The Smart and Sustainable Cities Panel: this Wednesday at USF’s Patel College of Global Sustainability

On the evening of Wednesday, September 27, my friend Taylor Ralph will be moderating a panel of experts in what promises to be “a fun evening with an amazing panel of experts on the hot topic of Smart & Sustainable Cities.”

What’s a smart city?

A smart city is one that makes use of information, communications, and internet of things technologies to manage infrastructure and service assets such as its water supply, transportation systems, power plants, law enforcement, hospitals, waste management, schools, and so on. It uses these technologies to interact engage directly with and improve communications its citizenry, monitor and control the city infrastructure, reduce costs and resource consumption, and adapt to changing circumstances.

A prime example of a smart city initiative is Amsterdam, which has a smart city initiative collaboratively developed by local residents, government and businesses. There are street with “smart lights” that adjust their brightness to current conditions and pedestrian usage, real-time traffic monitoring that’s broadcast to drivers so they know which routes to take and avoid, and a resident-developed app that allows parking space owners to rent them out for a fee and allows the city to determine parking demand and traffic flows.

What’s a sustainable city?

What’s a sustainable city? It’s one that manages it environmental impact and attempt to meet present needs with sacrificing the ability of future citizens to meet their own needs, and balances ecological, economical, cultural, and political factors to create an enduring way of life. With over 50% of the world’s populations living in cities and urban areas and urbanization increasing at almost 2% annually for the next few years, making cities sustainable is becoming an increasingly important endeavor.

Who’ll be on the panel?

Here’s what the event’s page says:

Panelists include a private developer from Tampa working on a large re-development in downtown Tampa and trying to make it WELL Certified; the sustainability lead from the University of Florida to discuss their smart, sustainable buildings and curriculum on campus; a vice president of a large technology company who will share the completion of one smart community in Japan and one in progress in Denver; a local Sustainability Manager from City of St. Petersburg, a leader in City of Orlando Smart City effort, and a vice president from Metro Development. Quite the list of experts!

There will be lots of time for questions and robust discussion.

Here are the panelists:

• Bahar Armaghani, LEED Fellow, LEED Faculty, Director, UF Green Building Learning Collaborative, and Lecturer, Sustainability and the Built Environment College of Design, Construction and Planning
• Kartik Goyani, VP of Metro Development
• Mike Hess, PE, LEED Fellow, Vice President, Smart & Sustainable Buildings, Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company
• Sarah Mason, WELL AP, LEED AP, Wellness and Sustainability Analyst, Strategic Property Partners
• Charles Ramdatt, Co-Chair of City of Orlando Smart City
• Sharon Wright, AICP, LEED AP BD+C, ENV SP, Sustainability Manager, City of St Petersburg

And they’ll all be moderated by Taylor Ralph, LEED AP, President of REAL Building Consultants, native of Tampa, and all-round great guy.

When, where, and all that

The Smart & Sustainable Cities Expert Panel takes place this Wednesday, September 27th, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the USF Patel College of Global Sustainability (4202 E. Fowler Avenue).

Register here — the registration fee is $15 for USGBC members and students, and $25 for non-members.