The Data Smart City: Driving Innovation with Technology

The complexity of governing cities continues to escalate as more of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050. The problems of delivering basic services, while addressing climate and equity compound the challenge. Changing physical and social conditions will require new approaches in how one delivers and regulates public goods and services as well as in the process of mobilizing support for new approaches. Technology provides cross sector officials with new assets, but those assets come wrapped in a set of challenges including public private partnerships, equity, privacy, security and the management of systems.This course seeks to equip students who wish to use digital tools to innovate with the knowledge and skills necessary to imagine and implement innovative solutions to public problems. The class will focus on driving change through the application of new technologies including data analytics, social media and the internet of things. We will look at how cities can be more responsive and innovative jurisdictions that unleash their potential for public value creation?The course seeks develop the attitudes and analytic skills of individuals who aspire to make positive change, either as innovators or designers of organizations or activities that support innovators of public value.