The newly launched Oliver Wyman Forum convened more than 20 senior executives, government officials, and academics in Davos on a snowy Tuesday morning to discuss the challenges and opportunities for cities posed by the 4th industrial revolution, “Will AI Make Our Cities Better.” The moderator, Kevin Delaney (Editor-in-Chief and President, Quartz), navigated the discussion through threats and opportunities of tech and data, the role for regulation and incentives, importance of system design and public private collaboration, the concept of community, and importance of putting social equality at the center. It was a lively exchange throughout, with lots of ideas bounced back and forth between the expert panel and the audience. Among the key issues raised by the discussion:
The need for future-proofing cities
The importance of inclusiveness – technology needs to enable, energize, and include. For example, nearly 1/5 of city populations are disabled, and city design (including the implementation of tech infrastructure and technology systems) must take their needs into account
The importance of trust: stakeholders – public and private - have a lot of data but trust is needed among stakeholders to be able to share it.
This issue is clearly very much top of mind for this group and for many in attendance at Davos. Join us at the Oliver Wyman Forum as we continue the conversation on City Readiness.
The panelists were awesome (every one of them) and Kevin Delaney did a masterful job as moderator. Panelists include:
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology President Wei Shyy, Cornell Professor Susanne Bruyere, Booking.com VP Olivier Gremillon, Quartz Editor-in-Chief Kevin Delaney, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Honorable Paul Chan, Ambassador Michael Froman, Vice-Chair, MasterCard, MIT Professor Carlo Ratti, Director Senseable City Lab.