Building A World-class City ...

I deeply love my adopted city, and it has helped support both my work and family life. I admire that it is full of smart people with a passion, and Richard Demarco CBE is one of my heroes, especially in his continued drive to put Edinburgh on a world-stage. Over the years I have watched him selflessly promote the city, and continually challenge our thinking of the world around us. I love how he finds beauty in places that you would just take for granted. For me, as we grow up, we lose that child-like ability to wonder at this world, and it is people like Richard who re-kindle our love of the world around us.

Sharing a stage with Richard

So, on 30 April 2018, I have the opportunity to share a stage with Richard, and where we lay out our vision on how we can build a city which leads the world, and which puts its citizens at its heart:

Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful and cultured cities in the world, and has one of the most educated and enterprising workforces of any city. It has a fairly unique ecosystem which supports innovation and collaboration.

I will outline the strengths of the city and the opportunities that exist within Computer Science, especially around areas such as Blockchain, AI and Fintech applications. But I will also outline the risks that the city faces, and the challenges that hold it back from being truly defined as a smart city. For this I will propose new ways of engaging with citizens and businesses, and to use data to drive innovation.

The architectures of the New Town in Edinburgh built an amazing landscape for the future. This time the city has the chance to build new foundations, and this time they will be build on software. Along the way I will show how Art and Computer Science can fuse together in these new worlds.

Not pulling punches

But I'm not going to pull any punches ... I am an academic and I am a citizen of Edinburgh ... and I want the city to have a strong economic base for our kids to thrive. I want us to improve the lives of those who live in the city, and provide opportunities for all.

Edinburgh is an educated, cultured and enterprising city, but it needs to build new foundations in the way that it built the New Town. Only then will it become a city ready for the data age. For me, it is a long way from having much in terms of digital engagement, and a long way from being a "smart city". If we don't radically change the way we engage with citizens in a meaningful way, and use data drive the city, we will always be stuck in the 20th Century. While our kids bring home bits of paper for their parents to complete, while the open data site has mainly PDF documents, and while I still get "Dear Occupier" letters, the city will be a million miles behind where they need to be.

But, I want all our cities to be smarter and build new economies, and Edinburgh is just the perfect example of us building something that might just work. Our governments and public services, though, need to make some serious changes, and radically change their thinking, and drive forward with truly disruptive innovation.

If you want to be part of the debate in building a new city, register here.