Post on 02-Dec-2014
description
Profiting From "Smart City" APIs
Business opportunities for entrepreneurial developers in the civic tech space
@mgboydcom programmableweb.com
Why Now?
Cities are changing
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/china_modern/html/2.stm
Cities are changing• “The Great Inversion” (Alan Ehrenhalt)
• Marry later
• Temporal and remote work
• Demand for urban loft > suburban McMansion
• The Rise of the Creative Class and the Startup City (Richard Florida)
• Climate change and oil impacts
• Financial crisis impacts and widening Gini coefficient
The city as disruptive force
Widening inequality
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/11/04/widest-gap-cities-rich-poor/3431423/
City Governments are changing
http://www.slideshare.net/ashabook/smartworl-dabr
City Governments are changing
• Government as a platform paradigm
• Open data support growing
• Emerging shift to some use of cloud services
• Shrinking or maintenance budgets = need to do more with less
• Smart city paradigm (sensors, data, automating workflows and infrastructure)
Government as platform
Tech is changing
http://mjskok.com/resource/2014-future-cloud-computing-4th-annual-survey-results
Tech is changing• Cloud: Skok’s Transformative Era
• Hyper-local
• Health data rights
• Open data - corporate, public and social
• Remixing the web
• AI algorithms and predictive analytics
The city as disruptive force
Why You?
The Time is Now
• Reliable income source
• Growing market opportunities
• Foster a hyperlocal, platform mindset
• Contribute to open source and API standards
• Satisfaction!
How?
Role of local government• public transport
• public service delivery
• transparency/democracy
• civic engagement
• cultural participation
• recreational activity
• crime and safety
• food security
• civic infrastructure maintenance
• business development
• reducing inequality/marginalization
• waste management
• traffic management and parking
• walkability
• disaster recovery/emergency management
• urban planning/land use mix
• bicycle paths and rental schemes
Learning from successNatural evolution of civic tech startups
open API standards, need to scale to different cities
pushes product into platform play
service/product for a specific
geographic area
app
platform
app
consultant
consultant
app
app
IoT
?
consultancy opportunities integrating
platform APIs into city systems
apps created built off platform API
(emerging) second wave of
innovation
Entering the spaceQuestions to ask yourself
Are there API stds? Do you need to create an
abstraction layer? Do you have relationships with subject experts? Fo you have r’ships with govt
agencies (or willingness to develop?)
look for local government open data API sources you can use to
create a product/service
app
platform
app
consultant
consultant
app
app
IoT
?
can you become a certified partner or claim a particular regional market?
is the platform market already crowded/strong
contenders?
(emerging) second wave of
innovation
how will IoT/sensors/predictive analytics disrupt/
transform processes?
Role of local government• public transport
• public service delivery
• transparency/democracy
• civic engagement
• cultural participation
• recreational activity
• crime and safety
• food security
• civic infrastructure maintenance
• business development
• reducing inequality/marginalization
• waste management
• traffic management and parking
• walkability
• disaster recovery/emergency management
• urban planning/land use mix
• bicycle paths and rental schemes
Buses
Bullets
Blight
Bucks
Opportunities
Buses: TransportAPI
strong relationships with all transport providers to
access data streams
drew on experience working on open data
platform
Screach TV
consultant
consultant
app
Tooth pick
IoT
tube- radar
hyperlocal market opportunities
(emerging) second wave of
innovationX
Blight: SeeClickFix / Firmstep
became a platform to sell to government, using
open311 standard
built an app to let citizens complain about stuff in their
city
app
platform
app
consultant
app
app
Mojio
AI/ predictive
examples like MapDataServices
have created exclusive agreements with some open311
platforms
apps and visualizations created off the open311 data
collected via SeeClickFix platform
(emerging) second wave of
innovation
fitting sensors to urban fleet to automatically
detect potholes
identifying graffiti hotspots
Bucks
• OpenSpending
• Data.Gov.UK
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/dec/04/government-spending-department-2011-12
Bullets
non-existent: OPPORTUNITY for
abstraction layer? (Needs more data science)
hot spot maps and visualizations
app
platform
app
consultant
consultant
app
app
IoT
AI
predictive analytics determine where
street patrols needed
visualizations; incorporated into some
sites like Zillow
(emerging) second wave of
innovation
ShotSpotter
big opportunity to hustle
participated in open standards for park data,
identified needs and challenges for cities/
counties
service/product for a specific
geographic area, eg/ Transit Trails for
Bay Area Open Space Council
app
platform
app
consultant
consultant
app
app
IoT
?
possibility? To help other cities/counties develop apps or add map visualizations to
their websites
currently inviting app developers to build on
platform
(emerging) second wave of
innovation
.. and Beyond: OuterSpatial
Where To Start?
Hackathons
Challenges Incubator programs
Consultancy projects
Self-invested lab
Challenges
• challenges.gov
• citymart.com
• campus-labs.com
Incubator programsOpportunities
• fi-ware.org
• Code for.. (America)
• Open Data Institute
• London TravelTech Labs
• Bristol, Leeds?
• NYC BigApps program
• Points of Light
ConsultancyOpportunities
Self-invested LabsOpen sourcing tools and proving the need
How To Start?
Work in the viability zone
app
platform
app
consultant
consultant
app
app
IoT
?
(emerging) second wave of
innovation
mostly need to start here, but with an eye/time-to-market goal of
the viability zone
Are there open data APIs?Raw material availability
http://us-city.census.okfn.org/
Are there emerging API standards?De facto? Committees? Leading cities?
• https://github.com/codeforamerica/civic-tech-patterns
• Open Knowledge Foundation
• Popolo Project
• Open Civic Data
What data do people wantIdentifying user needs from popular content
https://www.gov.uk/performance/site-activity-department-for-communities-and-local-government
What data do people wantIdentifying user needs from FoI requests
https://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/gla/governing-organisation/freedom-information/disclosure-log/2014
Know the procurement policiesStay under the threshold
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/267937/PPN_1013_-_New_Threshold_Levels_for_2014.pdf
Build relationships with local government
• Start with the Chief Data Officer!
• Review open data plans and departments working on future tactics
• Review citizen surveys and community needs
Pro bono and local project opportunitiesIt’s the sharing economy
City dashboards?Experiential learning
http://citydashboard.org/london/
Thanks to…• Trailhead Labs
• TransportAPI
• AmigoCloud
• SeamlessDocs
• Firmstep
• Mark Headd
• Emer Coleman
• Dharmishta Rood
• FI-Ware
• New York Transparency Working Group
• Open Knowledge Foundation
• Five by Five
• Michael Skok
• Eric Hysen
Want more?Follow Mark Boyd on ProgrammableWeb
@mgboydcom !!!!
markboyd@mgboyd.com