A Smart City is a city that uses technological solutions to improve the management and efficiency of the urban environment.

A panel of experts from public services, academia and private organisations taking part in the Smart Cities roll out will discuss opportunities offered by the use of smart technologies in public services delivery and the current and future challenges.

Smart Cities play an important role in finding innovative solutions for some of the most current challenges, for instance; better management of sustainable mobility, air quality, flooding and crowd management.

Many people will have heard the term ‘smart cities’ but will be unsure what it means or how it impacts on their everyday life. This talk will highlight the work already taking place in smart cities across the UK and Europe and the challenge and opportunities these cities create.

In particular, the panel will present experiences from taking part in the European Commission funded projects such as ’Smart Cities and Open Data REuse (SCORE)’ project.

On the panel will be Dr Dhaval Thakker, Senior Lecturer at the University of Bradford, Adrian Walker, T-Services Manager and Sydney Simpson, Flood risk and mapping Surveyor both from the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. There will also be an industry representative who will be confirmed nearer the time.

Biographies

Dr. Dhaval Thakker - University of Bradford

He is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and Director of the Postgraduate Research (DPGR) at the University of Bradford. His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Smart Cities. Dhaval has over fifteen years of experience in the European Union and industrial projects delivering innovative solutions. Currently, Dhaval is a Principal Investigator at the University of Bradford on a European Commission project ‘Smart Cities and Open Data REuse (SCORE)’. In the SCORE project, Dhaval works with nine European Municipalities to build smart solutions to improve public service delivery in the area of water, environment, and mobility.

Adrian Walker - City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

Adrian has been a Local Government employee within a Local Planning Authority for over 30 years. He is a Chartered Geographer and has an M.Sc in Geographical Information Systems. He is passionate about geospatial data and is one of the lead geospatial experts at the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. He is constantly investigating opportunities for the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council to use IT in innovative ways to improve/facilitate the Planning and Building Control Statutory functions.

Currently, Adrian is the Project Manager for the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council EU Smart Cities and Open data REuse (SCORE) project. Adrian has been involved in a previous European project “Flood Resilient Cities” which aimed to increase flood resilience in partner cities.

In the past he has been part of a British Superbike team.

Sydney Simpson - City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

Sydney is Bradford Council’s Flood Risk and Mapping Surveyor with a background as a land (topographic) surveyor, having undergraduate qualifications in Engineering Surveying, Computing and post graduate qualifications in GIS. Sydney has considerable experience in European Interreg projects in both North-West Europe and North Sea Regions. Currently involved with the SCORE (Smart Cities and Open data REuse) and BEGIN (Blue-Green Infrastructure and Social Innovation) projects. As part of an initiative by the Open Data Institute following the Boxing Day 2015 floods, helped set up LoRaWAN water level sensors along Bradford Beck as a proof of concept to monitor flood risk.

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Through public events the University of Bradford seeks to provide a forum for academics, students, experts in their fields and the public to discuss areas of work of the University and their relation to society.