We all know that the world is facing unprecedented challenges: from increasing social divides to the ever-present climate emergency. The world can seem like a scary place right now. But there is good news. These challenges get played out first in our cities so by exploring how we can make our cities better, we can positively influence the world around us. And there is a huge potential in our towns and cities, just waiting to be unlocked by technology, data and new approaches.
We believe urban innovation should be human-first, tech-second
Urban Innovation: What’s it all about?
As we enter this new decade, one thing is undeniably true: for our urban areas, business as usual is just not enough anymore. So how does DG Cities fit into all of this?
“Smart cities”, “urban innovation”, “urban consultancy”...when it comes to our cities there are lots of fancy phrases and much-hyped technology. We know that the potential is huge for IoT, open data and a range of new technologies such as 5G, to transform our cities. But largely, that potential is yet to be unleashed. There are many factors that play into that, from the way urban innovation is typically approached, to the fact that this stuff is just hard.
But this is where DG Cities comes into play, with a simple mission: to find practical ways to cut through the hype and make our cities better, for all the people who live in them. So today, I wanted to tell you a little bit about what makes us different and why we believe our approach can lead to more impactful urban innovation.
The DG Cities Way
As an organisation, we are borne out of a local authority: the Royal Borough of Greenwich to be precise. It sets us apart from the standard urban consultancy firms out there and we believe our path to being offers a huge benefit to our clients. Because at our heart, we understand the public sector. Not just the big headline challenges (more demands, less money) but the real nitty gritty details of how local authorities work when it comes to policy, governance and service delivery. The sort of detail that translates into tangible value for both local authorities and commercial organisations, trying to come together to make cities better.
It’s not the way we came to be that makes us different, but also the way we work. In fact there are 3 key principles that guide everything we do:
Whole-city thinking: we understand and care about all aspects of a city’s workings. Which means that even when we’re working on a project in a particular field i.e. future mobility, we’re thinking about the implications and opportunities for the broader city. In fact, our team is deliberately structured to be hugely collaborative so that we can bring in the expertise across the organisation, no matter what the topic.
Human-centred: There’s no point investing in rolling out tech that people don’t like, don’t understand and won’t use. We understand tech, but at our heart we’re all about people. It’s why we take the time to understand how people feel and interact with tech, carrying those insights into our project and client work. Because we believe it’s only by understanding how people feel about technology and digital services that we can ensure solutions developed to tackle issues are positive, workable and relevant.
Bridging the divides: We like to think of ourselves as the glue that holds urban innovation together. It’s not the most glamorous of roles admittedly, but it’s a vital role and one we are uniquely positioned to play. Urban innovation can be hard, largely because it has to bring together elements that can often seem to be misaligned: public and private sectors; digital and physical infrastructure; strategic thinking and operational pragmatism. We have experience and expertise on all sides and our roots in a local authority mean we are able to facilitate and guide partners and clients through tricky territory. So whether you think of us as glue or maybe a Babel fish, we don’t mind, we pride ourselves on our ability to bridge those difficult divides.
Innovating with Purpose
At DG Cities we love technology. But here’s the thing: we love our cities more. So we’re not blinded by the shine of new promises, instead we’re curious about how and where tech might be able to help, with an unwavering focus on delivering purposeful innovation that delivers real benefits to communities.
We’re here to make our cities better and tech inclusive and accessible to all, so whether you’re a local authority or a commercial organisation, we’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch at [email protected]