Going just a little north from our last episode to the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, we discussed Smart District development, stakeholders engagement, funding sources and more with Deborah Colville, the City Innovation Manager & Head of Smart Belfast, and with Nikita Shetty, the UK and Ireland Lead and Senior Consultant for BABLE Smart Cities.

BABLE will be at the Autonomy Mobility World Expo in Paris on March 22nd and 23rd. Register now to benefit from the many activities on the programme: Startup Village, City Hub, two conference programs, test tracks, demos, B2B and B2G meetings, startup challenge and innovation award ceremony We hope to see you there!

Overview of the episode:

03:00 - Teaser: A little-known fact about Belfast

04:50 - What is the story behind the Smart Belfast program?

06:40 - What is Deborah's background?

08:30 - What is Nikita's experience with Belfast?

09:40 - Main stakeholders' engagement learnings from the Smart District development in Belfast

11:40 - Why start with a district approach?

15:07 - What were the success factors in accessing funding sources within this project?

20:05 - Political leadership: pieces of advice for cities

24:30 - What about stakeholders who don't have the time or resources?

28:50 - What is the nature of this partnership? Is it more about resource-sharing or strategic decision-making?

31:48 - The Healthy Aging Project

34:26 - Were there any concerns regarding Data Privacy and Security?

36:30 - Roll with the Punches: our guest answers this or that questions quickly and with their first instincts

38:50 - Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?

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