Global Resources and Promising Practices for Building and Refining Accessible and Inclusive Smart Cities from Darren Bates LLC.
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The winner of the Canadian Smart Cities Challenge will likely be the city that best aligns technology, efficiency, equity, and inclusion while not losing sight of residents. The long-awaited Canadian Smart Cities Challenge is in full swing. Infrastructure Canada has made millions of dollars available to cities that create the best pitch to improve the lives of their residents through…
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The goal of Smart City engagement is to meaningfully connect all citizens, the local developer community, artists and cultural institutions, entrepreneurs, start-ups, universities, and companies to improve the lives and the quality of life of all Smart City citizens. Darren Bates LLC In June 2015, the ministry of urban development came out with guidelines for a smart city. These guidelines…
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At the Council, we often look at smart street lights as a great first smart cities project. From energy efficiency to manageability, they deliver visible, quick-wins. And they’re also a platform for growth, a vehicle for collecting and communicating data. The possibilities of what you can do with that platform are limitless, as you’ll read below. Several of our…
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Bitcoin may be touted as a global and accessible currency, but some of its users are being badly underserved. Michael Staffen is a bitcoin user who is blind. He posted about his frustration with bitcoin wallets, which currently don’t offer any accessibility options to visually impaired people, on reddit: “I am a fully blind person who uses a screen-reader and…
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With the growth of smart cities, how do we build smart citizens to match? Date Published: 1st March, 2018 When you work in a certain sector, there’s a tendency to assume everyone thinks like you; has the same knowledge. If you work in social media, you might presume everyone’s on Twitter, if you’re a footballer, you might expect everyone to…
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Perhaps you’ve never considered making your mobile website accessible. Here’s a brief intro into what mobile accessibility means—and why it’s critical that mobile website owners and developers consider accessibility for people with disabilities from the get go. The Rise of Mobile-Friendly Websites Internet users are on their mobile devices more than their desktops, and spending on mobile marketing is…
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It is difficult to summarise a three days conference that combined so many different contributions, views and discussions, but we would love to share some key impressions.In the High Tech Solutions session for example, Rodrigo Huebner Mendes who is paralysed from the neck down, shared his experience of driving a Formula 1 car with his mind. Dr. Christopher Lee, expert…
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Imagine this scene, 20 years from now: You wake up, open your window, and look out over your city. I can guess that it’s a fantastic place. Note that I said “fantastic,” not “smart.” From my own future-vision window of 2038, I see Rome. Its bi-millennial history is reflected in every stone. But this future Rome is also a city that…
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Accessibility is key when it comes to urban city planning. It’s only natural that combining physical and information infrastructure is at the heart of improving accessibility. Technology can help cities improve and become what are nowadays called smart cities. more The two factors that comprise accessibility are distance and mobility – people want to go to places, and they want them…
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For many persons with disabilities to make a choice, on for example where to shop, where to eat, where to hold a meeting, which vehicle to use, which airline to use, which product to buy and numerous other transactional scenarios, it boils down to pertinent issues of how such businesses or companies respect and support the rights of persons with disabilities. Successful…
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When Maayan Ziv and her classmates wrapped up the first week of graduate school classes in Toronto, they wanted to celebrate. One of Ziv’s classmates suggested they all go to a bar in the area. Most of the group didn’t think twice. But because Ziv is in a wheelchair, she always needs to know if the place she’s going is…
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From pollution levels and the number of traffic accidents to safer public spaces and more efficient heating in buildings—to what extent can the smartness of a city be quantified? And is it possible to measure the quality of life for an urban area through numerical parameters? /4988204/Phys_Story_InText_Box It’s all about collecting data that is reliable and making sense of the…
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Innovation is one of the core drivers for advancement in accessibility for people with disabilities. The Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility (Chairman’s AAA) is an FCC program recognizing products, services, standards and other innovative developments that improve the experience of people with disabilities in telecommunications and technology. The Chairman’s AAA celebrates outstanding private and public sector ventures as part…
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Earlier this spring, we looked at the role of the arts in Smart Cities. Our in depth investigation into how the arts are essential to creating and sustaining the cities of tomorrow centers on issues of modern city livability, urban branding and skilled workforce development. We also examine the role of individual arts organizations in urban education and look at…
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This paper is part of a series published by Data-Smart City Solutions, a project of the Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School. The series explores data-related facets of civic engagement in today’s cities. Introduction Working toward inclusive governance takes a multi-stakeholder model. Government cannot – and should not – do it alone. It is not as simple as providing the…
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Cities are complex, networked and continuously changing social ecosystems, shaped and transformed through the interaction of different interests and ambitions. Ensuring employment, sustainable development, inclusion and quality of life are important concerns. Infrastructures of cities, addressing these concerns, comprise a diversity of services such as healthcare, energy, education, environmental management, transportation and mobility, public safety. Increasingly these services are enabled…
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The accessibility of air travel for people with physical disabilities has been slowly improving since 1986, when the Air Carrier Access Act was signed into law and eventually led to the implementation of regulations designed to ensure equal access in air travel. Over the past few years, airlines and airports have shown improved general awareness of the so-called “hidden” disabilities,…
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Seniors, strollers, suitcases — it’s not just disabled people who use accessible infrastructure. Policy-makers need to reframe and broaden the conversation. It’s been a long time coming, but the federal government is expected to unveil national accessibility laws this spring. Similar legislation in other jurisdictions, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, was passed back in 1990. The most visible…
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Can technology help? Can machines or apps make life easier for a person with a disability? And are these industries doing enough to make their products – and the world – accessible to all? Of course and here’s how Anyone who uses the London Underground will recognise the monotonous tone of the robotic voice that tells us all to “mind…
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(Getty Images) Washington, D.C. local government has formed a new think tank to prepare for the rise of autonomous vehicles. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that the city organized the “Autonomous Vehicle Working Group” to to plan for the emerging technology. The group is composed of city staff with experience in transportation, the environment, public safety and disability rights and has the…
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