Smart cities

Smart Cities Design - Smart data-driven evaluation frameworks

Europe’s 2020 vision of a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy is supported by a proliferation of smart city development and regeneration programmes.

Smart technology creates both new opportunities for data-driven evaluation against relevant targets, and challenges in developing urban analytics to evaluate key dimensions of urban systems. Existing evaluation approaches are considered inadequate, focusing more on implementation processes and investment metrics than on performance, outcomes and impacts of smart city projects. Much of this previous work has not adequately addressed: data challenges associated with smart data sources and fused datasets; the diversity of metrics used; project complexity, variety and interconnectedness at multiple-scales; and multiple targets. Not having a well-defined and standardised framework for evaluating outcomes limits strategic monitoring and analytics informing urban planning, and inter-comparisons supporting smart city learning from best practice.

The SmartDframe project led by Caird and Kortuem proposes to develop and refine an evaluation framework, building on existing city indicator frameworks to identify smart city characteristics, indicators, metrics and datasets.

Key research questions to investigate within SmartDframe include:

• How can the various data sources obtained via the new Milton Keynes MK:Smart Datahub be used to both support evaluations of the outcomes and impacts of smart city projects, and inform city performance analytics?

• How do city authorities across smart cities in selected UK and European cities approach smart city project evaluation using smart and other data sources?

• What learning can be shared across smart cities to support better evaluation approaches, comparative urban analytics and smart city planning?

Using the urban data collected through MK:Smart from a variety

of data sources, including static open data resources and real-time data streams from energy, transport and water infrastructure networks, SmartDframe aims to develop and trial ‘better’ frameworks, that are data-driven, impact-focused, holistic, well-defined, and transferable across smart initiatives. This will inform city-level indicators of the performance of smart city projects, and their social, economic and environmental outcomes and impacts. Expert consultations with city authorities across Milton Keynes and other smart cities will inform and help to validate data-driven evaluation approaches to smart city projects, and support smart city learning. Wider UK and European initiatives can draw on the SmartDframe project findings of interest to city authorities, industry, academics, and policy-makers working on smart city project development and evaluation.

Credits: Milton Keynes at night by Stuad70 on Flickr: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England and Wales, and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

For more information, please contact: Rachel Baddeley at rachel.baddeley@open.ac.uk, Dr Sally Caird at sally.caird@open.ac.uk or Prof. Gerd Kortuem at gerd.kortuem@open.ac.uk.

Our aspirationsCity policy making and planning is increasingly based on data and analytics. We are keen to explore how smart sources of data and fused datasets can be used best within evaluation approaches to inform city performance analytics, building on city performance indicator frameworks.

We aspire to build on SmartDframe as a demonstration project within the MK:Smart programme. Our collaborative partnerships with universities,

The Open University (OU) was founded on the mission of being open to people, places, methods and ideas, making education available to all, regardless of previous experience or educational achievements.

A cutting-edge research institution, the OU is engaging with some of the major issues facing the world today. From researching cures for cancer, to searching for life on Mars, the OU’s areas of enquiry are wide and varied. Furthermore, the quality of this research and teaching is outstanding. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), over 60% of our research was rated as ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world-leading’. This places

us in the top 50 universities for research in the UK. Our campus in Milton Keynes also boasts world-class research facilities with new laboratories for design, ecosystems, soil analysis and atomic, molecular and plasma research.

Design in the OU’s Engineering and Innovation Department has established an outstanding reputation for innovation in research

The Open University (OU)and distance learning since 1969. Playing a major role in shaping the international design research agenda in design theory, process, and methods and, through its richly inter-disciplinary approach, the OU continues to be at the forefront of design research. With the OU’s renowned Ubiquitous Computing and Sustainability Lab in the Computing and Communication Department, our research on sustainable urban design, analytics and smart city programmes is contributing to the MK:Smart programme (www.mksmart.org/about/) which is developing innovative solutions in transport, energy and water management to support economic growth and citizen engagement in Milton Keynes - an emerging medium-sized smart city.

industry and city authorities through the MK:Smart programme, together with our local networks with Milton Keynes Council and national and European city networks, provide an excellent opportunity to develop the aspirations of SmartDframe. To do this we would like to secure funding to support the recruitment of a dedicated researcher for the SmartDframe project team.

With additional funding the team could extend the selection of smart city case studies to include a wider representation of European and North American cities. Extending

Our credentialsSmartDframe has secured funding from The Open University’s Smart Cities Open Challenge, to support the work of the MK:Smart programme which won £16m of funding, including from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The interdisciplinary team working on SmartDframe have extensive expertise and achievements relevant to smart city project evaluation approaches and city system analytics. Dr. Sally Caird brings expertise in the design, innovation and performance of low carbon technology solutions in the built environment, and evaluation methodologies. Professor Gerd Kortuem has extensive expertise on smart energy, smart city networks and urban analytics. Dr. Emma Dewberry is an expert advisor in design for sustainability.

the selection of cities would help us trial and validate data-driven approaches to the evaluation of smart city projects. An expansion of funding would also enable the exploration of mechanisms to support and sustain smart city learning via urban observatories about better evaluation approaches to smart city projects and city system analytics.

We would be delighted to share more details of our future plans and ambitions and look forward to hearing from you.