Information Policy

Smart Cities & Urban Innovation- state of Israeli Urban Innovation

The urban environment in the 21st century is exposed to great stresses and challenges: uncontrolled urban growth is creating pressure on infrastructure and public services; climate change is reducing accessibility to natural resources, while leaving societies vulnerable to the effects of natural hazards such as floods widening the social gaps between the rich and the poor; and new social structures are changing existing communities, social involvement and ownership of common goods.

Global 'smart city' network promises enhanced collaboration

A new civic technology-focused network from the magazine and research firm Cities Today is trying to open communication between city officials from more than 170 cities around the world, all of whom are all trying to solve the same problem: how technology can be introduced effectively and ethically into urban communities.

Can Citizen Participation Really Revive European Democracy?

This article was originally published on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace website.

In Europe, initiatives to increase citizen participation have made substantial progress, but there are severe difficulties to overcome if these participative forums are to address the core issues of democratic decline and contribute more significantly to its restoration.

How tech leads local government innovation in Vienna, Helsinki and Belfast

Local authorities have to provide a vast range of services to everyone in their area, making innovation difficult. But a new breed of city officials are borrowing ideas and working methods from private-sector innovators, as well as collaborating with both companies and other cities in an attempt to at least match the digital services people get elsewhere.

Bosch helping cities worldwide in the battle against air pollution

Around the world, people are flocking from rural areas to cities. By 2050, there will be more than six billion people living in megacities, twice as many as now. Over the same period, the volume of urban traffic is set to increase threefold, not least because the continuing boom in online commerce will feed further growth in delivery traffic. A denser population and more traffic means increasing air pollution.