The Latin America Urban Technology Initiative proposes the creation of a research center at MIT, focused on doing cutting edge research in regards to the convergence of digital technologies and the future transformation of cities in the Latin American region. The proposed initiative will be launched by the Senseable City Lab, leveraging the research portfolio performed by the lab as well as the multidisciplinary expertise of the research team for the transference and creation of novel scientific knowledge and technologies aimed at improving urban conditions and the quality of life of cities in the region. Challenges such as environmental pollution, traffic, health services and informal settlements are key to the development of the second most urbanized region in the world, and can be improved through the use of data science methods and the use of digital technologies. Our workshop, in collaboration with MIT-ILP will focus on presenting the opportunities that this initiative can bring to companies from the region, through a series of lectures showcasing the type of research projects that the initiative can fuel, and an open discussion with participants, aimed at identifying potential opportunities for impact and collaboration.
Klaus Schleicher joined the Office of Corporate Relations in 2013. He has a Global Operations and Technology background that has delivered rapid profitable growth in the imaging systems, speech recognition, IT security and consulting, digital printing & media industries. He has executive experience in Sales, Marketing, Product Development, Strategy and Business Development and has held senior positions at Universal Wilde, Presstek Inc., Consul Risk Management B.V. (IBM), Lernout & Hauspie (Nuance), Agfa (Bayer Corp.) and Honeywell Inc. He holds a Master Degree in Computer Science and Engineering, from the Technical University of Giessen in Germany.
Jackie Dufault is the Executive Director of MIT’s Senseable City Lab (SCL). SCL is a multidisciplinary research group investigating how digital technologies are changing the way people live and their implications at the urban scale. SCL employs designers, planners, engineers, mathematicians, physicists, biologists and social scientists to conduct research that develops and deploys tools to learn about cities. As Executive Director, Jackie provides strategic and operational leadership across all the Lab’s functions and has a large responsibility in the planning, shaping, directing and executing the mission of the Lab.
Prior to joining Senseable City Lab, Jackie spent 16 years with ICEDR, an international consortium focused on leadership development and talent management for Fortune 500 companies, as the Director of Product Management and also the Managing Director of the ICEDR Webinar Series. She created and executed all aspects of ICEDR’s marketing strategy for its programming and overall product management to ensure ICEDR’s partner needs were constantly exceeded.
Prior to working at ICEDR, Jackie was an Associate at MaPS (Marketing and Planning Systems), a marketing research and consulting firm, streamlining internal efficiencies for quality deliverables to clients. Prior to this she was a Client Services Manager at AIRINC (Associates for International Research), advising oil and gas companies on how best to handle expatriate assignments with regards to cost-of-living differences around the world.
Jackie holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BA in Economics and Government from Dartmouth College.
Fábio Duarte is a lecturer in transportation in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and Principal Research Scientist at MIT Senseable City Lab, where he leads the Roboat project—a fleet of autonomous boats developed for the city of Amsterdam. Duarte is also a consultant with the World Bank, and his most recent book, “Urban Play: make-believe, technology, and space”, has just been published by MIT Press
This session will introduce to participants the cutting-edge research performed by the Senseable City Lab on Urban Science and Technology. We’ll discuss a selection of projects, as well as the methods and technologies used in the research, as well as the impact for partner cities. We will also discuss the diverse forms of collaboration between the lab and our partners.
Dr. Ricardo Alvarez is an academic and researcher whose work focuses on exploring the boundaries of digital technologies used for urban design purposes. He has performed research and teaching work as part of the City Design and Development Group and as a member of the Senseable City Lab, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the past nine years.
Dr. Alvarez has participated in urban innovation research projects that use Mixed Media, IoT, and A.I. in cities as diverse as Dallas, Laval, Cambridge, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Shenzhen, Paris, Medellin, Curitiba, and others. While his work covers a wide range of topics, from autonomous vehicles to urban innovation districts, and smart infrastructure systems, his passion lies in exploring processes that foster social imagination for spatial design, in particular on the collaborative use of VR and AR platforms for new urban systems and public spaces design. He considers himself a life-long gamer and is a strong proponent of cross-pollination between disciplines that create interactive spaces both in the physical and virtual realms, such as architecture, urban planning, video games, and synthetic simulations development.
He is also an international speaker, having lectured in several countries in America, Europe, Asia, and Australia on topics related to innovation, cities, and technology. Before MIT, he worked in the Mexican Federal Government as a founding member of ProMexico (the country's Trade and Investment promotion Federal Agency), as well as in media, retail, financial industries.
This session will focus on defining topics of research and development opportunities for Latin American Cities. We’ll present potential research lines from the lab that could form the initial basis for an urban technology agenda for the region. We will also use this session to introduce the Latin American Urban Technology Initiative to the participants.
The workshop discussion will center on obtaining feedback from the participants on the proposed initiative and the urban technology agenda for the region, as well as in potential forms of collaboration needed to move the initiative forward.