Learning what makes cities work: the power of multi-sectoral approaches

This panel will explore how city governments, industry players, civil society actors, and researchers can collaborate using shared digital infrastructure to better understand and innovate for their cities. Panelists will represent the perspectives of government, industry, civil society, and academia on the collection and use of administrative and performance data, how it can be supplemented through other sources or methods, and how it can provide a basis for rapid diagnosis and innovation to improve urban governance.

As more and more cities describe themselves as "Smart Cities", what does this mean for data, innovation, and learning systems or practices? Is it possible to build a coherent, data-based view of the city? Is it possible to create or adopt global standards for such data, or to set common understandings and aspirations for city systems? Panelists will also consider the challenges and limits of such an approach, especially in smaller cities which already operate under significant capacity constraints.