with mo TiVo of the world day of cities, on 31 October, is timely to reflect on the way in which
are moving our roadmap to constitute smart cities from Santiago’s experience. In this direction, it is essential that there are spaces of collaboration and trust, where it can articulate solutions that involved public sector, the private sector and the academic look. This ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship and productive development is one of the most valuable qualities of the regional strategic programme of Corfo, Sé Santiago Smart City.
We have proposed the goal of being a space in which we can identify problems, reflect and articulate potential solutions to a city-scale, but also promote solutions on a scale of local policies apply in communes and
districts, i.e., from the own territory in which are presented the problems and urban practices with smart, simple, creative, interventions that have the cunning to look at things from a different perspective can be transformed.
It is no coincidence that this ecosystem of support for smart cities form the eaves of Corfo, which has played a crucial role supporting the development of productive industries and has a wide battery of contests, funds and support programs to the ventures that are inserted in them. And if we link an ecosystem that favours the development of an intelligent city, which also put your attention on ventures that may have the potential to influence or transform the city, commune and district, we have a virtuous circle that we must enhance and strengthen. It is to the local needs in harmony with business ideas that propose transforming solutions of urban practices.
We know some of these initiatives at the 2nd International Congress of smart cities and local governments organized by the Association of municipalities of Chile, in order to deepen our discussions with the municipal world. Without a doubt, there is a shared public role: agree on the vision of improving the quality of life of people in the city, making it more friendly, livable and sustainable leveraging best resources that exist.
To move in this direction, it is essential to integrate ecosystems of the collaboration, participating in networks, share best practices and learn from the comparative experiences. From the program, we are working with numerous outstanding entrepreneurs who have received support in Corfo who own a smart city approach and have the potential to offer solutions to complex problems of the city and improve the quality of life in the great Santiago, its communes and districts, because we have a conviction: intelligent ventures can change the face of a city.
Probably one of the biggest risks is the tendency to label smart few cosmetic interventions that again, without diminishing them in their contribution to punctual and bounded solutions, can make us lose the sense of background, which is the opportunity influence transformations in the city’s system and the way in which we build coexistence and community, with an active and participative citizenship which is also capable of modifying habits and behaviors to contribute to the story of a smarter city, with more intelligent citizens who in their everyday decisions contribute to generating a better culture of urban life. The ventures and Start Ups related to mobility, the environment and security represent an opportunity in this direction.
The problems and complexities of a city will never end, they evolve along with their growth, new social phenomena and demographic changes, such as the ageing of the population or the increase in immigration. Therefore we need ecosystems between the public, private and academic sector as that promotes our program. We aspire to make these spaces for reflection and collaboration strong, transverse and incidents, taking proposals for change national and local public policies to cope with changes in the territory.
Poured in this op-ed content is the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial line nor the counter position.
