CAPITAL WATCH ISSUE 1 2018

Kat Hanna — First thing's first – what exactly does the City Chief Digital Officer for London do – and what’s top of your agenda right now? Theo Blackwell — No two Chief Digital Officers are the same. My role here in London is about leading collaboration across the city – both public and private sector – to make sure that the capital’s various strengths in innovation are greater than the sum of its parts. Right now I’m focusing on the launch of the new Smarter London Together Roadmap - which is effectively a roadmap for what we hope to achieve, setting out the tools that we will be using to get there. What lies at the heart of this is data. I’m looking at how we can ensure that we are able to get the most out of the vast amount of data produced across the capital, and use it tackle the priorities that matter to Londoners. KH — Let’s talk a bit more about data. Why is it so important, and why are we hearing so much about it now? TB — Cities have always been a rich source of data. London, is after all, a massive agglomeration of data from both public and private sources, records of transaction, of administration, production and consumption. Add to that the mass adoption of the smartphone, and then it's not just institutions that are producing data, but individuals. This means we need to start thinking about London not just as the boroughs, or City Hall, but an entire ecosystem. Nonetheless, the sheer amount of data we now produce as city means that if we are going to get the most out of it – and really understand how people use the city – we need to look beyond the capability of conventional data analysis. That’s why I’m really excited about the potential of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to help us extract trends, patterns, and even make predictions about our interactions with the city. However, we need to get the foundations right first. We may have the data in vast amounts, but it's not always of the standard it needs to be. As anyone who’s ever been involved in a digitalisation project will know, getting that data up to scratch means collaboration between all those collecting it, as well as time and investment to ensure that it's clean and consistent. That’s step one in becoming a smart city. KH — The term ‘smart cities’ isn’t exactly new, and can feel a little dated. How would you best define it? TB — There’s no doubt ‘smart cities’ has evolved as a term. Ten years ago, the big focus was on systems – the creation of large technology platforms where data could be viewed in one place. We’re talking big IT solutions, often delivered by major global companies. Things have moved on since this model. In addition to collecting data on utilities, or labour markets, or school places, we are on the verge of a more dynamic understanding of how people move around the city. There’s a tendency for people to think smart cities are all about hardware - driverless cars or IoT connected street furniture. These technologies may be exciting, but opportunities for innovation, for truly smart cities, are as likely to come from new approaches to service design or data analysis as they are from gadgets and gizmos. KH — Is there a limit to how ‘smart’ cities should be? TB — I think there’s two ways of thinking about this. First – what is acceptable to citizens in the uses of their data? Second, how do we express citizens needs in a way that the tech sector can better understand? We need better ways to engage the sector, and many cities are experimenting with innovation prizes. That’s where city government comes in, helping to broker a relationship, to promote better understanding of the use of data for public benefit but also to set terms for tech sector engagement. That’s where democracy and civic responsibility comes in – in the ability to articulate what matters to citizens, and to convey to citizens the civic benefits of data. It’s also about getting the right balance between innovation and regulation. Of course, we want London to be open to innovation, My role here in London is about leading collaboration across the city, tomake sure that the capital’s various strengths in innovation are greater than the sum of its parts but this doesn’t necessarily mean accepting every application for trials and licenses that arrives at City Hall. I very much welcome every opportunity for collaboration, but this has to be based on an articulation of our needs and values as a city. KH — Given recent concerns about how data is collected and held, what is City Hall doing to ensure Londoners know what information is collected about them and what it may be used for? TB — Ensuring Londoners knowing how and why their data is collected is a priority for me. This means highlighting use cases of data in a way that is meaningful to citizens – for example, CityMapper, but also setting out the different types of data and how they can be used. I’m working with colleagues in City Hall to launch the London Office of Data Analytics, which will help us show how data from different sources comes together, and the types of use cases that emerge. Over the next few months I’ll also be developing a cybersecurity strategy that will support my ambitions for London. KH — One of the most exciting parts of your job is visiting and hosting Chief Digital Officers from a range of global cities. What city do you look to for inspiration or best practice? TB — I spent more or less the first 100 days of my job getting out and about and trying to understand what was already being done in London, as well as looking to international cities. Part of my job is about convening organisations and individuals. This isn’t always straightforward, especially when you’re trying to work with 33 boroughs and a fast-moving technology sector. That said, it's valuable to see how different boroughs are taking different approaches to how they collect and use data. This allows us understand to what works and what doesn’t, rather than rushing in and reinventing the wheel. I’ve been lucky to be able to visit a number of US cities such as Austin and San Francisco, and I’m building relationships with my counterparts in European cities. I’ve learnt that not all cities have the same starting points and priorities. For example, a lot of the conversation in US right now is focused on the future of mobility – whether on-demand buses or driverless cars – in part because many cities lack the type of mass transit we have here in London. CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 27 IN CONVERSATION