20 January 2022 – Brazil Country Level Event

Part I. Framing & Knowledge Sharing
Welcome by UKBEAG and link to the six key themes of the UKBEAG Capacity Development Programme and the findings of the Capacity Needs Assessment. Mr Fernando Almeida, UN-Habitat Local Strategic Adviser presented the work that had been undertaken in Recife, emphasising the value of pilots and of the need to promote better data gathering. He also offered remarks on lessons learnt and key challenges. Diego Assuncao, Project Management Analyst with BHTrans (the Transport and Traffic Agency of Belo Horizonte) presented the work that has been undertaken in Belo Horizonte, lessons learnt & key challenges.

Part II. Workshop 1. Building an Open Data Environment
Ms Victoria Delbridge, Head of Cities that Work, International Growth Centre delivered a short framing presentation on why evidence-based design & the effective use of data is so important in the context of today’s cities. Ms Livia Schaeffer Nonose, Technology & Innovation, UNITAC – United Nations Innovation Technology Accelerator for Cities, a collaboration led by UN-Habitat between the UN Office for ICT and Hafen City University based in Hamburg, outlined the work of UNITAC and the need to ensure that the urban digital transformation works for the benefits of all. Mr Ben Snaith, Researcher, Open Data Institute delivered a presentation on how to overcome some of the barriers to develop a more open data environment and the benefits of doing so.

Part III. Workshop 2. Delivering Effective Outcomes, from Data to Action
Ms Victoria Delbridge, Head of Cities that Work, International Growth Centre delivered a framing presentation focusing on governance & collaboration and what good looks like. Mr Nathan Pierce, Head of Smart London Team & Programme Director of Sharing Cities, Greater London Authority (GLA) outlined how the GLA tackle operationalising data, engaging the private sector and developing use cases.

Key Takeaways:

• Smart cities should be people-centred, focusing on solving a tangible urban challenge rather than serving the technology itself. Solving real world problems can improve lives and help overcome the digital divide.
• Having universal data standards and templates for data-sharing agreements in place from the outset helps facilitate collaboration. In the Greater London Authority (GLA), for example, the agreements used are very short and not restrictive, making them very easy to implement.
• In moving from data to action, as with most projects, it is best to start small and build up incrementally. In the GLA case, participation in the initial set-up of the London Datastore was voluntary and was kept simple by focusing on data that everyone already collected, and on tangible priority issues. The results were then used to demonstrate the benefits, which brought more people on board.
• Other mechanisms of bringing people on board included hackathons, collaboration events and creating a community of data officers across London boroughs. Recife has similarly created a vibrant culture around data.
• For a city-wide strategic shift to more open data, we need to think beyond just the project, we need to think about the individual and individual behaviours. We need to understand what is driving the fear of data or the fear of loss of power – bringing the old and new generations together. For this to happen, visible leadership is vital, leaders who can understand and communicate the benefits that technology brings. The GLA has teams dedicated to addressing these issues, while in Recife this is part of an existing role.
• Open data is a spectrum. A combination of open and private data is important as some data does need to remain closed. Furthermore, a data warehouse or single repository is not always possible. Open data is more about transparency and providing the systems for integration of data to deliver new insights.
• Where data is made available, cities can harness the expertise of academia and the private sector to provide innovative solutions. One of the key success factors in Recife’s experience was the partnership between the government and the private sector.