Digital and Societal Transformation ideas-expertise-proces

Intro - doughnut economics Kate Raworth wrote the book ‘ doughnut economics ’ already 2 years ago. The book has been one of the best selling economist book in recent history. Kate brings together a lot of information and opposes her views on the prevalent economic models that are still explained in business schools and that in her opinion create havoc and are too narrowly defined. Human activity, she states, has only a limited band-with of possibilities, as it bounces fast on the external boundary that are the limits of our planet and biosphere; the internal limit is about the social justice and the human dignity that has to be raised at a minimal level. Kate brings different disciplines together : systemic views, sociology,… She also dives into psychology, and that’s the field of my blog of today. Because it seems that we humans have been programmed in our evolution in a certain way to make quick decisions related to fight or fight for example in survival. A lot of these ...

I had the pleasure to participate in the elaboration and actual facilitation of the second 5G conference organised by the Luxemburg Government.  It was a nice collaboration with the Artsquare Lab team in Luxemburg. Expertise on digital transformation topics helped me to gather top insights in very diverse fields and to line up interesting speakers that looked at societal and technical challenges. Factilitation enabled to: - bring together citizens, technicians and business people to look at important societal challenges related to mobility, e-health, smart city and entertainment.  In 50 minutes teams were gathered who worked on the challenge based on preset personas, factsheets, and finished with an elaborated proposal that was using storyboarding techniques. During the two days an important group of facilitators was working in a collaborative spirit. And the Luxembourg government, the client was happy.

On 14th of November, I headed towards Paris for my first attendance of the govtech summit .  At this packed event the state of play of govtech was celebrated with startups and government representatives. Daniel Korski and the whole team of public.io are the organizers of this year y Govtech summit. There are 4 parts of the event: a meeting zone A break out zone A small exhibition area A plenary auditorium Privilege in the format on panels or fireside chats:   So the role of the moderator I the panel was really important to provide relevant interactions.   This to avoid powering it is I understand. focus on the startups that will get a grip on the govtech market ;   it was a lot one way seeing the startups going into the govtech battlefield, without really understanding the needs and specifics of a public administration.   The answer to silos was just to push entrepreneurial spirit into an administration.   At a certain point I thoug...

I was in Paris mid-November for the Govtech summit.  On my way to the event at the former stock market I could not resist to spot the mobility sharing initiatives in Paris. My first impressions were: - bike lane infrastructure: amazing progress of separate bike lane infrastructure.  If the Paris mayor aims to have 50% bikes versus 50% cars in a few years, this is a real good start. - a very diverse set of mobility equipment on the street: scooters, electric skate boards etc... - second generation experience: station based bikes from the second generation after Decaux lost the market; Boloré electric cars gone, but charging stations of Boloré kept and the space made public for all kind of sharing cars. Cars: Let's start with the overview Autolib chargers have been put back in place by Paris, after the contract with Autolib was stopped for the cars. On the location of autolib, you see other organisation with free floating cars:  ADA , Free2MOVE,  ...

So the Brussels Government has agreed on a clear energy and climate plan, congratz! What about bikes? The paragraphs to be found about bikes  relate explain the following and are related to the 'good network' part of the goodmove.brussels strategy: Building out a network of privileged bike networks to increase the city mobility.  These routes need to follow 5 quality criteria: - consistent  - fast (direct link) - secure - pleasant and comfortable By 2025 the regional bike networks or GFR will be rebranded to the comfortable bike network and will be implemented 100%. The velo-plus network (R21, avenue louise, channel crossing, Ring,...) will need to be finished 50% in 2025 and 100% in 2030. Analysis: - there is a talk of rebranding the existing GFR network - bike routes and bike signage do not seem to be separated in terms of approach - 'good service' talks about services that can be developed for bikers: secure bike places, also for cargo bikes It ...

Mauer park Berlin 2019 I was this w.e. in Berlin. for a rowing sightseeing tour, that went all the way from the Western part near Potsdam till the East and back. Before that a little stroll through Berlin and a must visit to the Mauer Park with creativity in action Ruderclub am Wannsee e.v. Berlin About 80 kilometers rowing in one w.e., a good exercise! The local rowing club had an agreement with the company Bayer as an employee benefit; hence the names of the rowing boat ASPIRIN :) I arrived on Friday and spotted some of the mobility sharing  equipment on the streets of Berlin.  It is interesting to see that compared to Brussels, it seems that there are some serious local players that have a pretty good market share, and that they did not have to stop. Cars Not on the picture: Drive Now with the cars, and 5 other providers of car sharing facilities. Parking in Berlin: I was not by car, but still was amazed by the number of mobile apps that provide a...

Today the CITIP center in Leuven celebrates irs 30rd anniversary.  As a former researcher I was asked to contribute to the lustrum book published. So I sat down this summer in the CITIP offices to write down an inspirational essay, based on my own frustration as advisor in the Brussels Government and based on the links between  technology and law. Here is my contribution also to be found in the lustrum book published.  Enjoy Do we need machine readable laws? I magine we would get rid of the foundation of the Napoleon Code and move to a 21 st century Code, where speed limit legislation could look like this: c lass: kilometers per hour (Variable): value_type = int default_value = 0 entity = car label = “The speed of the car” The state of digital transformation: a pile of legislation The state of digital transformation of the legislative process: ground zero What happens when legislation needs to be implemented? When AI ‘does’ the job Legislation machine re...

The three political party negociators agreed on a common governmental declaration, that - at the time of writing - still needs approval by the different political parties. A quick scan on the document reveals following elements: On Smart City: - continuation of Smart Flanders as basis and possible increase of program by VLAIO - Antwerp as city of things living lab - Open Data - on environment belief that smart technology will help air quality E-gov: - continuation of Vlaanderen Radikaal Digitaal program (e-gov data exchange mainly) - a digital first principle - some projects like MAGDA put in the picture as important Mobility: - focus on intermodality and the increase of mobipoints - quick electric chargers - belief in flying drones everywhere and in self-driving cars - ITS intelligent road infrastructure Digital transformation: - 1 plan for digital transformation and AI for Flanders - focus on AI for Flanders, cybersecurity Striking elements  - The Flemish...

(original post on www.fietsknooppunt.brussels)    I was visiting the trade faire Bike Brussels on 23rd of September. The number of electric powered vehicles on wheels (one wheel, two wheels, cargo,…) were really impressive in the offering and it was possible to really try out all of them. Regarding the bike routes t he exhibit of the province of Vlaams Brabant made clear what the power is of the fietsknoopnetwork system: - A clear map of the possibilities; - A clear and standard signage; - A clear suggestion of routes with separate leaflet (here leaflet of geuzeroute - visiting beer heritage !) The contrast with the Brussels regional offering was striking and a sign that the Brussels policy makers have not yet embraced recreational bike as a priority: - two different exhibit booths, one from Brussel mobiliteit with the Bike for Brussels logo; and the other from Visit. Brussels with the be bike be Brussels log...