Description
This course provides an overview of the new technologies which have been emerging in recent years and explores their potential impact. It analyses how private companies currently apply them to develop business opportunities or resolve problems. Moreover, it describes the role of these technologies in the development of new urban services for the next-generation cities (usually called Smart Cities). The course places special emphasis on Big Data and Analytics and provides a vision of the future applications that these technologies will make possible. It also explores how the implementation of these technologies can disrupt the position of many incumbents, generating business conflicts and raising questions related to security and privacy. We will discuss all of them in class. Students will work on case studies in small groups provided by external experts (Barcelona City Hall, Enel, Nice City Hall, Airbnb...). The visit of Barcelona is programmed to illustrate the application of emerging technologies to resolve business issues and improve quality of life for citizens. Students are required to respond to a challenge and present in groups a solution able to improve Barcelona city and which leverages the use of these new technologies
Type Subject
Optativa
Semester
Second
Credits
5.00
Previous Knowledge
Objectives

This course seeks to assist you:
1. To describe the new emerging trends and their managing role in the business
2. To understand their role and their disruptive impact to solve issues and improve quality of citizens’ life
3. To understand the challenges and risks related to their implementation
4. To analyze the conflicts that these technologies generate regarding the incumbent companies
5. To apply these technologies for developing alternative strategies or detecting new business opportunities

Contents

introduction of smart city concepts
fablab barcelona visit
data science for transport
analytics to manage cities
governance of smart city
architecture and IT
visit of barcelona smart city
challenge preparation using candy model
final exam preparation

Methodology

The learning experience is based on a range of teaching methods that seek to foster your understanding of the course. The classes will be dynamic only if students come to class prepared and willing to contribute to class discussion.

Evaluation

The evaluation will be partly continuous but based also on a final topic presentation. Precisely, course grade will be based on the following point breakdown:

Topic Presentation in group and Challenge presentation: 20%
Challenge 40%
Final exam 30%
Participation: 10%

Evaluation Criteria
Basic Bibliography

In addition to the cases we will be discussing in class, you will be provided with a range of additional materials through the university intranet. You may also be requested to search for particular readings in the library databases.

Recommended Textbooks

Economist (2013). Mining the urban data. http://www.economist.com/news/21566408-cities-will-become-smarter-differ... (last access:04/09/2016).
Economist Intelligence Unit (2011). 2004-2011 Quality of Life Index. https://www.economist.com/media/pdf/quality_of_life.pdf (last access:04/09/2016).
Samet, R.H. (2013). Complexity, the science of cities and long-range futures. Futures 47, 49-58.
Gartner (2015). 2015 Hype Cycle Special Report. The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies. Technical report.
McKinsey (2011). Big Data: The next frontier for innovation, competition and productivity. McKinsey Global Institute.
McKinsey (2014). The Internet of Things: Mapping the Value Beyond the Hype. Technical report.
McKinsey Global Institute Report, R. (2013). Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy.
World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). Our common future. Oxford, UK. Oxford University Press.

Additional Material

Neal, Z.P. (2013). The connected city: How networks are shaping the modern metropolis. Routledge, New York & London.
M. E. J. Newman (2010). Networks: An Introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Townsend, A.M. (2013). Smart Cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. W.W. Norton & Company Inc. New York.
Smart Cities Council (2015). Smart cities readiness guide: The planning manual for building tomorrow’s cities today.
Yigiscanlar,T, O’Connor, K. Westerman, C (2008). The making of knowledge cities: Melbourne’s knowledge-based urban development experience. Cities 25 (2008) 63-72
Mayer-Schonberger, V. & Cukier, K. (2013). Big Data: A revolution that will transform how we live, work and think. John Murray (Publishers), London.