Co-production for innovation: the urban living lab experience

Urban Living Labs (ULLs) are public spaces where local authorities engage citizens to develop innovative urban services. Their strength and popularity stem from a methodology based on open innovation, experimentation, and citizen engagement. Although the ULL methodology is supposed to largely adopt a co-production approach, connections between the two have not yet been thoroughly investigated. The paper seeks to fill this gap by examining through a qualitative analysis three experiences of ULLs made in Amsterdam, Boston and Turin. Specifically, the paper aims to assess whether ULLs can be really conceptualised as a form of co-production and, if so, which elements characterised them as innovative in comparison to \u2018mainstreaming\u2019 co-production; Then it analyses benefits and drawbacks related to their implementation

E-participatory Approaches in Urban Design

The phenomenon of planning involving citizen’s participation in planning literature has been from the second half of the 20th century. Indeed, different methods and techniques have been used in the process. However, participatory practices are time-consuming and negotiations are tiresome. Accordingly, the integration of developing digital technologies into participatory processes has been seen as a potential to reach large audiences and provide time-space independence. Within the scope of this research, a detailed literature review was done regarding e-participation, and ten (10) examples representing the upper levels at the ladder of participation were examined within the context of the project, participation, and socio-technical criteria. SWOT analyzes were structured by grouping similar applications, and current trends for the use of e-participation in urban design have been revealed. The analysis showed that citizens e participation- participation tend to allow citizen design or location-based interaction, playful interfaces and game elements which can be sources for encouragement.

Parking goes mobile: a research proposal

This paper presents a research proposal to study the process to create a mobile application considering important restrictions on the development schedule and on the team size. The objective of the application is to help citizens to find parking spots in urban context. A theoretical framework is presented, based on several dimensions, such as the software development approach, the different mobile application’s types and its implications, the specific design issues for mobile applications, the technological frameworks that could be used, and an analysis of the existent applications that have similar objectives. The research proposal is described: its objectives, the research question, and a discussion on technical options related with the dimensions of the theoretical framework. The following steps of the project are outlined

Smart cities: event everywhere

The research attempts to provide a big picture from the literature through a Systematic Literature Review about the smart city and the existing standards topics for interchanging data through Smart City Apps. Additionally a prototype was created to analyze one of the standards found in the SL

The QuakeAware Business Plan

This business plan details the operating, marketing, financial, competitive, and technological landscapes of QuakeAware. QuakeAware is a website and iPhone / Android mobile phone application that helps citizens prepare for and react to a local earthquake. Presently, QuakeAware faces the challenges of becoming a sustainable enterprise and selecting the optimal strategic direction and operating mode for its future growth. This business plan identifies and assesses the options available to QuakeAware and outlines the recommended next steps. A strategic analysis and a business framework will bolster our plan to source grant funds. This will allow us to hire a full time employee to further QuakeAware‘s goal of providing community earthquake safety in selected earthquake-prone regions around the world. To achieve these goals, QuakeAware will need to register itself as a \u27Not for profit\u27 organization, develop grant funding and earned income streams, maintain a key relationship with a government partner, and transition toward a volunteer-driven organization

The Design and Implementation of Middleware for Application Development within Honeybee Computing Environment

Computing technology is now moving from ubiquitous computing into advanced ubiquitous computing environment. An advanced ubiquitous environment is an extension of ubiquitous environment that improve connectivity between devices. This computing environment has five major characteristics, namely: large number of heterogeneous devices; new communication technology; mobile ad hoc network (MANET); peer-to-peer communication; and Internet of Things. Honeybee computing is a concept based on advanced ubiquitous computing technology to support Smart City Smart Village (SCSV) initiatives, which is a project initiated within Digital Malaysia. This paper describes the design and implementation of a middleware to support application development within Honeybee computing environment

Introduction to the mobile application development with an example of a "PhraseBook app"

The aim of this project is to combine and apply the knowledge and experience obtained along this master degree and try to create a market opportunity by developing mobile applications for iPhone devices. The idea is not to become a full time mobile developer but perhaps a passive player with some income stream. I am well aware that the battle of mobile applications is brutal and some competitors are way beyond the rest, with great capital behind them and with excellent programing skills. Still the experience, the time invested along with hard work can only bring good results. This effort may not be reflected in an overnight minor fortune, but its about daring to compete, learn fast and adapt and show what your capable of. The project arises as a curiosity to discover how mobile app are created, what it takes to start building your own application, what do you need to know to develop one. My inclination to start testing on Apple’s iPhone is because I currently own a MacBook and an iPhone 4 device. I am familiar with the Mac environment and I have a preference for Apple’s software, I also find the iPhone operating system quite interesting and therefor I am curious to know what is behind its impressive performance. One of the most interesting things I find about this project is the set of skills you need to have to start creating applications. You should be able not only to program what your idea is about but also in designing what your idea is going to look like. A developer must create the code that is going to be the backbone of the application and also he must create all the graphic environment that is going to represent that code making it appealing for the user. When thinking about what you are going to build you should as well think about how it is going to be represented, like the colors, the orientation of the phone whether it is going to be landscape or portrait, the buttons, the tab bars, sounds, video, wether it is going to use internet connection or not. All this aspects have to be taken into account at the same time you are trying to figure how to write down all that you want your application to do. So you must combine your creativity and your technical skills to fulfill all that you want your application to do

Mapping Participatory Sensing and Community-led Environmental Monitoring Initiatives: Making Sense H2020 CAPS Project

This report presents a summary of the state of the art in urban participatory sensing and community-led environmental monitoring, the types of engagement approaches typically followed, contextual examples of current developments in this field, and current challenges and opportunities for successful interventions. The goal is to better understand the field and possible options for reflection and action around it, in order to better inform future conceptual and practical developments inside and outside the Making Sense project.JRC.I.2-Foresight, Behavioural Insights and Design for Polic

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation