Cyber Agora #5.0
From ‘Smart City’ towards ‘Smart Society’
The Role of Digital Innovation in Improving Societal Sustainability
August 15, 2022 | 10:00 AM CEST
Online Event
Thanks to ubiquitous improvements in digitalisation, wireless communication, and overall networking through diverse channels and tools, the contemporary global society currently experiences a technological revolution. ‘Smart cities’ focused on high-tech (including 5G, Big Data, IoT and AI) rapidly transform the way we live and work. Nevertheless, ‘smartness’ is not only about technology: to be ‘smart’, we need to think about innovations that would integrate digital and physical space and, more importantly, focus on human capital as a tool to overcome societal problems. A human-centred approach paves the way towards ‘smart society’ or ‘society 5.0’.
As cities are considered the crucial actors in responding to various global challenges – COVID-19, climate change, migrations and poverty, economic crises – urban innovation is expected to tackle multiple sectors, e.g., urban design, housing, environment/resource management, food systems, disaster resilience, nature-based solutions, transport/mobility planning, etc. Nevertheless, innovations towards smart society imply the basic rules of good planning and governance, i.e., effective collaboration between different stakeholders in a city and governance mechanisms to enable various actor-networks. Fundamentally, a truly smart city is one that can leverage its greatest asset: the skills, aspirations, and engagement of its population.
Known as a leader in numerous high-tech innovations, Japan has recently been pioneering a shift towards ‘super-smart society’ by leveraging ICT to integrate the physical space with cyberspace fully. More precisely, the Japanese ideal focuses on embedding technological innovations into every facet of society while simultaneously meeting the SDGs. Familiar brand names have been developing such projects in Japan, including Panasonic, Hitachi, Sumitomo, Mitsui, and, most recently, Toyota’s Woven City near Mount Fuji.
To elucidate the Japanese case of ‘smart society’ and other relevant examples towards integrating digital, physical and societal realms, this special event brings together practitioners and researchers to present their most recent innovations, research results and experiences concerning some of the sectors and/or topics mentioned above. The discussion will also enable the exchange of ideas between academics, industry practitioners and the public to broaden our understanding of what makes a society ‘smart’.