This session will explore the opportunities that digital transformation provides for cities & communities to answer to challenges such as climate change, economic recession and social divides – and now also the COVID-19 pandemic. We will dive into examples from cities, who are already on the path towards a climate-neutral and fair future and we’ll discuss the role that technology plays in achieving it. The session will also look closely at the possibilities offered by the EU to match economic recovery post-COVID with the need to become climate-neutral and the need for international cooperation among local public administrations.
Moderator: Lea Hemetsberger, Open & Agile Smart Cities
Lea is working at OASC as Communications & Project Manager since 2017. She is responsible for communications and processes, the organisation of the annual Connected Smart Cities & Communities Conference as well as workshops and seminars at major international smart city events. She also is also responsible for community management.
Lea is a trained journalist with in-depth knowledge of ICT, sustainable mobility and smart cities and has worked as a communicator in the car industry and for Brussels-based not-for-profit organisations.
Martin Brynskov is Chair of the global Open & Agile Smart Cities initiative (OASC), which encompasses more than 100 cities from 24 countries. OASC is a non-profit association based in Brussels, Belgium, and it aims to develop so-called Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs) for cities and communities. Dr Brynskov is vice-chair of the UN ITU-T Focus Group on Data Processing and Management to support IoT and Smart Cities & Communities (FG-DPM) and chair of the Working Group on Use Cases, Requirements and Applications/Services, and Chair of the Danish Standards Committee on Smart Cities and Communities (ISO TC 268 mirror committee). Dr Brynskov is associate professor, PhD, in Interaction Technologies at Aarhus University in Denmark, director of AU Smart Cities (AUSC) and the Centre for Digital Transformation of Cities and Communities (DITCOM), founder and co-director of the Digital Living Research Commons (DLRC), director of the Digital Design Lab, and fellow at the Center for Advanced Visualization and Interaction (CAVI). Dr Brynskov is coordinator of the European IoT Large Scale Pilot on Smart Cities “SynchroniCity”, and the Coordination and Support Action, Next Generation Internet of Things (NGIoT). He is a global expert, speaker and advisor on IoT and smart cities with a human-centric focus.
Rafael joined ICLEI in April 2019 as a Sustainable Economy and Procurement Officer. He is mainly working on projects related to Innovation Procurement (European Innovation Council and Big Buyers Initiative). Prior to joining ICLEI, Rafael has gained experience working with EIB in Luxemburg (Division New Products and Special Transactions – Climate Change and Environment) on fund of funds investments in climate friendly technology and infrastructure. He has also worked as a project manager at the German Energy Solutions Initiative (BMWi) in Berlin. Rafael holds a M.A. in International Public Management and a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Sciences Po Paris. Rafael is a native German speaker, speaks fluent English, French and intermediate Spanish.
Dana steers EU policy development on advanced technologies, artificial intelligence, big data and the digital transformation of European enterprises and helps foster Europe’s technological and industrial leadership. She drives policies to encourage sustainable growth and social welfare in the advanced tech era, with particular emphasis on European small and medium-size enterprises adoption of new technologies and skills.
Dana has been working in shaping the EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy, critical AI applications in strategic value chains, industrial strategy, digitising the European Industry and the Digital Cities Challenge. She served as the EU coordinator of the high-level group Strategic Policy Forum on Digital Entrepreneurship and steers the Member States Board on Advanced Technologies to coordinate national policies and forge the implementation of EU strategies.
Dana negotiated EU positions in international dialogues, as EU delegate at the G7 ICT and Industry Ministerial and at the G20 dialogue for Innovative Growth; the EU-US dialogue on eCommerce, the Trans-Atlantic business dialogue (TABD), and the OECD. She is member of the World Economic Forum Digital Leaders Group. In the past, Dana was the co-author of the World Economic Forum Global IT Report. Dana holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Brussels (ULB). She is a Computer Engineer from the University of Patras, Greece. She has also completed an online course in Philosophy at MITx, USA.
Minna Torppa has over 15 years of experience of managing co-development projects with cities, research and education organizations and companies. She works currently as a Programme Director in the Six City Strategy Office, coordinating the implementation of the strategy for sustainable urban development carried out by the six largest cities in Finland: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu. The strategy will be carried out between 2014 and 2020 with the aim of creating new know-how, business and jobs in Finland.
Ms. Torppa holds a masters degree in Economics and Business Administration, majoring in organization and management, and she is also BBA in international business.
Nils Henrik has been working for the city administration in Stavanger since 2007. He is working as a Senior Adviser for the department of innovation and digitalization. He is the local project manager for AI4Cities, a H2020 pre-commercial procurement project currently running as a coordinated effort to reduce CO2 emissions, between the cities of Stavanger, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Tallinn and Copenhagen, a long with the Paris-region and ICLEI. Nils Henrik is also working on the concept called Quick-test, where the municipality is challenging suppliers to suggest novel solutions for issues to be solved. Selected solutions are tested in parallel in a city setting. Nils Henrik has worked for several years in the procurement department. He holds an MSc in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics.