Our concluding public lecture on the 27th September was well attended with over 30 people present including several from the City of Johannesburg.
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| Attendees at the public lecture listen intently to Prof Cohen |
Professor Jason Cohen introduced the project and Professor Judy Backhouse set the scene by discussing the various ways in which Smart Cities are defined and how our project had adopted an inclusive definition.
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| Prof Backhouse defines a Smart City |
There were two strong themes that emerged from the project. The first was the ways in which Smart Cities contribute to equality. Prof Cohen shared work which showed that connected people enjoy far better quality of life than those that are not connected. The second theme was the need for trust between government and citizens which emerged from many of our sub-projects. Mr Jean-Marie Bancilhon presented some of these results.
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| Mr Bancilhon discussing the importance of trust |
As an example of the kind of smart application that would lead to smarter cities, Mr Obakeng Matlhoko showcased the AftaRobot transport app intended to improve the experience of mini-bus taxi commuters and improve the management of taxi fleets.
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| Mr Matlhoko presents AftaRobot |
Thanks to all who attended as well as to all who supported our research over the past four years.
The presentations can be downloaded here:
Smart People, Smart Cities
AftaRobot
The event was covered by Wits Vuvuzela.
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