"Smarter Cities, Safer Spaces Conference'" Building a Collaborative Future for Public Safety.  

Dave Orford

Dave Orford, Future Public Safety Strategist

Barbara Spooner

Barbara Spooner MBE, CEO of Digital Safety

In October 2024 leaders from local government, law enforcement, tech companies, and communities came together for an inspiring event: Smarter Cities, Safer Spaces. The event explored public safety, smarter urban environments and some of the ethical challenges that arise in this space. Featuring two keynote speeches, insightful panel discussions, and interactive workshops, this conference fused many aspects related to smart cities, but the one golden thread that appeared in all discussions was the need to focus "smartness" liveability to the communities and residents that occupied the space.  

Keynote Highlights 

The event kicked off with an opening address from Liz St Louis, Director of Smart Cities for Sunderland Council, followed by two keynotes that set the stage for a full day of rich dialogue and learning. 

  • Keynote 1: Public Safety in Smart Cities 
    Delivered by a leading expert in future smart cities, Dave Orford, this keynote delved into how emerging technologies, like AI-driven surveillance and IoT-enabled sensors, can play a pivotal role in public safety, but require human buy in. Attendees gained a deeper understanding of how Peelian principles could be applied to police a smart city of the future.  
  • Keynote 2: Hard Choices Ahead in Smart City Safety
    There are advances and benefits that will come with the advance of technology in smart cities, but there's nothing that comes without some other issue or cost. This is in line with our history of urban development. Peter Kawalek, Director of Information at Loughborough University discussed why decisions around personal and community safety might be especially contested and asks might participatory design approach will bring communities and agencies together to design harmonious safer spaces of the future?  
BornGood
Exhibitors
Exhibitiors
BornGood

Interactive Workshops 

Following the panels, attendees had the opportunity to participate in hands-on workshops. Each session was designed to encourage collaboration and provide actionable insights. 

  • Workshop 1: Building Resilient Community Networks 

An interacted workshop was delivered by Claire Turnbull and Harvey Ellams from Digital Safety CIC along with Nicol McConnell from Sunderland City Council. Nicol gave an overview of how Sunderland have set up a Digital Inclusion Network and created Digital Health Hubs to support local communities. Claire and Harvey discussed safe usage of smart devices, secure browsing practice and the danger of compromised accounts in public spaces. 

  • Workshop 2: Gaming and esports in smart cities

Kylie Kendrick from Durham University and Simon Howatson from BornGood provided a hands-on workshop on how sustainable gaming and esports has the potential for positive influences within a smart city.  

Our insightful panels brought together a collection of law enforcement, education and industry experts.

Steve Leach, NEBRC​ – Caroline Gibby, University of Hull​ – CC Vanessa Jardine, Northumbria Police – James Perry, Harper Perry 

Danielle Phillips, Cyber North​ – ​ Lisa Bradley, Queens University Belfast​ – Peter Kawalek – DCC Ciaron Irvine, Durham Constabulary – Dr Gill Hagan-Green 

This diverse group fostered productive networking and deepened the understanding of how different sectors can work together for a shared vision of urban safety. "It never ceases to amaze me how innovative people are when the pool their ideas at conferences like this. Imagine living in a city where the capabilities of technology and the people are pooled daily." Dave Orford 

The DS team will endeavour to ensure the vibrant conversations, insights, and connections made during Smarter Cities, Safer Spaces event will continue to influence future thinking and the liveability in this area, and build an approach that encourages cross domain collaboration, exploring challenging ethical consideration relating to smart cities, and provide a platform to reflect and explore the  theme of public safety in urban spaces of the future. Barbara Spooner, MBE 

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