Author: Methi Laithavewat

Modeling pervasive platforms and digital services for smart urban transformation using an enterprise architecture framework

Posted on September 20, 2023 by -

Abstract

Purpose

In smart cities pervasive systems are deployed by enterprises and stakeholders in municipalities to provide digital services to citizens. But cities are faced with the challenge of achieving system pluggability, mainly service integration due to numerous actors and systems needed for smart urban transformation. Hence, there is need to employ a comprehensive and holistic approach to help achieve service integration of pervasive platforms. Therefore, this study presents an Enterprise Architecture Framework (EAF) to support smart urban transformation.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study the design science research methodology is adopted based on a multi-case studies of two organizations and data is collected using semi-structured interview from an organizations and municipality in Norway to validate how service integration can be achieved by the developed EAF to address pluggability challenges faced in urban environment.

Findings

Findings suggest that the presented EAF provides the structure to manage changes and maintain urban transformation and aims to align the business with the underlying information systems from the perspective of the stakeholders. Additionally, findings from the case studies modelled in ArchiMate language depict how service integration of different pervasive platforms provide digital services for smart urban transformation.

Research limitations/implications

This research only employed semi-structured interviews to validate service integration of digital platforms, other identified dimensions of pluggability were not fully addressed in this study.

Practical implications

Findings from the case studies provides insights on how pervasive platforms can be integrated to achieve a pluggable digital service from different stakeholders and data sources in practice. The developed EAF presented in this study provide a model that supports collection and exchange of data from different data sources in smart urban environment to enable the provision and consumption of digital services.

Social implications

The developed EAF aids system pluggability of actors and systems in providing digital service such as smart urban transformation that contributes to sustainable use of electric mobility in cities.

Originality/value

As cities increasingly deploy pervasive platforms to support urban innovation, researchers are seeking to explore how these platforms shape urban transformation. Presently, prior studies do not offer important insights into pervasive platform management from urban perspective. Against this backdrop, this study employs the information systems perspective of digital platforms literature roots in software development and physical product development to depict how the EAF can be employed to describe specific cases that integrate different pervasive platforms deployed by different stakeholders communicating to co-create collective digital services to citizens.

Year: 2021

Authors: Bokolo Anthony Jnr, Sobah Abbas Petersen, Markus Helfert, Dirk Ahlers, John Krogstie.

Publisher: Northwind Publications, Ltd.

Published in: Information Technology & People, Issue ahead-of-print/ahead-of-print, 2021, ISSN 0959-3845

Smiling Earth—Raising Awareness among Citizens for Behaviour Change to Reduce Carbon Footprint

Posted on September 20, 2023 by -

Abstract

This paper describes Smiling Earth, a mobile app to increase citizens’ awareness about their own carbon footprint, by integrating energy and transport-related data. The main aim of our work is to explore the ways in which Information and Communication Technologies could help raise awareness and educate and motivate citizens about their actions and their consequences on the environment. Smiling Earth provides feedback to users by visualising data about their daily activities with the aim to motivate citizens to change their behaviour to reduce their CO2 emissions by adopting a healthier lifestyle. The value of the Smiling Earth for individuals, cities and communities is discussed. The feedback from an expert evaluation and how Smiling Earth could contribute to Positive Energy Districts are also discussed.

Year: 2020

Authors: Sobah Abbas Petersen, Idar Petersen, Peter Ahcin.

Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)

Published in: Energies, Issue 13/22, 2020, Page(s) 5932, ISSN 1996-1073

Summer School organised by NTNU in cooperation with ESITC Caen School of Civil Engineering

Posted on August 1, 2023 by - DBEP Learning and Education Portfolio

This event took place over 5 days in Trondheim in September 2019. Its objective was to investigate community-based facilities management (CbFM) within the City of Trondheim and develop a vision for future CbFM. . +CityxChange was presented to the students before they went into the field.

The participants were 30 Bachelor and Master students from various European universities: Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen, University of Applied Sciences Münster, Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Hogeschool Inholland Diemen, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Nova University, HAN University of Applied Sciences. 

Several areas in Trondheim were involved: the Sluppen area, the Brattøra area (both industrial urban regeneration areas), Karolinerveien neighbourhood (residential complex – “borettslage”/housing cooperative) and NTNU-IBM, Høgskoleringen 7 A (university premises).

The students visited the allocated case study area over a period of 5 days and conducted observations, surveys and interviews with facility managers, residents and other users in the Sluppen and Brattøra (+CxC sites) and Karolinerveien districts of Trondheim. User requirements were collected and analysed. Each group visualized the liveability of the neighbourhoods and investigated how Facilities Management could offer added value, from an outsider perspective on the case areas.

EuroFM Summer School in Community-based Facility Management

Posted on August 1, 2023 by - DBEP Learning and Education Portfolio

This event took place over 5 days in Trondheim in September 2019. Its objective was to investigate community-based facilities management (CbFM) within the City of Trondheim and develop a vision for future CbFM. . +CityxChange was presented to the students before they went into the field.

The participants were 30 Bachelor and Master students from various European universities: Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen, University of Applied Sciences Münster, Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Hogeschool Inholland Diemen, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Nova University, HAN University of Applied Sciences. 

Several areas in Trondheim were involved: the Sluppen area, the Brattøra area (both industrial urban regeneration areas), Karolinerveien neighbourhood (residential complex – “borettslage”/housing cooperative) and NTNU-IBM, Høgskoleringen 7 A (university premises).

The students visited the allocated case study area over a period of 5 days and conducted observations, surveys and interviews with facility managers, residents and other users in the Sluppen and Brattøra (+CxC sites) and Karolinerveien districts of Trondheim. User requirements were collected and analysed. Each group visualized the liveability of the neighbourhoods and investigated how Facilities Management could offer added value, from an outsider perspective on the case areas.

Creative play: Imagining future Limerick

Posted on August 1, 2023 by - DBEP Learning and Education Portfolio

Organised by the University of Limerick researchers as part of City Engage Week in September 2019, this event targeted families with children between 5 and 10 years old, and aimed to introduce +CityxChange to this young age group. The event took place in Fablab Limerick and brought together a group of children accompanied by their parents/grandparents.

The participants were invited to reimagine the city and co-design potential future smart energy and smart mobility solutions, using different types of materials – from Lego, cardboard and Styrofoam to conductive paint, textiles and electronics. The young participants worked in groups to collaboratively create a model for a green, efficient and people-friendly Limerick. 

The event was advertised widely via printed flyers and social media.

While evaluating the outcomes, we came to the conclusion that the children participating were very young and their attention span was very limited. Play and the natural group dynamic took prevalence in this case. For future events, working with older children (over 10 y.o.) could lead to better results. 

 

City Energy Game

Posted on August 1, 2023 by - DBEP Learning and Education Portfolio

This event, organised by the University of Limerick and Limerick City and County Council as part of the first City Engage Week took place with two groups of participants, on two consecutive days at Fab Lab Limerick in September 2019. The “City Energy” boardgame is about collective decision-making in the city and the roles that citizens play. It uses techniques of gamification and tests scenarios of placemaking and behavioural change for residents that share a city block. Players adapt to scenarios during the game according to personas that they choose, (Owner, Occupier, Business-Owner or Curious Citizen). Researchers from the University of Limerick, and students from the School of Architecture at UL (SAUL) developed this game, and ran events for +CityxChange in Limerick, Ireland in Sept. 2019. The purpose of the event was to introduce concepts of shared ownership in the context of the Limerick City Georgian Neighbourhood / Demonstration Area. The event involved building owners and residents in the Limerick City Demonstration area. Through the board game, the organisers  tested various scenarios of urban placemaking and planning and introduced participants to potential  behavioural changes. The participants had the opportunity to inhabit the roles of other user groups addressed in the project. The event brought together people potentially interested in taking part in the Energy Champions programme or the Open Innovation Calls. The event familiarised the participants with the goals of +CityxChange, and served for promoting the use of the Citizens’ Observatory. Trained facilitators were needed during the event to keep track of scores and explain rules. One of the conclusions was that the roles of players could be diversified and the scoring system simplified for future similar events.

D9.21: +CityxChange Storytelling Workshops, inviting other LHCs and FCs 4

Posted on December 19, 2022 by -

The deliverable D9.21: +CityxChange Storytelling Workshops, inviting other LHCs and FCs 4 was submitted by ISOCARP INSTITUE with contributions from NTNU, LCCC, TK, MAI, SB, MP, SMO, VORU, and COL in December 2022. The executive summary of the deliverable is available below and the full deliverable is at the end for download:

“This deliverable describes the approach for the Storytelling Workshops in +CityxChange and reports on the Storytelling Workshop 05 held in Písek (November 2022) at the annual consortium meeting.

The Storytelling Workshops are an integral part of the knowledge development and exchange in- and outside the +CityxChange project and are embedded in Work Package 9 – Intra-Project Collaboration and Clustering. The deliverable is contributing to Task 9.3: Extra-Project Cooperation with existing LHCs and FCs through clustering events run by +CityxChange consortium, focusing on the exchange with other Lighthouse and Follower Cities. Led by ISOCARP Institute, the Storytelling Workshops are jointly organised with the Work Package Lead, NTNU, as well as the +CityxChange cities. To ensure an active exchange with other stakeholders and SCC-01 projects, representatives of the projects are invited to the Workshops.

This deliverable is the fourth of five annual reports on Storytelling Workshops and the series aims to report on a total of ten Workshops which will be carried out bi-annually over the course of the project. The Workshops are organised as part of the yearly consortium meetings and intermediary Learning Workshops.

Storytelling Workshop 05 focused on citizen engagement in the +CityxChange project, drawing on recent experiences in follower cities, to enable discussion on the value, approach and optimal procedures for citizen engagement in complex technical projects. The session used a transmedia format in which four videos were made with representatives of four follower cities, exploring their stories of citizen participation and isolating challenges within these. Group and plenary discussions then focused on the challenges presented in the videos, and attendees were tasked with co-creating solutions. Outcomes reflected on the value of citizen engagement in technical projects, outlining the importance of intentful and prolonged participatory processes, to mutual benefit.“

D11.13 Data Management Plan 5

Posted on December 19, 2022 by -

The deliverable D11.13 Data Management Plan 5 was submitted by NTNU with contributions from all partners in December 2022. The executive summary of the deliverable is available below and the full deliverable is at the end for download:

“This deliverable constitutes the fifth version of the Data Management Plan for the +CityxChange project. It specifies Data Governance and handling of data in the project, types of data expected to be generated in the project, and if and how it will be made open and accessible for verification and re-use. It will also specify curation and preservation, with details such as ethical, privacy, and security issues.

All beneficiaries are informed of the applicable regulations around human participation, informed consent, data processing, data security, and the pertinent regulations such as GDPR or H2020 Ethics or FAIR guidelines. When personal data collection or processing is started, the DMP information will be updated accordingly to include updated data summaries, consent forms, compliance, and institutional approval where necessary. Processing of personal data will respect the Data Protection Principles. This document provides an overview of data handling in the project and provides the initial guidelines for the project. The project will support openness according to the EU FAIR approach and the principle “as open as possible, as closed as necessary” together with the project ambition of “Open by Default”.

This document is an update of D11.5: Data Management Plan – Initial Version, D11.7 Data Management Plan 2, D11.16 Data Management Plan 3, D11.10 Data Management Plan 4 and supersedes those documents. Changes to previous versions are detailed in the introduction section.“

D7.14: Data Collection and Management Guideline Reports 4

Posted on December 1, 2022 by -

The deliverable D7.14: Data Collection and Management Guideline Reports 4 was submitted by KPMG FA with contributions from LCCC, UL, MP, SMO, MAI, NTNU and TK in November 2022. The executive summary of the deliverable is available below and the full deliverable is at the end for download:

“The objective of Task 7.4, Developing Practical Recommendations and Guideline Reports based on +CityxChange (+CxC) Results, is to create practical recommendations and guideline reports which detail, analyse and interpret the aggregated data collected during the M&E process, and deliver technical recommendations related to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), energy, community, mobility, environmental and regulatory interventions implemented in the project. The guidelines and recommendations in this report were produced through a data triangulation process, incorporating qualitative feedback from partners, KPI data generated by the design and execution of +CxC 2 Demonstration Projects (DPs), and by leveraging the knowledge generated through the project (e.g. deliverables, events, storytelling and learning workshops, meeting minutes).

Previous iterations of this deliverable, namely Deliverable 7.5 – Data Collection and Management Guideline Report 1 (D7.5), Deliverable 7.8 – Data Collection and Management Guidelines Report 2 (D7.8) and Deliverable 7.11 – Data Collection and Management Guidelines 4 (D7.11) have focused on developing and detailing the mechanism for conducting qualitative evaluation. This mechanism includes processes to identify and select interventions, classify them into themes and link them to associated evaluation guidelines, record and facilitate feedback collection (e.g. post-activity interviews, feedback form), monitor progress and identify lessons learnt through comprehensive M&E processes including: feedback analysis received from partners, review of associated project documentation, alignment to international best practices (e.g. SCC1 M&E task group). All of the above allow Work Package 7 (WP7) to ensure that a robust and conclusive M&E process is set in place and that actionable guidelines and recommendations are being produced as result.

Deliverable 7.14 – Data Collection and Management Guidelines Report 4 (D7.14) offers an update on the functioning of the Evaluation Framework and provides clear recommendations and guidelines that have been produced in the reporting period between October 2021 and September 2022. Four topics were explored, each offering specific recommendations which are built upon in Section 3. Table 1 provides a brief overview and update of recommendations as established in D7.11.

Table 1: Overview of Recommendations

The deliverable also includes future considerations and upcoming interventions for the next reporting period (October 2022- October 2023).” 

D7.11: Data Collection and Management Guideline Reports 3

Posted on November 30, 2022 by -

The deliverable D7.11: Data Collection and Management Guideline Reports 3 was submitted by KPMG FA with contributions from LCCC, UL, ISOCARP, MP, NTNU and KPMG FA in November 2022. The executive summary of the deliverable is available below and the full deliverable is at the end for download:

“The objective of Task 7.4, Developing Practical Recommendations and Guideline Reports based on +CityxChange Results, is to create practical recommendations and guideline reports which detail, analyse and interpret the aggregated data collected during the M&E process, and deliver recommendations related to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), energy, community, mobility, environmental and regulatory interventions implemented in the project. The guidelines and recommendations in this report were produced through a data triangulation process, incorporating qualitative feedback from partners, KPI data generated by the design and execution of +CityxChange 2 Demonstration Projects (DPs), and by leveraging the knowledge generated through the project (e.g. deliverables, events, storytelling and learning workshops, meeting minutes).

Previous iterations of this deliverable, namely Deliverable 7.5 – Data Collection and Management Guideline Report 1 (D7.5), and Deliverable 7.8 – Data Collection and 3 Management Guidelines Report 2 (D7.8) have focused on developing and detailing the 4 mechanism for conducting qualitative evaluation. This mechanism includes processes to identify and select interventions, classify them into themes and link them to associated evaluation guidelines, record and facilitate feedback collection (e.g. post-activity interviews, feedback forms), monitor progress and identify lessons learnt through comprehensive M&E processes including: feedback analysis received from partners, review of associated project documentation, alignment to international best practices (e.g. SCC1 M&E task group). All of the above allow Work Package 7 (WP7) to ensure that a robust and conclusive M&E process is set in place and that actionable guidelines and recommendations are being produced as result.

Deliverable 7.11 – Data Collection and Management Guidelines Report 3 (D7.11) offers an update on the functioning of the Evaluation Framework and provides clear recommendations and guidelines that have been produced in the reporting period between June 2021 (submission of D7.8) and October 2021. Five topics were explored, each offering specific recommendations which are built upon in Section 2.2. Table 1 provides a brief overview of recommendations. The central theme of feedback collected from partners within this specific reporting period is Community Engagement (Project Theme 7). This, however, led to the emergence of other key topics for analysis such as the ones listed in Table 1 below. These will be discussed in further detail in Section 3.1.2.

Table 1: Overview of Recommendations

The deliverable also includes future considerations and upcoming interventions for the next reporting period (October 2021 – September 2022). The topics listed above will inform future discussions and form the basis of lessons learned and recommendations in the next reporting period.”