civic data and civic faith - dtw.tmforum.org · 8/7/2015  · stephen walter program director...

Civic Data and Civic Faith

Stephen WalterProgram Director

Mayor’s Office of New Urban MechanicsCity of Boston

@newurbanmechs

Efficiency and Meaningful Inefficiencies

in the Smart City

The New Urban Mechanics

BOSTON’S CIVIC R&D TEAMA City agency formed in 2010 and one of the first municipal innovation offices in the world, the Office of New Urban Mechanics pilots experiments to improve the quality of life for Boston’s residents and visitors.

OUR APPROACH

Explore Experiment Evaluate

3 LESSONS

1. Build Things That People Want and Need

2. Encourage and Enable Civic Actions

3. Design Not Just For Efficiency, But ForDemocratic Values

Smart City?

Many projects with the “smart city” branding end up here:

LOST IN TRANSLATION

We’ve noticed that failed projects tend to suffer from:

• A lack of clear civic value or goals• Guiding principles from the private sector• A lack of early public engagement• Poor collaboration• An audience that doesn’t have either the skills or the

enthusiasm for unpacking and using data

DATA

DATA

ALTERNATIVE FACTS

Data can create a foundation upon which to act, but it can’t produce a

will to act.

There is a crisis of faith in our civic institutions, in civic data, in civic

media, and of our ability to get things done with each other.

THE WILL TO BELIEVE

William James:

“If your heart does not want a world of moral reality, your head will assuredly never make you believe in one….

“There are, then, cases where a fact cannot come at all unless a preliminary faith exists in its coming. And

where faith in a fact can help create the fact.”

SOME SMART CITY FOUNDATIONAL VALUES

Data alone is not enough

We need to spark trust and meaningful experiences

We need to cultivate good faith in our ability to get things done and with each other

SOME SMART CITY FOUNDATIONAL VALUES

We Need Civic Faith.

BOSTON’S SMART CITY PROJECTS

Creating Real Civic Value With Technology

monum.github.io/playbook

monum.github.io/playbook

Valuing Experience as Much as Efficiency

Increasing government efficiency is only one piece of the puzzle.

In a democracy, sometimes we need messiness, disruption, and creativity to create equitable change.

How can smart city technology help facilitate these “meaningful inefficiencies” in civic life?

Digital Smart City Projects

CAN TECHNOLOGY BE USED TO BUILD TRUST?

TITLE

Analog Smart City Projects

SIDE GUARDS

BU Today

December 6, 2012

The Boston Globe

August 7, 2015

SIDE GUARDS

Pilot (2013) Current (2015)

TIDRAPHONETidraphone, a tidal vibraphone, invites Bostonians to interact with the water and consider our relationship to it, via a playful musical experience that is dynamically affected by the daily tides.

STAIRS OF FABULOUSNESS

Simple. Colorful. “Rainbow stairs will make City Hall 400% more fabulous.”

New Smart City Partnerships

localsense.org

Local Sense Lab

The objective was to create a public-private partnership that was:

• Decentralized• Distributed• Open• Not based on a financial transaction

LINKS

Smart City RFI and other Smart Streets Initiatives: boston.gov/smart-streets

Smart City Playbook:monum.github.io/playbook

Local Sense Lab:localsense.org

Stephen Walter@newurbanmechs

stephen.walter@boston.gov