The future of cities is developed under the overall name of “Smart Cities”: new concepts, new ideas and new technologies that help building the cities of the future. Cities with more efficient processes, green energy and innovative concepts for all parts of our life. These developments will help save energy, make traffic safer and improve public transport systems. But they can also help the government to function better and can make the lives of people easier.
This year’s Open category focuses on the theme ‘Smart Cities’. There are three themes:
Smart Governance
The base of a more intelligent and futuristic city is a system of modern government processes that are supported by modern technologies. Smart Governance is about using technology to facilitate and support better planning and decision making. It is about greater efficiency, community leadership, mobile working, and continuous improvement through innovation. It includes e-government, the efficiency agenda, and mobile working.
Smart Workplace
Future workplaces like factories, offices and shops will most likely be very different from today. Computers and robots are already taking over a lot of repetitive tasks that were done by humans for a long time. The future of a modern workplace is about finding new ways of collaboration and communication and self-regulation in the 21st century. Smart Workplace is about policies, digital services, and incentives that help and support innovative and exciting new ideas for the workplace.
Smart Education
Education is also changing rapidly. Some of the things children need to learn to be able to participate successfully in modern society are very different than in the past. But the way we learn and the tools we use for learning are also changing. There is a need for ideas that empower students and engage them in education and society. Smart Education is about creating optimal education environments in schools, universities and other education centres.
Teams are asked to come up with innovative ideas regarding to the three themes above. Teams can choose one of the three areas to work on, but are free to work on a project which includes all themes.
As an ex-participant of the Open Category, I have been through the brainstorming phase of projects. My personal opinion is that smart workplaces are an easy theme for beginners. However, the ideas are limited as there are a variety of innovations relating to smart workplaces.
As for smart governance, innovation is key in creating an efficient and never-before-seen project that will wow the judges. Students should also take care to not use ideas that already exist in the modern era when brainstorming under the theme smart education.
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