Designing Smart (Curious, Humble, Empathetic) Cities

Dr. Erik Johnston, Arizona State University.

Date: October 29, 2021

Register: HERE

Dr. Erik Johnston is a Professor with the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Complex Adaptive Systems. He is the Co-Director of the Center for Smart Cities and Regions and the Director of Policy Informatics at the Decision Theater. Dr. Johnston earned a PhD in Information with a Certificate in Complex Systems from the University of Michigan. 

Dr. Johnston research in smart cities and regions integrates open governance and policy informatics applications of public interest technology to serve all communities, including participation from traditionally underserved populations. His research in opening governance explores how our governance systems can evolve to address increasingly complex challenges and to meet the rising expectations of the public to have many pathways to share their talents, data, expertise, and energy to improve their communities. He has been funded from the MacArthur, Robert Wood Johnson, Sloan, Schmidt, Piper, and National Science Foundations. 

This talk explores how a community can internalize “smartness” as a set of principles and behaviors that promote discovery, deliberation, and understanding. A process that requires curiosity, humility, and empathy. It builds off several research projects in the context of DIY health innovation communities, public co-production around transportation and heat vulnerability, and highlights projects developed at the Decision Theater on the future of education policy in Arizona.