Global futurist and CEO of Fast Future Research, Rohit Talwar, will explore the social, educational, economic and environmental potential of the intelligent city at the Intelligent Cities Conference in Leeds on 19 June. This will include a deep dive into how tomorrow’s city should be viewed as the enabler of the future, and the ‘soft elements’ of creating an intelligent city to take full advantage of upgrading its physical technological infrastructure.

Talwar will address how the development of intelligent cities is a critical move in creating a sustainable future, which will engage and develop local economies, create community cohesion and build lifelong education platforms that equip children and adults alike for a lifespan that could last 90 years or more.

“An intelligent city is much more than just its technology,” states Talwar, who has been named as one of the top ten global future thinkers by The Independent. “It’s about the mindset shift that delivers the thinking, planning and rapid execution of ideas on how to build a sustainable society that makes maximum use of the facilities already around us. For example, repurposing unused stores on the high street as community resources and using public buildings, such as schools as multi-service facilities in the evenings to accommodate local libraries, community centres, doctors’ surgeries and even magistrates’ courts. Such moves would meet the twin goals of cutting the operating costs for local councils and taking local facilities and giving them more value to the community.”

Rohit will use real life case study examples about the trends and forces that are driving and enabling this multi-faceted view of social, educational and community cohesion in a city that can be facilitated with the technology and infrastructure already available. Rotterdam’s investment in its planning for sustainability, Helsinki’s investment in energy and resources, and the IBM central city control centre in Rio de Janeiro which integrates the work of multiple agencies, are all examples of how cities around the world are taking a smart approach.

“Technology is a critical enabler of the smart city, but a truly sustainable and intelligent model requires us to go much broader and think about every aspect of what makes a city vibrant and viable. The Government is working hard to make the technology infrastructure a priority but it needs to see this as part of the vision, not the whole solution, to what we need for the future of our cities,” he added.

Rohit Talwar’s presentation will take place at 12.35pm at The Rose Bowl, Leeds Metropolitan University on 19 June. The Intelligent Cities conference will also include presentations from Cambium Networks, Ericsson, EE, IBM, Cisco Arup, aql, Leeds Data Thing, Medtech University of Leeds and Synchronoss Technologies. Paul Hadley who is the Deputy Director Information Economy Industrial Strategy at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will also speak.

The Intelligent Cities Conference is a business event and costs £50 plus VAT to attend. To register for the event please visit: http://www.regonline.co.uk/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1209906.