As we approach 2015, a new global partnership is being forged to carry on the work of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and shape a new sustainable development agenda involving all sectors of society. Cities are already home to more than half of the world’s population and, according to United Nations forecasts, by 2050 two-thirds of us will be city-dwellers.
At the same time, cities are experiencing rapid technological development, driven by cloud based services and more powerful mobile devices, sensors, big data and analytics. In this emerging Networked Society, Information and Communication Technology(ICT) will be critical to the basic functioning of our cities and to their success in meeting current and emerging challenges and in bringing about transformative solutions for sustainable development. A key challenge for cities is to utilize the full potential of citizens while maintaining sustainable development from the economic, social and environmental perspectives. To compete in a global market, cities must find new ways to increase efficiency, productivity and innovation. From a social perspective, cities will need to meet rising expectations for access to, and the quality of, government, healthcare, education and other public services. They will also need to address the complexities of enhancing prosperity while effectively balancing and improving environmental performance and resilience to climate change. There is strong evidence from studies, case reports and micro- and macro-analysis of the ability of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to help cities meet these challenges. ICT has been shown to improve efficiency in the delivery of services and productivity, as well as encourage new collaboration and innovation that fuel socio-economic development.
ICT can increase the quality and accessibility of the city administration as well as healthcare, education and other systems. ICT can also reduce the environmental impact of development by optimizing or replacing travel and transportation, increasing incentives for using public transport and car-pooling, increasing public awareness and making buildings and utility grids more energy-efficient. The workshop explored concrete innovations of how ICTs can function as drivers of sustainable urban prosperity. The second outcome of the workshop was to assist decision makers to design clear policies and implement tools for using ICT to supporting the sustainable development of cities.
The workshop was facilitated by Matilda Gustafsson, Sustainable Director at Ericsson
Innovation Pioneers presentation Ericsson
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