Rianne C. ten Veen
Ms Rianne C. ten Veen LLM MA MSc PGDip is a humanitarian aidworker with research & environment specialisms; she tutored at the OU from '09-'18. Full profile: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/riannetv
Location Planet Earth
Activity
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Great exchange here! Hope you found it insightful.
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Gwen Kinloch
Re: "As I worked on my idea for a smart cities project I quickly came to realise that it would not be easy or straightforward." - that in itself is insight! Perhaps better appreciation as to why things are the way they are and not all change is straightforward, even if it seems 'logical' from one stakeholders' view?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Barrie Murray
would all citizens have equal say? Would the voice of the most vulnerable be heard, esp. where you mention "citizens will have differing views on priorities and needs" and some might be contradictory?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Johan Muller
Re Johan "So to be honest, anything I respond would be purely my opinion." - an aim of this course is to trigger thinking and reflection; indeed it would be impossible to come to detailed final analyses ...
Re: "Do developing countries have the budget, patience and right leadership for this?" - possibly not; what could be a work around? Whose responsibility... -
What made you decide to add ones, and those ones in particular?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Johan Muller
Re: "what if the city's accounting / books are not in a good state?" - what would your answer/ analysis be depending on the answer being yes, or no?
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Who do you think should be included in developing the plan? And who should be accountable for ensuring all relevant stakeholders are also practically enabled to provide input?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to ronald fasht
Ronald, "Is any thought being given as to how to employ humans when robots and IT take over" - what would your thoughts be?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to ronald fasht
Ric, what do you think as regards whether robots should pay income tax? Also, re Uber, could a corporate culture be deemed troubled and not still have customers who have good personal experiences?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Johan Muller
I'm not suggesting it is a tick box in this case - just that there are evidenced cases where input is asked, not to genuinely affect policy but to deflect potentially anticipated criticism of lack of input. That input is more 'for decoration'. As mentioned I'm not making assessment on any particular case, just to encourage reflection that perhaps not in all...
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Barrie Murray
and so if you had to pick 1 element to apply in your own city, what might it be?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Johan Muller
Constructive point - is a blog sometimes perhaps used as a 'tick box' exercise, without true input? Or what if the public propose contradictory priorities?
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Interesting idea - what would be your first step to go about this?
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Great lateral thinking (from litter to elderly); is the use of volunteers to get Council costs down (which could be good/ bad subject to one's wallet/ dependence on Council services!)?
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Such as which? Would you have any in mind in particular to focus on as a priority?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Chloe Clay
What might be the reason it isn't (yet)? Winners and losers of doing such?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Leah MacVie
Was there anything in particular that stood out for you? Any concern about potential abuse of any of the data?
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Great idea - and how to ensure that criminals aren't privy to such info in order to adapt their strategies?
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Rianne C. ten Veen made a comment
What do *you* think: is digital social innovation applicable to tackling your city problem? Why (not) so?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Johan Muller
Have you found the catch yet? Or perhaps your course colleagues can share their thoughts?
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Rianne C. ten Veen made a comment
What do *you* think: is digital social innovation applicable to tackling your city problem? Why (not) so?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Ian Shaw
Food for thought: how "not many" is now almost a handful, when even not long ago 'zero' might be a default answer?!
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to ARIJIT SAHA
Who might be winner vs loser from such acceptance approach?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Fivi Bountouva
Interesting thought - how would such come about: would councils volunteer such, or would voters need to prioritise it w elected officials? Who/ how to educate voters on what (could) happen to your data?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Brian Stewart
are there limits with whom we'd like to share (friends OK, burglars not so OK [they may note when your heating is off, so you unlikely to be home?])? How can we balance such protection vs convenience?
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Rianne C. ten Veen made a comment
(deleted as duplicate)
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Mike Chapman
You mention 'not many' - interesting how perhaps earlier generations would consider this perhaps 'many', as their baseline was 'none' ... what do you think? does our baseline of what's 'many'/ how connected we are or feel evolves?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Kevin Trosine
Might it have been the same price to encourage a 'new' choice (customer feeling they get more 'bang for their buck') and the energy company gets more in return in terms of useful data ...? Is that made clear to customers as to what's connected and who's connected (access to data)?
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Interesting about the non-existing railway station - was there ever one? is one planned? Where did Thingful get its info from? Thus a general reminder about always being critical (in academic sense, not in terms of being negative per se) about what one reads
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Saji George
What would you think if others also connected to this data - e.g. to send you targeted ads based on perceived fitness? To what extent do you assume your data are yours (only)?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Mark Bowen
Or perhaps very significant cities are 'smarter'? For which stakeholder might it be to take the lead to rebalance this for people not living in large cities? Or could less innovative be 'better'? Why so? Interesting food for thought: https://www.fastcompany.com/40488936/its-not-a-coincidence-that-innovative-cities-become-very-unequal
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Rianne C. ten Veen made a comment
Where would you balance convenience (get recommendations based on where you are, what you like, your life situation) and giving up privacy (giving access to companies to information to give you that convenience)? Can/ should it be individuals vs governments or others to make such decisions?
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Interesting comment - you might think of this in terms of holistic/ systems implications: no park benches, elderly don't go for park walks, elderly get less exercise, more illnesses from leading sedentary lives, more pressure on health services, on families ....
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Interesting points - what made you focus on mass transit (over other issues)?
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Interesting thoughts - what assumptions might this make about people's access to (lots of) internet, modern phone? What about non-residents, such as commuters/ visitors to the city?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Jay S
well, your city/ any city is a 'living lab' (you can't really put any city in a laboratory and manipulate what happens and then 'repeat the experiment') ... the course case studies are examples of how they went about going smart. Does that help?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to J.M. Magro
yes of course - just click on the link https://padlet.com/OUSmartCities/ and add it!
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thanks for sharing your experience - are there any 'lessons learned' you suggest your colleagues bear in mind when looking at solutions for their city's/ country's situation?
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thanks for sharing this link - is there any aspect in particular that caught your eye, you think would be most useful for your peers to focus on?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to K T
thanks for sharing that link - do share your experience/ feedback once you've had a chance to try it!
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Jay S
well, your city/ any city is a 'living lab' (you can't really put any city in a laboratory and manipulate what happens and then 'repeat the experiment') ... the course case studies are examples of how they went about going smart. Does that help?
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Rianne C. ten Veen made a comment
Now you're taking the lessons so far and use them to look at your own city ... imagine you were hired as a consultant by your city: what problem would you focus on and why so? It may be the worst problem, or a 'quick win' to set off other changes, or something you think is a priority but not getting enough attention for any reason (why not?). Looking forward...
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Have you looked at your own city on Google maps? Anything that stands out?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Aidan Hague
Well done for sharing your extended views - what key lessons would you suggest other cities can take away from the course case studies? Or focusing on where you live, what element of any of the case studies would be most like to apply in your city? Why so?
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Centralised planning could perhaps also be put to positive use in terms of ensuring decisions get implemented efficiently and effectively? What might be the link between centralised planning and system/ design thinking?
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You pose a relevant question ("are these really the best sustainable options or are we just going for a short term fix to a long term problem?") - how would you ensure support for any more sustainable solutions, not just from a tech perspective, but also in terms of making it viable (i.e. including affordable)?
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as a citizen/ resident of a city - where/ who would you go about finding out about data economy/ production in your city?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
How would you get sufficient people to "support the cause"?
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Re: "For me smart city must go hand in hand with sustainability, and environmental concerns." - how would you convince any stakeholders who might not be as convinced as you about this reason for going smart?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Clara Giraud
Interesting reflection on looking at matters from the citizens' point of view, that is more the social than perhaps the tech side. As regards your question at the end - what would you say if any of your peers on this course had posed the question?
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What in your view might make matters "inevitable"? In whose benefit is what technology perhaps (e.g. is Facebook really 'free')? Food for thought ...
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to James Jones
Would you have a preference for any of the cities in terms of approach to 'going smart'? And with a view to the rest of the course - which model might be most relevant for your city?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Lee Hyde
Interesting approach to call data 'the new oil' - interested to read what your colleagues on the course think of this. And as to your question on "smart citizens" - if a course colleague had asked that question, what would you answer, & why so?
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what do you see as options to overcome these roadblocks? What might need to change to improve matters?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Geraldine C
Good to read from someone living in a course case study city ... helpful to complement the course material. Hope others also feel willing/ able to share experiences (good or bad) from their cities to facilitate cross learning.
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Sarah Vaughan
Good questions - if any of your peers had asked the question, what might be your answer? Would some answer be more suitable than others (eg public vs private investment)? Why so?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Johan Muller
Excellent example of reflective learning ... keep up the good work!
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Diego Rueda
What makes you suggest that the private sector, startup sin particular might not influence at all?
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Is it stats that help reassure people? What about ownership of data and suitable community engagement so cities are clear as to purpose of data?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Nick S
When cities start at different points, does that limit the types of cities they can learn from, or is there always something to learn (be it tech side, or community engagement, etc)?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Kevin Trosine
Crucial point - how often is it feasible to start from scratch? For whom would it be convenient to start from scratch? Would it support uptake if not everything changed at the same time for people? What do you/ your course peers think?
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Rianne C. ten Veen made a comment
Great to see comments already from those quick off the starting block. For those coming after, when commenting, do also take time to read your peers' comments as they add interesting ideas and may further stretch your thinking. I hope you all enjoy the course!
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thank you for sharing your experience from your city - what would you say might be challenges and opportunities of looking at smart city development as an individual rather than collective matter?
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Great to read you seem to be learning new things from this course and related events. How/ who could perhaps affect the success or otherwise of "Go-or-No-Go factors"?
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glad to read you've find the course beneficial in learning new things. Re resources - perhaps it's also a question of being smart about those? Do feel free to keep reflecting/ learning beyond the course!
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that's a challenge: "how can poor socities/.cities do /it ?" - how would you solve this challenge, e.g. get the initial investment?
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what would be *your* answer to this question?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Andrey P
How did you find the exercise of coming up with these steps? What might be stopping cities from adopting your 5 steps and how could those challenges be overcome?
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Re: "For me, the most difficult part was imagining the project from the wider view of city living." - may that give a clue as to perhaps why other stakeholders are finding it challenging too? Education dept focused on education, transport dept focused on the roads etc, when perhaps the essence of smart would be for all to not just 'manage' current situations/...
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
Interesting of thinking of SMART and smart! Yes, solving all matters cities have to tackle in one short course will not be possible. Hopefully you are finding it useful to reflect on matters. You can always come back to other elements later, so for this course 'zoom in' on issue X, then at a later date do something similar with issue Y or Z and so over time...
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Simone Rossi
Re: "There are no citizens but subjects." - is that only in Dubai? Isn't it eg similar to the UK? And practically, how might such designation affect options for a city to become smart?
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Involvement, great point - how would you practically see such happen? Is it that people need to *learn* how to participate, (and/)or be more holistically *enabled* to participate, e.g. some people may not be able to afford to take a day off to attend a city consultation, or afford the travel costs to go to the other side of the city for an event ... what do...
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relevant points - not 'copy-paste' one solution (no matter how successful in setting A) onto setting B, but reflecting on what works (or doesn't!) and what may be reuseable for a specific setting one is looking at on this occasion (and then later, that occasion)
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Great to read you are finding this course useful! Maybe when you teach the ideas locally in high schools, you can also get the students to look at how to make sure the ideas are implemented (ideas are great, but sometimes have a hard time being realised, e.g. due to funding, political interests etc). Maybe taking some years' budget allocation for issue X, can...
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Does that mean you don't think other cities can take away any lessons from Amsterdam for their cities (be it as City Council, city resident, city business group etc)? Why (not)?
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What in your view do you think other cities could take from the example of Amsterdam? What might be obstacles/ challenges that other cities might face in copying the case of Amsterdam? Could such challenges be overcome?
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Thanks for sharing and perhaps being clairvoyant ;-) what in particular caught your eye in the article? Anything in particular you think your course colleagues should consider taking away from reading it?
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Relevant points - maybe because cities *becoming* metro cities is what's happening more?
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Great point about citizen consultation: why might it have been left out? Elected politicians have a voter mandate to get on with things (and voters have busy lives)? Or to enable versions of smart city that might be smarter for some groups over others?
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Excellent questions ... if any of your colleagues on the course had asked them, what would your answer be? And if any stakeholder (still) proposed plans, what thoughts would you have on an investor's motivation? Short-term return on investment, or philanthropy, or sensible long-term investment (in financial and/ or other terms)?
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Thank you for sharing your personal experience with the case study
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What makes you suggest that moving to be a smart city necessarily means destroying the city? Is smart cities so much about large physical infrastructure? Or wouldn't smart also mean ensuring keeping the good things of the old/ current city? Answers to this could probably significantly affect people's interest in their city going smart (eg people from historic...
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Great question about the population - would it be something done *to* them, or *with* them? It could offer lots of jobs ... what would you answer if it was a colleague on this course who had asked the question?
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This is perhaps where currently less developed countries/ cities have an advantage, by 'leapfrogging' technology? Such as many African countries skipping landline telephones and going straight to mobile phones...
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Where you (and no doubt many others) see this as important, what do you think are the key obstacles to making this happen? Could e.g. existing developed cities fear 'competition'? Food for thought!
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Rianne C. ten Veen made a comment
Could then smart cities link up to be a smart country? Note this live overview of public transport in the Netherlands: www.ovradar.nl and www.spoorkaart.mwnn.nl
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If smart city approach might be so obvious, what in your view is the main element/ or reasons for more cities not having yet adopted such approach? Is it politics/ money/ education/ ...? And how could such be overcome?
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where do you think the upfront investment (before the savings) of such approach could come from? Is that perhaps the main obstacle for smart city roll out?
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Do you think that using a smart city approach this could be a holistic way of tackling people's economic situation, incl. education?
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Good question - what would you answer if any of your course peers asked you this question? Food for thought! (and no doubt there's no easy answer or the government would have
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Why so? Could this selection not be an option to 'jump start' development?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Andrey P
Interesting - what about any protection from potential burglars having access to this (incl. eg by hacking?) and knowing when pet owners are out (with or without pet)?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Mark Rosser
What about any connections beyond the house?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Mark Templeton
Re: "data can be shared with anyone if I choose" - and what about anyone you don't choose (such as any government agency or the company offering the apps)? Do you feel sufficiently informed on who has access to your data and under what circumstances?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Walter Merege
good to read you find the course exposure beneficial and thought provoking - do share your further thoughts as you move along the weeks...
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Simone Rossi
Could it not be seen as an equitable exchange? They take your data/ some of your privacy, but in return you get (generally) free access to apps which could bring value to your life?
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When such apps are free, do you ever wonder who pays (assuming there's no such thing as a 'free lunch') and what they may want in return, e.g. what they may use your data for? Would you feel sufficiently informed on such? And would you feel this is an equitable exchange (your access to the apps for their use of your data)? Writing these points of reflection...
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Charles Landini
Can we in smart city settings (or more generally) be sure that information exchanged in such special groups is only read by those we're aware of, are official member of the group?
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Rianne C. ten Veen replied to Luiz Costa
Your colleagues on this course looking at traffic congestion and/ or air pollution may want to reflect on recycling your city's bicycle scheme idea?!
