WEBVTT - Technology for Greener Cities

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody. I'm sure you know by now that I

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<v Speaker 1>live in London because I kind of say it all

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<v Speaker 1>the time. But I grew up in the US, in Virginia,

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<v Speaker 1>just outside Washington, d C. Growing up, I thought d

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<v Speaker 1>C was huge, mostly because I was small and it

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<v Speaker 1>was the only city I knew. And then I went

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<v Speaker 1>to New York and high school, and I thought, Okay, wow,

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<v Speaker 1>all right, now here is a big city. But then

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<v Speaker 1>later those perceptions were shattered when I visited Istanbul and Tokyo.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, those are big cities. Some cities just seem

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<v Speaker 1>like they go on forever. But the first thing I

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<v Speaker 1>learned from the report we're going to talk about today

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<v Speaker 1>is that while they can't seem endless, cities only cover

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<v Speaker 1>three percent of global land mass but account for seventy

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<v Speaker 1>percent of global emissions. Because of that, cities around the

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<v Speaker 1>world are turning their focus to sustainability. Focus to sustainability,

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<v Speaker 1>improving air quality and using their resources more efficiently, using

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<v Speaker 1>electricity more efficiently, making their cities cleaner and more livable,

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<v Speaker 1>and making them more resilient to the effects of climate change. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>on the show, We're welcoming back krty Vasta, Technology and

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<v Speaker 1>innovation analysts for b NF. She'll tell us about how

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<v Speaker 1>cities are pushing towards the state ability, why now, and

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<v Speaker 1>how different cities are approaching the challenge in different ways,

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<v Speaker 1>and how all cities are using technology as a key

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<v Speaker 1>component to their strategy. Our discussion is based on a

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<v Speaker 1>report titled Digital Technologies for Smarter, more Sustainable Cities Being

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<v Speaker 1>If you just can get this report on BNF go

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<v Speaker 1>and the Bloomberg terminal, BENF dot com and the BNF

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<v Speaker 1>mobile app. As a reminder, BETF does not provide investment

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<v Speaker 1>or strategy device and you can hear the fullest claimer

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of the show. Mark Taylor and you're

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<v Speaker 1>listening to Switched on to BENF podcast cut Welcome, thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for having me. So let's start off as we always

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<v Speaker 1>do on the pod, just really basic. So we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to talk today about, you know, cities being more sustainable.

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<v Speaker 1>Why are cities focusing on sustainability now? I think cities

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<v Speaker 1>are actually facing a number of really complex challenges right now,

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<v Speaker 1>not just around sustainability. You know, to think more than

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<v Speaker 1>half of the world's population actually lives in cities, and

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<v Speaker 1>this is only projected to expand over the next decade,

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<v Speaker 1>which is then creating huge challenges around resource constraints, public

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<v Speaker 1>health and safety issues such as you know, traffic congestion,

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<v Speaker 1>increasing air pollution. And then at the same time we're

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<v Speaker 1>also seeing the effects of climate change and extreme weather

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<v Speaker 1>events like the floods that we recently saw in Germany,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is really putting a lot of people and

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<v Speaker 1>infrastructure at risk. So CITI has already had a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of this to think about. And then of course along

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<v Speaker 1>came this global pandemic which just exposed cities vulnerabilities to

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<v Speaker 1>health related emergencies, and city authorities have really been at

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<v Speaker 1>the forefront of tackling the pandemic and you know, enforcing

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<v Speaker 1>socially distanced walkways and managing public spaces, and in some ways,

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<v Speaker 1>I really think it's the pandemic that has actually marked

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<v Speaker 1>this historical moment for cities to really start to reimagine

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<v Speaker 1>urban life now with things like sustainability, you know, improved

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<v Speaker 1>air quality, improved resource efficiency, and of course resiliency at

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<v Speaker 1>the heart of of what they're focusing on. I remember

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<v Speaker 1>last year in London it was just you know, clear

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<v Speaker 1>as day, it was, it was just clear, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>during the height of the pandemic is terribly unfortunate, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was noticeable. Yeah, No, air quality has actually

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<v Speaker 1>been really one of the biggest benefits that we've seen

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<v Speaker 1>an improvement in and I think because it's you know,

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<v Speaker 1>so stark, we can see it, it's right in front

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<v Speaker 1>of us. It's it's really driving this movement towards people

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<v Speaker 1>starting to reimagine what city life could be like with

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<v Speaker 1>things like sustainable practices in place. Air quality is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the big changes that we've seen that people want

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<v Speaker 1>to hold onto in this you know, future of cities

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<v Speaker 1>with a sustainable focus. And I don't know, it's maybe

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<v Speaker 1>it's just this week, or maybe this is a you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a sign of things to come. I don't know, but like, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you mentioned that the floods in Germany but also China,

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<v Speaker 1>and the air quality in New York City from the fires,

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<v Speaker 1>and there was this massive storm in London last week,

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<v Speaker 1>and the heat in Portland, like it all just seems

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<v Speaker 1>to be kind of adding up right now to make

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<v Speaker 1>it a really rough time to live in a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of cities. So kind of to review you you just

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned some of the things that are that are happening

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<v Speaker 1>are public health concerns, pollution, climate change, and I guess

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<v Speaker 1>energy security or security of of living in a city

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<v Speaker 1>in general. Our cities taking these challenges on like I know,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you're not going to act based on just

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<v Speaker 1>what you heard what happened last week, but our cities

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<v Speaker 1>developing sustainability goals. Yeah, absolutely So. Actually has been a

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<v Speaker 1>record year where we've seen over nine hundred cities and

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<v Speaker 1>regions setting net zero emissions targets, and altogether this represents

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<v Speaker 1>about eleven percent of the global population. So if these

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<v Speaker 1>goals are fulfilled, it's likely to really make a significant

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<v Speaker 1>dent in the global cobbon footprint. In the report, you said,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it was seventy percent of emissions come from cities,

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<v Speaker 1>Is that right, Yeah, and it's just three percent of

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<v Speaker 1>the landmass that that that figure was just amazing to me.

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<v Speaker 1>It is, it's really it's really surprising. And also, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>cities consume about eight of the world's energy as well,

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<v Speaker 1>so governments are now really recognizing that in order to

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<v Speaker 1>hit these national level climate commitments that they're making, cities

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<v Speaker 1>are going to play a really huge part. And you

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<v Speaker 1>know what I find really exciting about cities net zero

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<v Speaker 1>goals and sustainability policies is that they've also started to

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<v Speaker 1>align with digitalization policies. What I mean by that is

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<v Speaker 1>that governments are recognizing that the real power of digital

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<v Speaker 1>technologies to advance sustainability outcomes, especially when they're applied in

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<v Speaker 1>areas like technologies to monitor emissions or in transport, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>smart mobility. Basically national and city level sustainability policies and

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<v Speaker 1>now directing funding to digitalized infrastructure adopt IoT sensors use

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<v Speaker 1>analytic software to really better understand and then optimize operations.

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<v Speaker 1>That's really cool, and so we'll dig into how these

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<v Speaker 1>digital technologies are being used to further these sustainability goals

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<v Speaker 1>in a bit, but first, can you tell us a

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<v Speaker 1>bit more about the sustainability goals themselves. In the report

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<v Speaker 1>you mentioned four main areas where cities tend to focus.

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<v Speaker 1>We've identified these four broad areas where we're seeing cities

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<v Speaker 1>actually set sustainability goals, and that's air quality, resource efficiency,

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<v Speaker 1>energy efficiency and use, and then the fourth area is resiliency. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>just to kind of explain a little bit about each

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<v Speaker 1>of these, about four point two million deaths are caused

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<v Speaker 1>by air pollution each year. And a lot of cities

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<v Speaker 1>are trying to tackle it. You know, they're investing investing

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<v Speaker 1>in better monitoring air quality monitoring technologies and satellites. But

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<v Speaker 1>what's really interesting to see now is that cities also

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<v Speaker 1>leveraging technologies to encourage walking and cycling through things like

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<v Speaker 1>journey planning apps or using AI to have demand responsive transport,

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<v Speaker 1>which is then reducing the number of vehicles on streets,

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<v Speaker 1>which then reduces traffic congestion improves air quality in return.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's a number of ways which data and technologies

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<v Speaker 1>are really driving an improvement in air quality for cities.

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<v Speaker 1>That's really cool. So on air quality for for work,

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<v Speaker 1>I actually go to used to go to Jakarta every

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<v Speaker 1>year to talk to people in the geothermal industry, and

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<v Speaker 1>one thing you'll notice about Jakarta is just there's just

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<v Speaker 1>tremendous traffic and bad air quality from if I'm honest. So,

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<v Speaker 1>what are some kind of examples of things that are

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<v Speaker 1>being done in cities, maybe like Jakarta to reduce air pollution.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think Shanghai is a really good example. What

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<v Speaker 1>they've recently done is Ali Baba launched an AI based

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<v Speaker 1>app called the City Brain to really try and improve

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<v Speaker 1>traffic congestion and improve their quality as a result. And

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<v Speaker 1>this is kind of like a service that works a

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<v Speaker 1>bit like a ride sharing app, where commuters buy a

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<v Speaker 1>bus ticket via this app and enter their start and

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<v Speaker 1>end locations, and the app then calculates the number of

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<v Speaker 1>buses required on the streets and it optimizes the journey

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<v Speaker 1>as a result as well. And I think this has

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<v Speaker 1>been really effective in kind of reducing the journey times

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<v Speaker 1>and also just improving commuter fatigue and just generally improving

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<v Speaker 1>air quality in cities which are really congested and have

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<v Speaker 1>this have this problem widespread. Okay, so we're gonna take

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<v Speaker 1>a quick break. Stay with us. So resource efficiency, what

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<v Speaker 1>can you tell me about that? Resource efficiency is actually

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<v Speaker 1>another another big area where city leaders are really thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about ways that they can optimize, you know, managing water

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<v Speaker 1>and reducing waste, implementing recycling and circular economy practices, and

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<v Speaker 1>also just thinking about methods that can be implemented to

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<v Speaker 1>introduce sustainable construction, which I think is a really interesting

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<v Speaker 1>area and there's a lot of interesting ways that technologies

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<v Speaker 1>can be applied to kind of improved the types of

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<v Speaker 1>materials that are being used in new building construction to

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<v Speaker 1>account for sustainability. One of my favorite examples is the

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<v Speaker 1>city of Amsterdam, which is using what's called a material passport,

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<v Speaker 1>which is actually really interesting. It's quite a new sort

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<v Speaker 1>of technology that's being piloted in a bunch of cities.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's basically working on creating a catalog of all

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<v Speaker 1>the components used in every public building to develop a

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<v Speaker 1>database of the materials, and then that database can then

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<v Speaker 1>help future building constructors. We use those materials in the future.

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<v Speaker 1>So you're saying, if somebody uses certain types of I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know, rebar or nuts or bolts or whatever, and

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<v Speaker 1>somebody and they're going to tear down that building and

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<v Speaker 1>somebody else needs those later, they can reuse those materials exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>So wrap this protupt So what does it mean to

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<v Speaker 1>be resilient for a city? So we have all these

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<v Speaker 1>things for about sustainability, but resilience seems to be a

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<v Speaker 1>bit at arts and just preparing for the worst. Is it?

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<v Speaker 1>Resilience is actually the most central part of a city strategy,

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<v Speaker 1>and it really goes hand in hand with sustainability. Given

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<v Speaker 1>that you know, what we're talking about when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to resiliency is having systems and approaches and the flexibility

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<v Speaker 1>within a city to deal with unpredictable events and really

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<v Speaker 1>recover quickly when things go wrong. And I think what's

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<v Speaker 1>interesting now is what everybody is talking about digital resilience,

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<v Speaker 1>which is using data and analytics and software not just

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<v Speaker 1>to respond quickly and effectively to shocks, but also to

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<v Speaker 1>reduce the likelihood of emergencies happening in the first place.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think a really interesting example is the city

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<v Speaker 1>of l A is using a AI based disaster assessment

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<v Speaker 1>platform which basically pulls in a lot of data on

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<v Speaker 1>city infrastructure and previous disasters that have happened to then

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<v Speaker 1>try and predict the likelihood of a future disaster events

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<v Speaker 1>carring in the city. And the platform claims to estimate

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<v Speaker 1>events within accuracy within fifteen minutes of the data coming through,

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<v Speaker 1>And so this can have a huge impact on disaster

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<v Speaker 1>events and have a life saving impact. That's really amazing.

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<v Speaker 1>But it makes me think like, Okay, but that's that's

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<v Speaker 1>kind of good for l A because you know, it's

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<v Speaker 1>a wealthier city as opposed to many of the other

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<v Speaker 1>cities around the world that can afford to do types

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<v Speaker 1>of things like this. From the note you said, there

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<v Speaker 1>is kind of a relationship between a city's characteristics and

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<v Speaker 1>it's frankly wealth and the types of things that it

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<v Speaker 1>can do. So let's dig into the technology a bit

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<v Speaker 1>and the options available to cities based on kind of

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<v Speaker 1>what they are. As as you mentioned, you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>wealth of a city is really important when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to understanding the types of technologies that cities are adopting.

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<v Speaker 1>Deployment is largely dependent on data availability as well, and

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<v Speaker 1>I can't really stress the importance of this. It all

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<v Speaker 1>starts with having you know, this base level of data

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<v Speaker 1>and information to really begin to understand where the weaknesses

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<v Speaker 1>lie in city infrastructure, and that in turn can then

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<v Speaker 1>help cities build the technology systems they need to to

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<v Speaker 1>kind of target their week week soft spots. So you're

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<v Speaker 1>saying tech is really kind of a first step in

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<v Speaker 1>a way to deploy sensors and things like that, so

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<v Speaker 1>you can collect the information so then you can deploy

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<v Speaker 1>the solutions later. Is that right? Yeah? So just you

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<v Speaker 1>know that, I'd say the primary, you know, the first

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<v Speaker 1>step would really be to just understand your systems, collect

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<v Speaker 1>data and and and actually integrate that data. So one

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<v Speaker 1>one thing that I think has been really successful for

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of cities is using open data sharing platforms.

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<v Speaker 1>London is a great example. There's the London Data Store,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a free and open data sharing portal and

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<v Speaker 1>it's used by both public and private entities to better

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<v Speaker 1>understand the city generally and come up with solutions to

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<v Speaker 1>many of its problems as well. And I think this

0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:03.120
<v Speaker 1>sort of platform is is great because it allows data

0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.439
<v Speaker 1>to be integrated and I mentioned but it also means

0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.760
<v Speaker 1>that the right information can be found in haste during

0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:13.160
<v Speaker 1>an emergency because it's all integrated, it's in one place

0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:17.000
<v Speaker 1>that's centralized. So yes, the first step would be having

0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.200
<v Speaker 1>the right information and the data available. What we go

0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.560
<v Speaker 1>through in the note is looking at three types of

0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:28.280
<v Speaker 1>city groupings. So we look at high income dense, high

0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:32.120
<v Speaker 1>income sprawling, and low income dense and it's quite interesting

0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:35.120
<v Speaker 1>to see the differences between them because they are quite stark.

0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.280
<v Speaker 1>So if we look at high income densities, for example,

0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:40.640
<v Speaker 1>you know they often do have a lot of better

0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:46.400
<v Speaker 1>connectivity and data. City infrastructure tends to be well connected, however,

0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.679
<v Speaker 1>it can be aging and quite inefficient. Older cities also

0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.640
<v Speaker 1>tend to have more experience in managing shocks and stresses,

0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.160
<v Speaker 1>but more recently they're becoming a lot more prone to

0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.880
<v Speaker 1>things like cyber attacks because their city infrastructure is interconnected,

0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.480
<v Speaker 1>and so actually, in high income dens cities, we're seeing

0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:08.360
<v Speaker 1>that resiliency is really the top priority. With their being

0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:12.680
<v Speaker 1>wealthier cities, they often have bigger budgets to allocate towards

0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:15.160
<v Speaker 1>digitalization as well. So this is going to be like

0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.120
<v Speaker 1>New York, right, Yeah, cities like New York, like London,

0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:23.640
<v Speaker 1>we're already seeing technologies like AI digital twins starting to

0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:27.040
<v Speaker 1>be experimented with and implemented in some places. And then

0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.800
<v Speaker 1>if we think about high income sprawling cities, this is

0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:34.400
<v Speaker 1>more about I guess the priority here is really air quality.

0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:38.720
<v Speaker 1>Given that people living in wealthy sprawling cities have a

0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:43.040
<v Speaker 1>greater reliance on cars, they often travel large distances from

0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.320
<v Speaker 1>the suburbs to the center, which then creates traffic jams,

0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:49.640
<v Speaker 1>and so often these types of cities are thinking about

0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:53.560
<v Speaker 1>ways that they can implement journey planning apps or AI

0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:58.120
<v Speaker 1>for demand responsive transport. Also, as as sprawling cities are

0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:02.600
<v Speaker 1>constantly growing, city to hevelopers may also find more opportunities

0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:07.160
<v Speaker 1>to pilots and deploy technologies like pipe leak detection in

0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.280
<v Speaker 1>urban areas for example. And then if we think about

0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.040
<v Speaker 1>the less wealthy cities tend to target the technologies that

0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:17.040
<v Speaker 1>have low data requirements as they often you know, already

0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:20.840
<v Speaker 1>lack the connectivity and data infrastructure with the type budgets

0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.520
<v Speaker 1>that they already have for digital projects. Often it's you know,

0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.320
<v Speaker 1>low income cities that depend on private companies as well

0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.920
<v Speaker 1>to invest in the digital infrastructure, and that then helps

0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.960
<v Speaker 1>them actually really understand the pain points in their systems.

0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:39.160
<v Speaker 1>That's interesting points. So how does the private company benefit

0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.400
<v Speaker 1>from installing digital infrastructure for a city. Do they get

0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:46.040
<v Speaker 1>a city contract or are they trying to get the data? Actually,

0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.080
<v Speaker 1>it's it's it's known to to be quite a complicated

0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:55.320
<v Speaker 1>system for you know, particularly small companies gaining these large

0:15:55.480 --> 0:16:00.680
<v Speaker 1>contracts with city governments. With private companies in lowing cities,

0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.560
<v Speaker 1>they often need the infrastructure themselves as part of you know,

0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:09.000
<v Speaker 1>their own operations, and so by having better internet connectivity

0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:13.640
<v Speaker 1>within regions where maybe it's it's not as dense, often

0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.160
<v Speaker 1>it's you know, an advantage to the private companies as

0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:21.200
<v Speaker 1>well to have access to say, better connectivity, better digital

0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:24.800
<v Speaker 1>infrastructure outside of the city or wherever they're based. That

0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.200
<v Speaker 1>then feeds into the city government as well, which is

0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:31.960
<v Speaker 1>then used by the broader city as well. And so

0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:35.320
<v Speaker 1>it's it's actually a benefit, it's a benefit overall benefits

0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.000
<v Speaker 1>both sides. Yeah, Okay. Taking us back to the example

0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:40.600
<v Speaker 1>of Jakarta again, it kind of remind kind of reminds

0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:41.880
<v Speaker 1>me of I don't know if this is the case,

0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:43.560
<v Speaker 1>but it would seem to be the case for like

0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.200
<v Speaker 1>a company like go Jack, which is like like Uber

0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:49.560
<v Speaker 1>in Jakarta, that they would want to install or have

0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.960
<v Speaker 1>information about traffic patterns in Jakarta so that they can

0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:57.480
<v Speaker 1>better provide their users with trip planning or trip timings

0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.400
<v Speaker 1>for the different journeys. Is that kind of what getting out?

0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.680
<v Speaker 1>So benefits the city from having the information, but it

0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:04.840
<v Speaker 1>also benefits go Jack to be able to tell their

0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:07.480
<v Speaker 1>customers how long their trip is going to take. Absolutely, yeah,

0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.800
<v Speaker 1>And it's and it's this case of like collecting information

0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:15.040
<v Speaker 1>and data and having that information feed into different other

0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.640
<v Speaker 1>areas of the city as well. So that's exactly that's

0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:21.880
<v Speaker 1>exactly that. Okay. So looking at these different types of cities,

0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:25.240
<v Speaker 1>the three different categories that that that you mentioned, is

0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.399
<v Speaker 1>there kind of a trend in who is setting up

0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.960
<v Speaker 1>sustainability goals. I mean, you mentioned that the focuses are different,

0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.800
<v Speaker 1>So on wealthy cities you'll have more on resilience, lower

0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:39.359
<v Speaker 1>income cities you'll have more on installing digital infrastructure to

0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:42.639
<v Speaker 1>get data. But is there a trend on who's setting

0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.320
<v Speaker 1>sustainability goals generally? Is it all the wealthy cities or

0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:48.240
<v Speaker 1>and you know, few of the lower income cities, or

0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.200
<v Speaker 1>vice versa, or is everybody doing it? I think it's

0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.760
<v Speaker 1>it's been There's been a range of announcements. I think

0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:58.359
<v Speaker 1>much of it is coming from the wealthier countries, but

0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.400
<v Speaker 1>actually much of it is coming from NASH and level

0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:02.960
<v Speaker 1>policies as well. So you know, a lot of these

0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.680
<v Speaker 1>green recovery packages that we've been seeing being launched last

0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:11.240
<v Speaker 1>year and this year are really driving funding into smart

0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:13.840
<v Speaker 1>cities and and often it is it is the wealthier

0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.760
<v Speaker 1>cities now, but of course they're implementing these technologies and

0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.840
<v Speaker 1>in some ways they're like pilot projects or experimentations which

0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:25.239
<v Speaker 1>would then be rolled out into the different cities, you know,

0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:28.760
<v Speaker 1>across across the country. And and you know, I think

0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.760
<v Speaker 1>it's important to say, you know, within a country you

0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:34.240
<v Speaker 1>get the whole range of types of cities, not all

0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.800
<v Speaker 1>of them within a wealthy country would be wealthy cities. Right,

0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:40.280
<v Speaker 1>that's also, you know, something to kind of take into account. Yeah,

0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.199
<v Speaker 1>it's been interesting to see how national level policy has

0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:46.320
<v Speaker 1>been feeding into city level policy as well. And I

0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:48.240
<v Speaker 1>think if we take the example of the e use

0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:52.200
<v Speaker 1>Green Deal within that, it actually emphasizes that cities really

0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:56.399
<v Speaker 1>need to leverage technologies like AI just to reach climate neutrality.

0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:59.639
<v Speaker 1>And they've they've dedicated about forty three billion just to

0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.760
<v Speaker 1>low carbon technology specifically, and I think I think that's

0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.920
<v Speaker 1>really a big sign just to say this is where

0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:08.760
<v Speaker 1>we need to focus. Okay, so it has a kind

0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:10.800
<v Speaker 1>of a chain for a country to reach a net

0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.520
<v Speaker 1>zero target, you have to tackle the cities right. You

0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:15.360
<v Speaker 1>have to get the cities right, and to do that

0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:18.240
<v Speaker 1>you need tech. It seems to be a huge part

0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:21.120
<v Speaker 1>of the whole picture. So talking about national level policy,

0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:25.760
<v Speaker 1>our team actually publishes a annual country Digitalization ranking where

0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:29.480
<v Speaker 1>we review the level of digitalization across a range of

0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.040
<v Speaker 1>countries and rank them. And I think as part of

0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.600
<v Speaker 1>that research, what we've what we've seen is there's been

0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:40.200
<v Speaker 1>this overlap between digitalization policy and sustainability policy as well.

0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:42.720
<v Speaker 1>And I think, you know, again that feeds directly into

0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:44.640
<v Speaker 1>what this note is about as well, where we're seeing

0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:49.000
<v Speaker 1>the same thing happening within cities. Yeah, definitely, Well when

0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.679
<v Speaker 1>is that out next? So we'll be publishing that in

0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.640
<v Speaker 1>the second half of this year, around end of Key three.

0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:57.040
<v Speaker 1>I'd say, okay, So I've got kind of two questions.

0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:00.600
<v Speaker 1>One is, you know, from doing all this research, what

0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:03.200
<v Speaker 1>do you see as the most there's the single most

0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:07.440
<v Speaker 1>impactful thing a city can do to be sustainable or decarbonized.

0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:10.520
<v Speaker 1>I got excited about seeing traffic control options in Jakarta,

0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:12.560
<v Speaker 1>for example. We talked about that, but like, what do

0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:15.399
<v Speaker 1>you think? So I can't stress the importance of data

0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:19.880
<v Speaker 1>availability and open data platforms are really a key part

0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:24.199
<v Speaker 1>of that. You know, having information available at city leaders

0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:28.040
<v Speaker 1>fingertips to really act and and you know, make decisions

0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:30.680
<v Speaker 1>quickly has been a crucial part of what we've seen

0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:33.960
<v Speaker 1>during the pandemic with you know, enforcing lockdowns and understanding

0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:36.399
<v Speaker 1>and how to manage the spread of the virus. But

0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.760
<v Speaker 1>it's also a bigger part of how cities should be

0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:41.639
<v Speaker 1>running on it on a day to day and I

0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:46.000
<v Speaker 1>think it's particularly important for sustainability as well. And finally,

0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:48.720
<v Speaker 1>so what's next for cities? You know, as I've mentioned

0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:51.480
<v Speaker 1>thousand times on this show, I I live in London

0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:54.160
<v Speaker 1>and so I've looked for these city projects quite a bit.

0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:55.960
<v Speaker 1>You know that they just installed the bike lane down

0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:57.840
<v Speaker 1>at the end of end of my street. When will

0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:00.680
<v Speaker 1>I start to see things happening in this guard in

0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:03.640
<v Speaker 1>in my city or in other cities. I think there's

0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:07.399
<v Speaker 1>the pandemic has really you know, marked this historic moment

0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.120
<v Speaker 1>to kind of push towards reimagining city. So I think

0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:12.840
<v Speaker 1>we're definitely going to reach a point where slowly we

0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:16.639
<v Speaker 1>will start to see changes, you know, maybe broader cycle

0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:20.840
<v Speaker 1>lanes as you mentioned, or you know, increased incentives to

0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:24.240
<v Speaker 1>actually cycle around the city or walk. But I think,

0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.960
<v Speaker 1>you know, the use of technology is is going to

0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:29.680
<v Speaker 1>be gradual. Even though you know there's it's happening now,

0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:31.560
<v Speaker 1>it's it's still going to be gradual. And I think

0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:34.880
<v Speaker 1>as soon as we get the use of AI across

0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:37.320
<v Speaker 1>public sector operations, I think that's really going to be

0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:42.119
<v Speaker 1>transformed transformative, particularly in the public sector operations, so like

0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:47.639
<v Speaker 1>creating efficiencies and cutting costs for general administrative tasks. I

0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:50.639
<v Speaker 1>think this will then eventually free up city budgets to

0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:54.760
<v Speaker 1>direct investments into digitalizing infrastructure as well. And I think

0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:58.919
<v Speaker 1>that's when it's become going to become really visible and

0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:02.560
<v Speaker 1>impactful in our day today lives. Thanks so much for

0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:12.840
<v Speaker 1>joining us, Thank you for having me. Today's episode of

0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:15.639
<v Speaker 1>Switched On was edited by Rex Warner of gray Stoke Media.

0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:18.120
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg an e F is a service provided by Bloomberg

0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:21.240
<v Speaker 1>Finance LP and its affiliates. This recording does not constitute,

0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.840
<v Speaker 1>nor should it be construed as investment advice, investment recommendations,

0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:27.800
<v Speaker 1>or a recommendation as to an investment or other strategy.

0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:30.280
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0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:33.600
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0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:37.160
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0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:39.679
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0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:42.720
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0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:44.720
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