. All of these layers affect the relationship between people and technology – as consumers, subjects, or (as the public stack model advocates) citizens and human beings in a democratic society. The public stack challenges developers, funders, and other stakeholders to develop technology based on shared public values by utilising participatory design processes and open technology. The goal is to position people and the planet as democratic agents; and as more equal stakeholders in deciding how technology is developed and implemented.

ACROSS is a Horizon2020 European project that develops open source resources to protect digital identity and personal data across European borders. In this context, Waag is developing the public stack model into a service design approach – a resource to help others reflect upon and improve the extent to which their own ‘stack’ is reflective of public values. In late 2022, Waag developed a method using the public stack as a lens to prompt reflection amongst developers. A more extensive public stack reflection process is now underway in ACROSS; resources to guide other developers through this same process will be made available later in 2023.

The public stack is a useful model for anyone involved in technology, whether as a developer, funder, active, or even passive user. In the case of ACROSS, its adoption helped project partners to implement decentralised privacy-by-design technology based on values like privacy and user control. The model lends itself to be applied just as well in other use cases:

  • Municipalities can use the public stack to maintain democratic approaches to technology development and adoption in cities.
  • Developers of both public and private tech can use the public stack to reflect on which values are embedded in their technology.
  • Researchers can use the public stack as a way to ethically assess technology.
  • Policymakers can use the public stack as a way to understand, communicate, and shape the context in which technology development and implementation occurs.

Are you interested in using the public stack in your own project, initiative, or development process? We’d love to hear about it. Let us know more by emailing us at publicstack@waag.org.

Max Kortlander's picture #DigitalCity
Arpad Gerecsey, Director/Chief Innovation Officer/Board member at A Lab Amsterdam, posted

Curious about AI? What about the future of the creative industry?

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Are you a creative and curious how the advent of AI might impact you, your work, your world? For a whole afternoon we will delve into Artificial Intelligence. We’re curious about its significance for the creative industry. Will it change the creative field as we know it? Transform the lives of creatives? And shape the future for the whole sector?
In a jam packed afternoon full of demo's and discussions we will explore these topics. Ethics, Art, Skills, Energy Impact, DIY, IP, technology, they are all on the agenda.
 
Be curious. Come join. Your input is necessary.

Entrance free, limited tickets

Arpad Gerecsey's picture Conference on Mar 28th
Cornelia Dinca, International Liaison at Amsterdam Smart City, posted

Data Spaces Symposium & Deep-Dive Day

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The aim of the three-day Data Spaces Symposium is to bring together relevant data sharing initiatives and endeavors. The event is hosted by the Center of Excellence for Data Sharing and Cloud (TNO), International Data Spaces Association, the Basic Data Infrastructure network and the Data Spaces Support Centre.

During the event you can get involved in aligning the diverse landscape of data space initiatives, learn from successfully running data space projects, and discover the business benefits of sovereign data sharing.

Find out more and register by March 17 via: https://internationaldataspaces.org/data-spaces-symposium/

Cornelia Dinca's picture Conference from Mar 21st to Mar 23rd