Elevate Testing: Final Blog

Through the course of this term, we have narrowed down our definitions of Civic User Testing, Digital Divide, and Digital Social Innovation. We have done this through collaboration with our peers and community members as well as through our own research. Today we were able to take all that we have learned and present our final case for support. All that we have learned through the lectures, feedback, and discussions came together to create our final presentation. We started with little idea as to what was meant by these terms but after a semester of collaboration and learning, we now have a deep understanding of these concepts and have become passionate about this cause. We have been lucky enough to have so many influential people attend our classes and help us get to where we are now.

Our case for support which was presented on April 7th was an exciting end to our class and was a relief moment as we were able to see all our hard work come together. It brings us great pleasure to know that all our hard work has the ability to make a real impact on our community. We are so grateful to have been a part of this and to have had the support from Dr. Catherine Pearl and those who joined our class throughout the semester.

-Team Elevate

InsightYYC: Civic User Testing Reflection

Having the opportunity to learn about the Calgary ecosystem through the participation of Calgary professionals and guest speakers added an incredible amount of value that built on earlier projects in the Civic Innovation course. Digital social innovation and tech for good are two relevant and emerging topics because of how much opportunity and reliance there is on technology, especially after the last year in a pandemic. A Calgary civic user testing group, otherwise known as our proposed InsightYYC, is the perfect opportunity to intervene and address barriers that Calgarians face. By testing digital products and services of clients, InsightYYC and everyone involved can strengthen and improve the everyday digital products and services Calgarians rely on. With all of the research that has been conducted and having been given constructive feedback, there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that a Calgary civic user testing group can be as inclusive and engaging as possible. We have not only learned about the financial costs and potential organizations to be involved in a civic user testing group but also other considerations such as how to tackle inclusivity, ethics, bias and the digital divide. With an emphasis on collaboration from clients, testers, and funders, a group like InsightYYC can forge innovation and be the catalyst for change that Calgary needs. Together change happens, and it can start with civic engagement through civic user testing.

-Team Insight

The Beginning and the End: A Legacy of Civic User Testing Groups in Calgary

We’ve come to the last day of classes and our long-awaited case for support presentations. Arriving at this moment feels like a quiet peace after a storm of preparation. We’ve worked hard as a team, and we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished.

The importance of advocating for civic user testing groups in Calgary has been a journey of growth for all of us. We began this semester with little knowledge, and little buy-in to the idea of CUT groups. Now, at the end of the journey we can all say with confidence that this is an issue both intimate and important to us.

Having the opportunity to contribute to the implementation of these civic user testing groups is undeniably a proud moment for us. There’s a satisfaction of knowing that the work we’ve done will make a real difference in our city. All in all, we’re so honoured to have participated in this work, and we received so much joy in celebrating this semester’s achievements through our showcase!

Grateful,

Tek Talk Team

Ecosystem Mapping: Civic User Testing in Calgary

During this week’s Vivacity class, we presented our first compilation of research to a community panel, geared towards establishing a civic user testing group in Calgary. The research included an ecosystem map of Calgary’s digital social innovation landscape, and identified potential clients, testers and funders for a civic user testing group. This presentation provided us with the feedback we needed to take our projects to the next level for the upcoming case for support community showcase!

Team User approached this opportunity by framing the critical importance of improving civic engagement and inclusion in Calgary. Civic user testing groups provide agency to everyday citizens in their communities' built environment and by getting these individuals involved in the technology that they interact with in their daily lives, cities can become more inclusive and resilient.

Stay tuned to the Vivacity blogs in the upcoming weeks to find out more about civic user testing, and to see what the student groups are doing to make Calgary a more resilient city!

Author: IL

March 17, 2021

Creating a CUT group in Calgary

This week in Civic Innovation was a chance to connect with some of Calgary’s best and brightest in the social innovation space. 16 mentors representing some of Calgary’s most impactful organizations joined us through a World Café style conversation and helped us to plan out the potential implementation of a Civic User Testing (CUT) group in Calgary. Our goal was to identify potential clients, testers and funders for the project, and we were left with a list bigger and better than we had anticipated!

Perhaps one of the biggest takeaways was centered around building relationships. Civic User Tests are designed to help improve the quality of life for residents, and that means ensuring users are diverse in many ways. The mentors helped us understand that when attempting to create inclusive civic engagement, it isn’t just about who we approach, but how we approach them. Sometimes it starts with building a relationship first, before we can ask for help, or before we can attempt to do work in that community.

IL

Citizen Collaboration at the Heart of the City | Bristol, UK

The City of Bristol is my favourite city out of all five exemplar cities researched for this assignment. Collaboration and innovative design thinking are truly at the heart of this city. The tech for good Bristol projects examined were Flourish, highly technical self-driving vehicles in the trial phase to combat mobility challenges, and Bristol Approach, where little sensors were designed to monitor air quality for concerned citizens. It was powerful listening to the videos and reading content about each project because the passionate voices of the individuals shined through above all else. Elders fearing their lack of mobility will force them to live in isolation, and citizens with asthma fearing how their city’s extreme air pollution can harm them, are both real issues that are important and need to be addressed. With these particular projects and others, Bristol sets an exemplary example of how a city should embrace and empower the voice of vulnerable citizens to combat challenges they face in their daily lives, as well as, extending to other challenges that impact the city as a whole.

My involvement in this civic innovation course, and being given the opportunity to learn from guest speakers, has tremendously added to and complimented my learning experience as an information designer. I have become more critical of how The City of Calgary is shaping the community for all Calgarians, including myself. As discussed in class with representatives from The City of Calgary, we need to continuously ask ourselves how the city can be more inclusive or exclusive. To better understand the answer, there needs to be collaboratation with those whom often have their voice unheard or overlooked. Knowing that I will assist in advocating for a user-testing group in Calgary, and personally pursuing a career that works with people to solve problems, there were several things I was reminded of while immersing myself in this exemplar cities research. These lessons include that involving the user has only ever added value, and it does not typically require extensive work to achieve this value.

I hope in referring to these exemplar cities researched, The City of Calgary can find ways to create space for citizens to be engaged and empowered, using tech for good, and always thinking ahead.

KP

Detroit – Resiliency and Advocacy in Tech

One would not think of, Detroit, Michigan as an “exemplar” in anything, let alone an exemplar in tech. This is a city that has suffered a catastrophic economic collapse, went through a bankruptcy, and currently has a hemorrhaging population and an extremely high poverty rate.

So, why did I choose Detroit, out of all the advanced cities I researched, as my favourite exemplar, or as an exemplar at all? For a simple reason. That is, when you understand adversity, you understand resiliency, and when you understand inequality, you understand advocacy. Detroit is exemplary in the way the city’s residents and organizations here have built resiliency and fostered advocacy through technology.

Through organizations like the Detroit Technology Community Project and initiatives i.e. Equitable Internet Access and the Data Justice program, going in and building networks in communities, facilitating discussions, sometimes literally installing internet, are prime models our city should look towards when it comes to addressing digital inequalities.

Despite the many chronic shocks that Detroit has already endured, the city has developed a very resilient and robust technological network of advocacy, a citizen-led network unlike any of the other more technologically advanced cities one might think of as exemplars.

– MT

Exemplar Cities – Reykjavik, Iceland

If you take a look at the OECD’s Better Life Index, you’ll find that Iceland ranks at the top for social connection. It also ranks above average in income, wealth, well-being, heath, personal security, civic engagement, and education. It is safe to say that Icelanders enjoy a high quality of life. I can’t help but think that this is thanks to Reykjavik’s (Iceland’s capital city) passionate commitment to social innovation. There are three social innovation testbeds around the city established by Reykjavik Smart City, that develops and tests social innovation technology projects, and these testbeds aren’t just for policy makers. Everyday Reykjavik citizens can contribute, pitch ideas, and evaluate current projects through a website called Better Reykjavik. By including everyday citizens in the built environment of their city, Reykjavik is improving the livability and happiness of its inhabitants.

IL

Democratic Data in Barcelona

I think that the way Barcelona as a city is innovating in the digital space is nothing short of exemplary. Barcelona wanted to increase public engagement in the civic process, including the utilization of public data, while still respecting personal privacy. The municipal government has done that by creating their own manifesto for open data in an effort to become a “digitally sovereign” city. The manifesto’s values have been realized in practice by the civic user testing group and European consortium DECODE, who has run pilots in Barcelona and Amsterdam to increase civic engagement and give them ultimate autonomy over which data they choose to share. My favorite example of the pilots empowered users to activate city services, creating a sensor network that detected noise in a community. It was a tangible, scalable example of how technology can improve city life.

Ben D.

Smart City and City of the Future.

In the exemplar cities project, I found many new and innovative ideas that have contributed to the world’s “smart cities”. While many cities are utilizing the use of innovation labs and data collection to build their smart city. Oslo, Norway, has begun the construction of a small completely self-sufficient Smart City. In theory, it’s the “City of the Future.”(Kosowatz. J, 2020). A fully sustainable city located on 260 acres of land near their airport (2020). These small sustainable cities will run off sustainable energy that will run the city with sensors. The sensors will control the automatic lighting in streets and buildings as well as the security and waste systems (2020).

This sustainable city project will set the ground for new sustainable practice and set an example for cities around the world. Not only will this small-scale sustainable city help Oslo achieve its goal of reducing emissions to 0% by 2030, but it will also provide information and insight into what a fully sustainable city looks like. This sustainable city can then be used to research how we might be able to implement that in other cities to help achieve a global initiative for climate change.

This city stuck out to me amongst the five I research because of their focus on attacking climate change on their own. Their initiatives have the power to make a real difference in their community. As well, the actions they are taking are setting an example for other cities and giving them the opportunity to learn from the project they have produced.

TS

Seattle: Tech for Good, Tech for Community

Seattle’s Tech for Good journey, while still in it’s earlier stages, has already made waves in the local community. With groups like DemocracyLab, Open Seattle, and Seattle Tech4Good developing initiatives to engage with community stakeholders in the Seattle area, it is quickly becoming a North American hub for Civic Tech. In 2019, Seattle hosted a Civic Tech Volunteer Hackathon with the specific goal to make strides toward facilitating new opportunities for long-term volunteer engagement between Seattle residents skilled in tech and local organizations (Frischmuth, 2019).

Through projects like this- with an emphasis on community building- the Seattle tech innovation sector has developed a strong base from which to keep working towards larger projects, and scale their impact. With Calgary’s rapidly growing tech sector paralleled to Seattle’s flourishing one, we might look to Seattle as a window into the Calgary sector’s near future and take note of how impactful Tech for Good can be, especially to support and learn from our neighbours.

MM

Singapore - from the worst to the best housing system in the world:

Singapore has one of the world’s most sustainable housing planning systems, with more than 80% of the population lives in public housing and 90% of which own their own house, according to the Housing and Development Board. This is possible thanks to the government's housing provision strategy and financial support since the 1960s, including the Home Ownership Scheme, Allocation and pricing, Financial planning, and Home Protection Scheme. Today, Singapore is becoming a smarter city by using technology in housing planning to achieve sustainable living for its citizens. Some of the highlighted technologies include My Waterway @ Punggol (Singapore's first man-made waterway that won numerous awards for transforming the town into a "waterfront town of the 21st century") the Living laboratory (where the new sustainable initiatives in urban planning, design, and green building solutions are test-bedded). HDB also sets the goal to achieve net-zero-energy for common services through the solar capacity building program, in which the design of the solar photovoltaic systems has been optimized to maximize solar power generation for each HDB residential block.

Sunny P.

Innovation in Barcelona

Barcelona was one of my favourite exemplar cities I researched. There were many significant cities that had an interesting aspect of Tech for Good but I enjoyed learning about IoT: the Internet of Things. The array of IoT technologies that are available already gives Calgary plenty of opportunities for utilization.

There are five main categories in which cities can receive their data that can improve a person’s quality of life: Economic Development, Housing & Engagement, Healthcare, Mobility, Security and Utilities (Smart City Hub, 2018). There are 55 main applications within those categories, many of these technologies Barcelona and other cities have already adopted which is what makes them a Smart City. This has been most impactful for a city’s energy conservation due to the introduction of LED light sensors that only turn on with the detection of movement. In fact this has reduced energy consumption by 30% (Eden Strategy Institute and ONG&ONG Pte Ltd., 2018). These sensors also detect air quality, humidity and noise levels (Eden Strategy Institute and ONG&ONG Pte Ltd., 2018). A way that Calgary could work towards becoming a Smart City is starting small with some of these technologies that we know can be effective. Many of Barcelona’s initiatives revolved around bettering the future of not only the city but also the rest of the world. When it comes to the environment and ways that we can become independent from our reliance on natural resources, it is something that is significant for all our future generations.

Sam H.

Into the Future: Digital Governance in Shanghai.

When I think of impressive, I think of Shanghai. With a population of over 24.3 million people, this mega city is one of the most innovative and populated areas in the world (Populationu.com, 2021). Located just south of the Yangtze river, Shanghai is a global center for development in finance, research and technology. With such a large population and an immense amount of global influence, Shanghai is striving to become a leader among smart cities and digital social innovation.

One of the most innovative elements of this city is its transition towards

E- governance: seamless, paperless and boundless government support to every citizen in Shanghai. This model of government interaction will allow citizens to save time, government to save money and will provide everyone with more time to do the activities that bring value to their lives.

Shanghai is an exemplar city for digital social innovation and is setting the bar high for the rest of us!

Dawson

Singapore’s Underground City

Singapore is a beautiful, bustling city. Though, their population is far exceeding their land mass. In order to keep the island from becoming overcrowded Singapore decided to start building below ground.

How does this relate to Calgary? Well, although we have the ability to build outward, and we have done just that -to the point that we may even consume all of Alberta one day- the problem in Calgary draws into its downtown core. The heart of our city is severely congested with traffic, transit lines, bike lanes, and very little parking. Unfortunately, a congested heart is just as bad for a city than it is for a human being.

Despite this fact Calgary has a well-known secret, a hidden tunnel in its downtown core right under city hall. It was constructed to be part of a train line decades ago, but the project was never completed. The infrastructure is there; the question is now, what can we do with it today to implement a better, healthier Calgary tomorrow? Perhaps the city’s +15 could be accompanied by a fifteen below in the future in order to reduce the congestion in our city's core.

Heather J.