[ecrea] Open Research Workshop: Smart Cities & Big Data

Open Research Workshop: Smart Cities & Big Data

April 4, 2014 Aarhus University, Denmark

(See Call for Papers below)

Smart Cities and Big Data are relatively new buzzwords, but why? The 
relationships between urban and technological developments are ancient, 
and so are humanity’s attempts to store and analyze information to the 
maximum of its collective capacity. Even one, two three decades ago, if 
not centuries, such issues were central to national strategies. What 
else is new?

To a large degree, it’s the ubiquity of both media and messages, the 
speed— metabolism, as it were—, the commodified access to enormous and 
complex information manipulation systems: media. Mobile phones and 
Facebook, to name dominant examples.

But not only do these systems have communicative qualities; they are 
connected, reciprocally to sensors and actuators, not just as part of 
their immediate interfaces, but everywhere, forming what appears to be a 
new situation.

The rapidly increasing complex mediation—and exclusion—potentials are a 
profound challenge for societies to keep up with, and as with all big 
societal challenges, one which requires a sensitive and multifaceted 
apparatus to grasp and influence.

Taking “mobile media and communication” in a broad sense, The Danish 
Mobile Media and Communication Research Network, together with the 
Participatory IT Centre, invites interested researchers to take part in 
a one-day research workshop to share perspectives on the situation.

The aim of this workshop is two-fold:

(1) To encourage researchers from various fields to share their views on 
what issues are most acutely in need of being better understood, based 
on ongoing work, methodological critique and/or recent findings.

(2) To encourage disciplines to meet and (net)work together, e.g. in 
upcoming calls (such as Horizon 2020, INNO+), or in other ways. 
Disciplines of relevance include, but are not limited to: media & 
communication, interaction design, urban planning, sociology, computer 
science, aesthetics, geography, philosphy, engineering, law, 
architecture and economy.

We have invited two speakers to frame the discussions:

Adam Greenfield, writer and urbanist, based in New York, currently in 
London, CEO of Urbanscale and Senior Urban Fellow at LSE Cities, London 
School of Economics. Adam recently published Against the Smart City, the 
first part in a pamhlet series entitled The City Is Here For You To Use, 
and he is the author of the seminal book Everyware (2006) as well as 
Urban Computing and Its Discontents (2007), a conversation with Mark 
Shepard.

Kaj Grønbæk, PhD, professor in computer science at Aarhus University and 
Head of Research and Innovation at the Alexandra Institute’s Interactive 
Spaces Lab. Kaj has worked with everyday systems, blending physical and 
digital qualities, for more than a decade.

Projects include the ongoing EcoSense, and iFloor, which has later been 
commercialized as WizeFloor. Recently named top research innovator by 
Danish think tank Monday Morning.

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

The format is short position paper presentations in themed panels of 
three presentations + discussion based on a submitted abstract of max. 
400 words.

Abstracts should be submitted no later than February 20 to 
(anjabechmann /at/ gmail.com) or (brynskov /at/ cavi.au.dk). Notifications of 
acceptance will be sent out by March 1.

Please note that we plan to group presentations into the four following 
categories:

*

Smart Cities
*

Big Data
• Governance

• Privacy/surveillance

Please indicate which category you find most fitting for your presentation.

The workshop will take place in Aarhus, Denmark, April 4, from 9 am to 
17 pm.

Cost/participation fee policy: No cost for attending, including food. 
Travel/accomodation is paid by participants themselves.

After the workshop there will be a joint dinner for those interested 
(self-paid).

If you have questions, please contact the workshop chairs:

Anja Bechmann <(anjabechmann /at/ gmail.com)> (Digital Footprints Research 
Group) & Martin Brynskov <(brynskov /at/ cavi.au.dk)> (Participatory IT Centre),

Aarhus University.









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