SmartCitiesWorld Podcast

In conversation with Emily Yates, CIO, SEPTA

The latest episode of the SmartCitiesWorld podcasts sees host Luke Antoniou joined by Emily Yates, chief innovation officer at SEPTA - the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

We take a route back through Emily's career to this stage, including her time as Smart City Director for the City of Philadelphia, and discuss how the wealth of experience she has accumulated across her career has culminated in her latest role.

On the agenda are the ways in which SEPTA's challenges have become clearer since the pandemic begun, the importance of systems thinking across different city departments and agencies, and the true nature of what it means to be innovative in the provision of public services.

 

* Information accurate at time of recording, 4/8/22

Urban climate action for today and tomorrow

Clare Wildfire and Madeleine Rawlins at Mott MacDonald join the SmartCitiesWorld Podcast for a conversation on all things urban climate action.

If you’re a member of SmartCitiesWorld, you’ll know that one of the topics we cover probably most regularly is climate change, and more specifically climate action – what does action look like for cities, where are they making progress, what still needs to be done, and how can they build resilience into their planning now?

On this episode, SmartCitiesWorld senior editor Luke Antoniou is joined by two special guests from global engineering, management and development consultants, Mott MacDonald: Clare Wildfire, Global Practice Lead for Cities, and Madeleine Rawlins, Global Practice Lead for Climate Change. With their help, this episode delves further into some of those questions above to work out where we are, the good and bad of progress so far, and what lays on the path to a greener urban future.

Listen now for more on progressing the narrative on urban climate action, the potential for a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of building resilience into city strategies across the board from here on out, and methods of funding the urgent climate action cities need.

For more on climate action, become a SmartCitiesWorld member today and browse our dedicated Climate Action content hub.

Clare Wildfire

In her global leadership role at Mott MacDonald, Clare uses systemic engineering at building and city scales to push boundaries and, most importantly, improve people’s lives. She leads regeneration, low carbon and sustainable innovation projects. From her 30 years’ experience in the sector, originally as a building services engineer on low impact buildings, Clare combines her practical understanding of construction and development drivers and processes at macro and micro levels with policy engagement, bringing insight into the technical, political, financial and behavioural aspects of sustainable development and healthy, resilient, low carbon living.

Madeleine Rawlins

Madeleine leads Mott MacDonald’s international climate and environment portfolio as well as working with the Mott MacDonald Executive Board to embed climate change across the business. She brings over 20 years’ international experience in climate change, including managing one of the largest carbon credit portfolios in the world based out of Asia as well as leading international policy programmes on climate change.

Podcast: In conversation with Xavier Brice, CEO, Sustrans

The latest episode of the SmartCitiesWorld Podcast sees editor Luke Antoniou joined by Sustrans CEO Xavier Bryce for a conversation on all things sustainable urban mobility. 

Improving the sustainability of our urban transport networks is a key objective for cities, and while progress has been made in the last five years or so, clear paths forward – especially paths backed by proven business models – aren’t always obvious. 

In this episode of the SmartCitiesWorld Podcast, Sustrans CEO Xavier Brice explains the potential route forward for planning urban transport networks and services, and how our existing approach may need to be turned somewhat on its head as we emerge from the pandemic. 

Xavier explains the need for a better mix of electric vehicle planning and usage, active travel, shared mobility and public transport, as well as the need for more integrated transport and urban planning to make more efficient use of the limited space available to transport and city authorities. 

He also goes into detail about establishing sustainable business models and use cases for greener mobility, as the conversation turns from one aspect of sustainability to another on the financial struggle that transport authorities can so often face. Xavier explains the importance of local transport authorities taking the lead on innovative models and networks for urban mobility, versus a more prescribed central government approach. 

Furthermore, there’s conversation on public uptake and awareness of more sustainable transportation modes and the impact that transport authorities can have on public decision making, plus the role that organisations such as Sustrans can play in ensuring that, above all else, it is simple for people to make the green choice when it comes to mobility. 

Xavier is passionate about improving how we travel for the better. He believes that the way we choose to get around shapes how happy we are as individuals and as a society. 

Mobility-as-a-Service: the sustainable future of mobility?

In the latest episode of the SmartCitiesWorld Podcast, senior editor Luke Antoniou catches up with the Urban Mobility Partnership’s Chris Pritchett to talk MaaS implementation, transport integration and a shift to more sustainable travel. 

 

To begin with, there’s discussion of exactly what MaaS means to Chris and UMP at a time when definitions of the term can be fluid. Here, Chris explains why it’s important to get that definition right to properly help travellers to understand the types of new and shared mobility options that are potentially available to them. 

 

From there, Chris details how public and private partnerships, such as those seen within UMP, are crucial to getting MaaS pilots and schemes off the ground in order to provide genuine mobility alternatives for those in urban areas and beyond. There’s also talk of how to level up the digital side of mobility services to encourage better transport connectivity and interoperability between operators, and the benefits that could bring to passengers. 

Chris also details the work that UMP has planned for 2022 and how authorities can look to take the opportunity to get back on track with their mobility plans as we continue to transition out of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Chris is head of energy and future mobility at Foot Anstey. Recognised as one of the most innovative and creative lawyers in the business, Chris was named in 2019’s The Lawyer Hot 100. His ambition lies in finding new opportunities in emerging technologies – helping to create hybrid energy and data projects that put the customer first. Chris is an extremely innovative, commercial and client-focused lawyer who is always ahead of renewable energy industry developments. Foot Anstey is a member of the Urban Mobility Partnership, a transport coalition founded to ensure that effective policy and innovative technology supports better mobility and helps to tackle major challenges of congestion, air quality and climate change. 

Podcast: The key to enabling city collaboration

The latest SmartCitiesWorld podcast sees senior editor Luke Antoniou joined by Kalyn Sims, CTO of Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure, to discuss the ley to cross-departmental and inter-agency collaboration in today’s smart cities.

 

In this latest episode of the SmartCitiesWorld podcast, sponsored by Hexagon, Kalyn Sims, CTO of Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure gives her take on the importance of providing cities with a holistic view of city operations and how that leads to improved collaboration and efficiency.

To begin with, Kalyn explains the increased importance of intra- and inter-agency collaboration in recent years and how technology has helped to improve how departments and agencies work together across cities. There are also best practice tips and advice on how to establish those partnerships across cities’ operational teams and how to prevent siloes.

Building on that, Kalyn delves into how to break down some of the most common barriers to collaboration between city departments and agencies, explaining the ways that city leaders can foster a team atmosphere, and develop a holistic approach to technology procurement.

There’s also discussion of the role that Hexagon’s Safety & Infrastructure division plays in assisting cities to achieve their collaboration goals through the implementation of Hexagon Connect.

 Kalyn Sims is the chief technology officer of Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure. Her focus is on the growth and development of new product offerings and innovative technology. Sims joined the organisation in 2011 through an acquisition of her company, Denali Solutions, which she founded in 2000. Prior to founding Denali Solutions, Sims worked as a management consultant and software engineer for several corporations, including Booz, Allen & Hamilton, and Thermo Electron. She holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and a master's in business administration.

For more information about Hexagon Connect, visit: https://www.hexagondata.com/en/solutions/hexagon-connect/

For more from SmartCitiesWorld, including the latest news and views, become a member free today at: https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/

 

Podcast: In conversation with Monica Barone, CEO, City of Sydney

The first episode of the SmartCitiesWorld podcast for 2022 take a deep dive into Sydney’s world-leading environmental strategy with city CEO, Monica Barone. 

In this episode of the SmartCitiesWorld podcast, senior editor Luke Antoniou hears from Monica Barone, CEO for the City of Sydney to discover what keeps the city’s environmental strategy so forward thinking, whilst also remaining grounded and achievable. 

Maximising the use of fibre in the ground

In the latest SmartCitiesWorld podcast, news editor Sue Weekes talks to Maria Shiao of Fotech about the opportunities distributed acoustic sensing technology can bring to cities to expand their use of fibre.

Podcast: Enhancing city operations through 5G, AI and data management

In the latest SmartCitiesWorld podcast, sponsored by Cloudera and IBM Storage, senior editor Luke Antoniou hosts Anthony Behan, managing director for communications, media and entertainment at Cloudera, to talk 5G, data, connectivity, and what innovation in this space means for telcos and their customers in cities. 

How remote diagnostics and predictive maintenance can deliver major cost-savings for city fleet managers

In the latest SmartCitiesWorld podcast, Luke Antoniou speaks to Cloudera’s Cindy Maike about these empowering technologies .

 

Fleet management and maintenance represent a major cost center for cities around the world. Remote diagnostics and predictive maintenance solutions, however, can help to deliver major savings as well as provide real-time visibility on fleets – from trucks to buses, and other city-run vehicles. To deliver maximum benefit, the solutions need to be powered by advanced data management and analytics systems. The data management challenge is only getting tougher, especially given the proliferation of the connected vehicles and devices that collect the data. Luke Antoniou, senior editor, SmartCitiesWorld, talks to Cindy Maike, vice president of industry solutions and value management, Cloudera. 

Connected and autonomous vehicles - where the rubber hits the road

CAVs and the data they produce could ultimately become a key part of the wider connected communities. SmartCitiesWorld sits down with Michael Ger, Managing Director, Manufacturing and Automotive at Cloudera, and Douglas O’Flaherty, Global Ecosystem Leader at IBM Storage, to discuss the autonomous vehicle market, its opportunities today and what lies in wait for the decade ahead.