Smart Cities Galore

The teams spared no drop of creativity during the Collaboration Round. The final poster presentations offered up ideas for everything from smart city legislation to social ecosystems. While one team member took an impromptu nap on the nearby bench, others shared their visions for the cities of the future with the judges.

And a big THANK YOU to the judges who worked on the collaboration round:

• Heraldo Sales-Cavalcante, Ericsson Executive Development Program Director
• Mike Lawson, Senior Associate Dean of the School of Management
• Helena Norrman, Ericsson Senior Vice President of Communications

A random sampling of some of their incredible ideas for a Networked Society of 2020.

• Team 9 envisioned a Buenos Aires that would use the Networked Society model to monitor the heart rates of its citizens in correlation with their location in the city, and previously entered health data. The result would be up-to-the-minute notification for authorities on emergencies. For example, the system could sense when a heart rate of one person would rise in one location, such as a home. This when linked to previous information could signal a heart attack, and an ambulance would be automatically notified. Or if 20 heart rates rise in a bank location, the police authorities would be notified and a bank robbery could be detected before anyone had to move to press a button.
• Team 12 dreamed up a smart city for Denver, focusing primarily on using the Networked Society to alleviate water shortages and traffic volume. GPS integration would allow citizens to sleep longer before work, avoiding traffic. Smart phone apps would show when hot water is available or who your ideal neighbors are based on water consumption.