The Information Science Colloquium series kicks off the Fall 2017 semester with a talk from Carl DiSalvo, an associate professor in the Digital Media Program in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology. DiSalvo’s scholarship draws together theories and methods from design, the social sciences, and the humanities, to analyze the social and political qualities of design and to prototype experimental systems. DiSalvo publishes regularly in design, science and technology studies, and human-computer interaction journals and conference proceedings. His first book, Adversarial Design, is part of the Design Thinking, Design Theory series at MIT Press. He is also a co-editor of the MIT Press journal Design Issues. DiSalvo holds a Ph.D. in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Talk: Exploring Design Issues and Potentials in Smart Cities Using Participatory Methods

Abstract: Significant resources are being put towards the development of so-called smart cities. The dominant visions of smart cities are coming from industries that seek to provide the underlying infrastructure and services, and to a lesser extent, from government agencies and offices looking to improve efficiency and performance. But what are the desires of the residents of these cities? How do they envision what a smart city might be? In this talk I will present ongoing research that employs participatory methods to explore the design issues and potentials of smart cities from the perspectives of local stakeholders. From this research, we are articulating a diverse set of informed scenarios of what a smart city might be, as well as highlight confusions and concerns regarding smart cities. In addition to discussing the research insights from this work, I will also discuss how this work is informing theories and methods of participatory design and is having effect in local government planning.