Technical change, especially in the form of digitalisation, is transforming our economy and society. Cities are in the forefront of this transformation. One of the biggest policy challenges today, involving governments at all levels, business and the citizenry at large, consists of reworking the way our cities are planned, built and managed.

The term smart city encapsulates the idea that cities (of all sizes) ought to effectively integrate physical, technological and human systems in the built environment in a sustainable way, to the benefit of its citizens. This workshop will explore different approaches that may help shape the smart city policy space.

Program

10.00am - 10.15am

Morning Tea & Networking

10.15am - 10.35am

Introduction and Setting the Scene
Ricardo Martello, City Future Manager, Logan City Council

10.35am - 10.55am

Perspectives from Urban Planning 
Dr Dorina Pojani, Senior Lecturer Urban Planning, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

This presentation will examine the smart city concept from an urban planning perspective. The rhetoric surrounding smart cities falls broadly into two categories: marketing material from large IT companies and academic literature relating to technological interventions in the urban environment. Notably, the citizen’s vision and sense of scale is largely absent from the smart city discourse so far.

10.55am - 11.15am

Perspectives from Economics
Professor Flavio Menezes, School of Economics

This presentation will assess the recent experience of the city of Belo Horizonte (Brazil) in the joint procurement of a smart public lighting and smart city network solutions. The assessment will use insights from market design principles to highlight the risk that a sub-optimal procurement process may lead to monopoly outcomes that do not maximise societal net benefits from a smart city network.

11.15am - 11.45am

Q&A Session

11.45am -12.00pm

Workshop Close & Networking

Speaker Bios

Ricardo Martello manages Logan City Council’s new City Futures team, responsible for driving the innovation and city transformation agenda. This includes the establishment of collaborative partnerships and the implementation of Smart City technologies. He has a background in sustainability and innovation in the public and private sector, both in Australia and overseas. He has worked across a range of functions encompassing urban planning and development, resource and energy efficiency, climate change adaptation, implementation of collaborative networks, supply chain innovation, and environmental and public health. He holds a degree in Economics from Duke University (USA), a Masters of Natural Resource Economics from The University of Queensland, a Postgraduate Diploma in Urban Development and Sustainability from Bond University and a Certificate in New Ventures Leadership: Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT – USA). 

Dr Dorina Pojani is Senior Lecturer in urban planning at the University of Queensland. joined the program in 2015. Originally from Albania, she has lived, worked and studied internationally, prior to moving to Australia. Her research interests encompass urban transport, urban design, and housing. She has published books and numerous articles on urban planning. Her latest book is The Urban Transport Crisis in Emerging Economies (Springer, 2017).

Flavio Menezes is a Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland. He joined the University of Queensland in June 2006 after more than a decade at the Australian National University, where amongst other responsibilities he was the Foundation Director of the Australian Centre of Regulatory Economics. Flavio was also a part-time Vice President with the Regulatory Economics and Public Policy Practice at CRA International in Canberra until May 2006 and a Senior Consultant until May 2007. He is the current Deputy Chair of the Queensland Competition Authority. Professor Menezes has published over 70 journal articles on the economics of auctions, competition and regulatory economics, industrial organization, and market design. He is regarded as one of Australia's leading auction expert and author of a well-known text on auction theory published by Oxford University Press. Flavio Menezes has presented seminars and delivered lectures in the America, Europe and in the Asia Pacific Region. He has lectured to both academic audiences and practitioners. His academic career has taken him to world-renowned institutions as a visitor. He is the President of the Economic Society of Australia (Queensland), co-editor of the Economic Record, and a member of editorial boards and associate editor of a number of international journals.

FREE ENTRY
Seating is limited

Venue

Sir Llew Edwards Building (14)
Room: 
Terrace Room (level 6)