Is this g-Government?

At yesterday’s Eurocities Knowledge Society Forum the focus was on ICT and climate change. Manchester is an enthusiastic member of this network of European cities – and its important to remember that cities, and their governance, are going to be absolutely key to widespread adoption of energy efficiency and energy reduction. For it is urban areas, in Europe and beyond, where much of our carbon is released into the atmosphere, and where much of our energy needs are concentrated.
Our urban infrastructure – power stations, national grid etc. – was developed primarily between the 1940s and 1960s and is coming to the end of its life. As we renew these vital services, futureproofing them, and making them green – both to meet the Kyoto targets, and, with the Copenhagen conference on Climate change taking place this year, even more targets in the future – becomes vital.
In many ways, we’re at a similar stage as we were in the late 90s, with e-Government. Although it was international and national agendas that drove e-Goverment, when it comes down to implementation – or interaction with citizens – it is at a local level that this most often takes place. What we are beginning to see now is a similar pattern with “green” issues. Listening to the speakers yesterday, I thought we might need a g-Government agenda to drive things forward, because as with the apoption of ICT, “joined up” thinking between departments, agencies, services and even countries is vital.
Europe, as Linda Mauperon, Member of Cabinet, European Commission, made clear, wants to guide and direct the agenda. For ICT – its a contributor to greenhouse gasses as an industry itself, as anyone who has worked in an office full of PCs will know too well (never mind the manufacturing and landfill implications of such short shelf-life goods), but its also an enabler of efficiencies through better metering technologies and the idea of “smart” technology in managing our power and water resources. There’s was a fascinating panel looking at “the challenge for business”, where, noticeably, it was only a question at the end that brought up the “credit crunch.” Lynda Shillshaw, Director of Property for the Co-op, was fascinating in discussing how the Co-op has long advocated green policies across its business, buying the majority of its energy from “green” sources. Also, as Britain’s biggest farmer, she made the point that they already farm wind as well as crops and hope to extend this. For Manchester, they are looking at their own real estate within the city, and their plans for redevelopment will be much broader than just new offices, and will see “green” issues at the very heart of what they do.
It’s probably rare for the Co-op to be on the same panel as CISCO and IBM, but this highlights how the world is changing. Paul Johnston is CISCO’s Head of European Public Sector Team, and gave a fascinating insight into how they approach projects. Inevitably, across the world, it is in the areas of construction and transport that major attempts are being made to have a more sustainable approach. Johnston spoke of how “joined up” any new implementations need to be, such as their work in Seoul on traffic control. It is not enough to give people the information, say, about when the bus is due, but to transform the experience. For cities – and residents and citizens of those cities – partnership between the private sector and the city authorities is vital. In the week that Manchester’s next generation broadband project was also launched, the synergies between this and the green agenda were clear. ICT can begin to offer the control and monitoring systems to enable far smarter use of our city’s infrastructure assets – it’s roads, it’s power consumption, it’s public spaces, and offices and workspaces – but requires the fast broadband that can make this happen.
It was a fascinating day, and it was particularly interesting to see Arup’s Virtual Manchester, a 3D model of the city that has grown over the last three or four years, since I first saw it, to cover most fo the area in the inner-ring road in great detail. As a tool for public consultation it is increasingly invaluable.