The Smart Community Podcast

In this episode I had a fantastic chat with Jamie Leach, a Data Technologist and the the CEO and Founder of Open Data Australia. She has an extensive background in project management, finance, technology, and defence, as well as leading data and technology companies through capital-raising and global expansion. A reminder that like all our recent episodes this one was recorded before the global pandemic but I think it's a fantastic and really relevant conversation all the same.

In this episode, Jamie and I discuss her passion for the transformative potential of data if it is leveraged and harnessed in a positive way. We talk about what sparked her interest in data and Smart Communities, and how making good use of data can help future proof businesses and organisations going forwards. We cover so much, including the challenges and opportunities of using and analysing data well, particularly for governments, and the different skillsets that are needed. Jamie tells us why it's so important that we are educated and empowered around data, especially those who don't have data literacy already, and the importance of just taking the first steps in that direction. Jamie and I discuss how she sees Australia currently embracing the data governance space and some of the projects she's working on. We finish our chat exploring the emerging trends of data visualisation and of AI cognitive search. As always we hope you enjoyed listening tot his episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Jamie via LinkedIn or on Twitter @opendataaus or the website Opendataaustralia.org

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode of the Smart Community podcast I have a great conversation with Jennifer Sanders, the Co-Founder and Executive Director at the Dallas Innovation Alliance or DIA as she refers to it a lot in this episode. Jennifer tells us about the DIA, how it came to be and the needs-based, neighbourhood-centric approach that they take. We cover the importance of educating and empowering citizens, especially young people and people from underserved neighbourhoods, on how they can engaged with their communities and Jennifer shares a great story about the benefits of giving kids a seat at the table when discussing solutions to community problems. We discuss how Dallas is embracing the Smart City concept and the real impacts and benefits of the openness, transparency and knowledge-sharing that goes on between individuals and organisations in the Smart City space. Jennifer tells us about the projects she's working on with the DIA, including their focus on equity, digital inclusion and having a regional focus through the North Texas Innovation Alliance. We have a great chat about how the regional approach is the natural next step from the city-centric focus and how it helps with efficiencies and economies of scale for smaller towns with fewer resources. Now the DIA has dozens of partner organisations from all sectors and Jennifer tells us about how they approach integration and collaboration with so many stakeholders. We finish our chat talking about the emerging trends of data privacy and ownership in public data-driven projects, and we have an interesting chat about telemedicine too. This episode was recorded before Covid-19 brought travel restrictions and lockdowns to the world and so it will be interesting to see what the innovations in that space are once we get through this crisis. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn or Twitter @dallassmartcity

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode of the podcast I have a brilliant conversation with Melissa Dark, a communications and stakeholder engagement consultant. Melissa is the Chief Collaborator at Common Place Communication and the Co-Founder of Busting Silos, and she is passionate about how we involve people in the decisions that affect them. Now, like all the recent episodes on the podcast, this conversation was recorded before Covid-19 changed the world, however I think it's fair to say that communications and stakeholder engagement has only gotten more important since then-as we say at the end of this interview, communication skills can be really undervalued until they're really needed, and that's exactly what we're seeing play out in the world today.

If you are wanting more up to date pandemic related content, I am doing a series of interviews on YouTube with previous podcast guests that checks in with them to see how their organisations are changing or not during this time, and how the Smart Community space is approaching Covid-19.

In this episode Melissa and I talk about what we can learn about community engagement from organisational change management research, and why trust is the absolute key factor in successful engagement in both communities and organisations. Melissa tells us what engagement actually means to her, and the relationship between integrity, empathy and authentic engagement. We talk about the challenges and opportunities that digital technologies have brought to the comms and engagement space, and the fundamental things that haven't changed. Melissa shares with us that she believes the emerging trends in the engagement space are not in fact tech related but actually the return of old school human approaches. We finish our chat discussing Melissa's work with Busting Silos helping integrate through and across boundaries in organisations, both internally and externally. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn or via either of her websites, CommonPlaceCommunication.com or BustingSilos.com.au

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode of the Smart Community podcast, I had a great conversation with Alan Murphy, the Smart Dublin Regional Lead. Please note: this episode was recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic. Smart Dublin is an initiative of the four Dublin Local Authorities to engage with smart technology providers, researchers and citizens to solve challenges and improve city life. In this episode Alan tells us about his background in IT consulting and his passion for new ways of doing things using technology. He tells us about what sparked his interest in this Smart space, including friend of the podcast, Jonathan Reichental who you may remember from episode 77. Alan and I then discuss what Smart Dublin actually is and some of the projects Alan's been working on with Smart Dublin in the areas of mobility, environment, energy and citizen engagement. Alan shares with us how he sees Ireland embracing Smart concepts, and the maturing of the conversation around Smart Communities. We talk about integration, and Alan explains Smart Dublin's collaborative approach, plus we cover the power of having champions and stakeholders involved from the start. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends in the mobility space of commute time now being considered by employers, and of incentivising more sustainable modes of transport. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode I have a fascinating chat with Hyma Vulpala, the Deputy Director of Digital Workplace, Research and Academic Information Services at La Trobe University. Now, when we recorded this a few months back Hyma was Head of Digital and Data for Yarra Ranges Council in Victoria, so you'll hear us refer to that in this episode.

Hyma tells us about her background in IT and digital and her passion for the opportunities that the ever-changing digital space provides. She tells us some of the changes she's seen in the space over the last 2 decades and how the rates of technological change are really increasing, especially in the last 5 years. We discuss why Smart City and Community concepts are so important and will continue to be into the future. Hyma and I talk about the different industries in Australia that are adopting Smart concepts, and the dangers of not embracing digital transformation, including not attracting and retaining the required skills sets.

We discuss some of the projects Hyma has been working on at Yarra Ranges Council, and the changes in community engagement, customer service and communication styles that digital technology has facilitated. Hyma tells us about the ways Yarra Ranges Council needed to integrate across different departments in order to fulfil their digital strategy, and the cultural shift that is needed for true digital transformation to occur We finish our chat discussing the emerging trend of industries and employment that will be most affected by technology, and the need to look at support, skill building and employment opportunities, both for those in impacted industries and also for young people just entering the workforce. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Hyma on LinkedIn

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect via LinkedIn or Twitter

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode, I have a brilliant conversation with Debbie Reynolds, also known as The Data Diva. Debbie is a thought-leader and advisor to Multinational Corporations for handling global data privacy, cyber data breach planning and response, and complex cross-functional management of data-centric projects.

In this episode, Debbie and I talk about the divide she saw growing up between the opportunities available in big cities like Chicago compared to nearby small towns and suburbs, and how that sparked her interest in the Smart Community space. Debbie shares with us the trends and considerations she sees related to the digital divide, and how it plays out differently in the US compared to Europe and elsewhere, plus why it's so important to inform citizens about data transparency, privacy and protection issues so that they can make informed decisions. We talk about the new data privacy laws in California that came into effect in January 2020 and the impacts Debbie expects, both at the individual citizen level and the big tech companies level. Now, we recorded this conversation in December 2019, so we talk about the California Consumer Privacy Act in future tense, but of course this episode is airing in April 2020 and so the CCPA is well underway now.

Debbie shares her observations of what's happening globally as the world moves towards more data ownership at different rates in different places and the challenges and opportunities of integrating and collaborating between disciplines, organisations and governments, especially with regards to data breaches and ransomware incidents. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of the prevalence of biometric data and also of ransomware attacks on public and private organisations.

Be aware that there are a couple of spots in this interview where the audio cuts out or clips the end of words, however it's a brilliant conversation overall. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Debbie via her website www.debbiereynoldsconsulting.com

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a great conversation with Marco Maréchal, the Strategic Advisor of Communication and Innovation for Smart City and Smart Mobility to the Netherlands. He is also the author of the book "Mobility in the Future 2030: Finally the people have the say" so I felt he was a great guest to round out our month here focusing on #mobiliitymarch.

In this episode, Marco tells us about the project on cooperative vehicles that sparked his interest in Smart Communities 6 years ago and why Smart Communities with humans at the centre are so important to him. We talk about how the Netherlands have embraced Smart concepts, and the Mobility as a Service project Marco is working on reduce congestion and incentivise people to use alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles when commuting to work. Marco shares the biggest benefits he sees in Mobility as a Service and ways the business model of MaaS is still changing and evolving. We discuss ways to better integrate with all stakeholders and how we need to have private cars being a part of the equation in order to start the MaaS conversation. He also tells us about some interesting lessons from an Intelligent Road project in the Netherlands that, in Marco's words, failed. Plus we finish our chat discussing emerging trends, including air transit and autonomous drones, sustainable mobility movements and how better accessibility and mobility services can enable people to live where they want to live and reduce the need for supercities. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Marco on LinkedIn or via his website www.toconnect.nl/en

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode of the Smart Community podcast, I have a brilliant chat with Ryan McManus, the Founder and CEO of SHARE Mobility, a mobility company that helps organisations and cities solve big transportation problems with mobility-as-a-service. Ryan and I met on my trip recently to Columbus, Ohio, which was in January, 2020. I met Ryan at a meeting with Smart Columbus where I learned about the work they're doing. Now obviously, this episode was recorded before the corona virus became a pandemic. Currently SHARE is repurposing their shared transport network and customer support staff to serve the needs of the people who are staying at home.

On the topic of Covid-19, I just want to give you a little bit of an update of what our team is doing to respond. Our My Smart Community team was virtual already and will remain this way. We are following the health advice and following hygiene and social distancing precautions. For now, the podcast will continue as per usual while the situation continues to develop, but down the track and once there's a bit more data, we anticipate and doing few episodes on this pandemic. In the meantime, we will continue to provide you with regular podcast content to entertain and educate you. If you're finding yourself with more time on your hands than usual, remember we have a wonderful back catalogue of episodes for your listening pleasure!

Now, more than ever, it's time to be Smart and make our technology work for us so that we can stay human. We use it to work as we need to, for us and our teams and be able to adapt as the needs change. We can use it to consume credible information from credible sources and stay up to date with the latest advice and switch off from the channels that aren't serving us right now. We can use it to be kind, understand that we may need to do things differently for a while and reach out to those who might find themselves isolated, or vulnerable. To be smart, so that we can stay human.

In this episode Ryan and I discuss his interest in cars and innovation, and how he brought concepts from IoT and automotive industries together to create SHARE. We talk about how SHARE works and the gap they are fulfilling that is different from both public transit and from what ride-sharing companies were providing. Ryan tells us what a Smart Community means to him, and how we can integrate mobility into our communities. We discuss some of the projects Ryan has been working on, the different ways organisations are working together in Columbus to solve mobility problems, and the benefits of working in the Smart Columbus ecosystem. We finish our chat talking about the emerging trends of the opportunity for improvement when it comes to insurance in the mobility space, as well as the ever-important topic of data being used for public good. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Ryan @rynmcmns on Twitter or via RidewithShare.com

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode I have a fantastic conversation with Renee Autumn Ray. Renee is an urban planner who has worked in transportation planning, policy, operations, and data evaluation. She is currently the Strategy and Innovation Leader at Conduent Transportation, a technology company which includes payments and data analytics for transit, curb-side management, road user charging, and public safety. She also serves on the Transportation Research Board committees for Intelligent Transportation Systems and Innovative Public Transport Services and Technologies, and the Board of Directors for Georgia Bikes, so she's another great guest in the #mobilitymarch series. Renee and I discuss the early career experiences that sparked her interest in Smart Community concepts and the power of bringing data, including qualitative data, into decision making. Renee tells us about some of the projects she's been working on, including curating panels for conferences with a focus on mobility and accessibility. We also talk about why we should be looking at the way parallel industries have solved similar problems when we're looking at problems we're facing in our own industries. Renee also shares with us the emerging opportunities for accessibility in the micro-mobility space, and the different ways people are thinking about reducing accessibility barriers to travel. We then have a great chat about how important accessible and flexible workplaces are for everyone, and especially those with disabilities, which is timely considering the way Covid-19 is forcing a lot more people into remote work. We finish our chat with Renee sharing a couple of her favourite resources for learning more about these concepts. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Renee on LinkedIn or Twitter @reneeautumnray

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.

In this episode I have a fascinating conversation with Chad Ramage, Founder of Accessibility in the City, an online mapping solution that helps support those with accessibility issues with navigation. As someone in a wheelchair himself who is actively working on an innovative solution to accessibility problems, I knew Chad was going to be an excellent guest for our #mobilitymarch series. In this episode Chad tells us about his background in information technology and his passion for accessibility, including his experiences being in a wheelchair that really sparked his interest in the Smart Community and Accessibility space. Chad and I discuss what a Smart Community is and why the concepts of accessibility and inclusion so important, plus the need for genuine consultation on accessibility solutions with the people who have accessibility problems. We talk about how data can help Chad with planning accessible journeys, and all about his platform to help others do just that. Chat explains Accessibility in the City, including how it works and who is using it the most so far. We discuss why accessibility needs to be a key area for local government, and how increasing accessibility also means increasing social inclusion and quality of life. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trend of data security and privacy for everybody, but especially how that impacts people with disabilities and other vulnerable community members, plus the biggest accessibility issues Chad has that people don't talk about enough. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community

Connect with Chad via LinkedIn, on Facebook or via the website

Connect with me via email: [email protected]

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.