Realism and Pragmatism in Smart Communities, with Bas Boorsma

Hi #SmartCommunity friends. Welcome back to another episode of the Smart Community Podcast. I’m excited to share this episode with Bas Boorsma, the founder & CEO of Urban Innovators Inc and the author of ‘A New Digital Deal’. I have been wanting to get Bas on the podcast for a while and we finally made it happen. In this episode, Bas tells us about his 2 decade background in urban innovation and his passion for the course of human progress throughout history, and what a Smart Community means to him. We discuss the importance of balancing co-design and bottom up approaches with discernment and leadership, and the need for pragmatism and realism when engaging with citizens. Bas tells us about the maturing of Smart Community thinking over the years he’s been in the industry, and why governments and the public sector must balance their risk aversion with moonshot thinking if we are going to solve the problems facing us today. 

Bas and I discuss his stint as the Chief Digital Officer for the City of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and the biggest projects and challenges there, including the practical things that can stop innovation in government. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of Smart City silos, the opportunities for AI to help humanity, and the importance of being open-minded about different cultural approaches driving convergence to what works best for the community. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

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Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community 

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The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.