Cracks in the Sidewalk: Tactics and discourses driving the “smart city” development of Quayside

Many nations have begun implementing “smart city” initiatives, however Canada is at a more nascent and therefore critical phase. In late 2017, Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs (a sister company of Google) partnered on a joint venture to create a new “smart city” development called Quayside. As Toronto and other global metropolises move towards becoming increasingly “connected”, the promises of smart cities are beginning to give way to problematic realities. This research project explored the ethical and socio-economic implications of “smart” technologies and discourses. Specifically, it questioned how issues of equity and inclusion are approached by smart city discourses, and how the narratives are being utilized in the pursuit of legitimizing smart urbanism. By examining the proposal for Quayside, the research examined a case study of an emerging smart city development, revealing four themes: 1) the spectrum of visibility, 2) the myth of neutrality, 3) the inclusive techno utopia, and 4) the rise of technocolonialism. These four themes outline the discourse and tactics Sidewalk Labs has utilized in pushing forward an agenda of smart urbanism. The findings show that smart cities have the potential to exacerbate the inequity which already exist in cities, even reaching to a new wave of technocolonization. For equity seeking groups such as people of colour and those with low income, who have historically been the target of state scrutiny, violence and colonization, living in a smart city may carry the risk of becoming more vulnerable. What happens when one doesn’t fit into the techno utopia depicted in Sidewalk’s MIDP? This project is intended for those working to craft digital governance policy within municipalities, urban planners engaging in smart urbanism projects, and non-profit organizations seeking to understand how smart cities may affect equity-seeking populations. In light of these findings, they can make a difference in fostering a more equitable society

In Situ: Researching corporate diversity initiatives with game developers

This paper explicates the design and development of a feminist action research pilot that studied and supported the launch of a diversity initiative within a major game development studio. Drawing on methods from design research including rapid ethnography and model making, we describe the stages our pilot study followed, including key models and high-level findings, as well as outline the ways in which we collaborated with our research partner in this initial stage. Use of these methods helped us build an integrated model that can be used as a strategic tool to direct the focus of ongoing work by our partner and other developers. By sharing our process, we hope to illustrate one way that researchers might engage design research methods in service of equity work of this nature in partnership with the game industry

Knowledge and awareness of neglected tropical diseases among medical students in Bangladesh

This dataset contains primary data collected between April and May 2021 through an online questionnaire.  Most of the questions were multiple choice checkbox types possessing Yes and No answers, as well as the ‘other’ option, was also included in a few questions. The questionnaire was divided into 2 parts. Part 1 included questions on the general knowledge of students regarding NTDs in the world and Bangladesh. On the other hand, part 2 inquired about the perception of participants regarding the threat of NTDs and their involvement in control activities. Knowledge-based questions were scored to measure the level of knowledge of medical students.     </p