Downtown Jacksonville: IBM Smarter Cities Presentation

[simms3]

My only takeaway:

IBM's consultants believed that downtown Jacksonville's land mass is too large.  Instead of attempting to spread out development, the consultants recommended that we develop and build density around downtown's existing assets and development projects.

Of course something MetroJacksonville has been harping on for many years now to deaf ears.

[cityimrov]

So the point of all this was to?  Get a fifth opinion on the stuff already known?  Drown out data in the latest trends?  Use fancy words like "stakeholder"?  As a marketing campaign for Jacksonville? 

This IBM presentation (just looking from this powerpoint) says to execute but it never explains HOW and WHAT to execute.  It doesn't even explain how to get the people who agree to actually agree on something. 

Every single recent administration knows Jacksonville needs to execute.  The problem is Jacksonville doesn't know HOW to execute.  The administration that executed the most was when Haydon Burns and Robert Moses went nuts with the freeway system. 

Why didn't IBM mention any methods on HOW to execute? 

[John P]

What type of specifics?

Designate responsible parties, suggestions on how to streamline the process, how to advocate for these projects, political and instituitional barriers etc. What they presented is common sense to anyone who has interest in urban planning and a vibrant city. Throwing out ideas has never been the problem. Other people have mentioned how EXECUTING and FOLLOWING THROUGH has been the problem and it does not speak to that at all. Much ado about nothing if you ask me. Hell getting anything through the city under this administration is a lesson in incompetancy.

[cityimrov]

Oh, I know how to make this interesting. 

Before the IBM team leaves, the mayor should ask them this very important question "If we somehow figure out a way to execute this, will IBM promise to locate a major division here within the next 5 years?" 

[vicupstate]

So the point of all this was to?  Get a fifth opinion on the stuff already known?  Drown out data in the latest trends?  Use fancy words like "stakeholder"?  As a marketing campaign for Jacksonville? 

This IBM presentation (just looking from this powerpoint) says to execute but it never explains HOW and WHAT to execute.  It doesn't even explain how to get the people who agree to actually agree on something. 

Every single recent administration knows Jacksonville needs to execute.  The problem is Jacksonville doesn't know HOW to execute.  The administration that executed the most was when Haydon Burns and Robert Moses went nuts with the freeway system. 

Why didn't IBM mention any methods on HOW to execute? 

I think the political will has been what is missing.  The will to fight for what needs to be done and to persuade others to join the fight, and why it is important. 

What IBM gave was a means to select the projects that will achieve the state goals, and a way to measure progress.   That HAS been missing, and is much needed. But nothing starts without the powers that be (including the citizenry) putting muscle to the wheel of progress.       

[Captain Zissou]

This IBM presentation (just looking from this powerpoint) says to execute but it never explains HOW and WHAT to execute.  It doesn't even explain how to get the people who agree to actually agree on something. 

Every single recent administration knows Jacksonville needs to execute.  The problem is Jacksonville doesn't know HOW to execute.  The administration that executed the most was when Haydon Burns and Robert Moses went nuts with the freeway system. 

Why didn't IBM mention any methods on HOW to execute? 

Thousands of cities all over the world have managed to redevelop buildings, put up a parking garage, market themselves.... etc.  If we're that inept, just have mayor Brown call the mayor of Charlotte and ask for help.  Otherwise, we should be able to 'execute' this ourselves.  I think IBM assumed that we know how to put up a parking garage when they gave the presentation.  In Jax everybody wants the work to be done, but nobody wants to do it themself.  I think we have been caught in analysis paralysis for the past 8 years and we just need to try SOMETHING.  How was it that Delaney and his crew knew how to get things done, but the past two administrations don't?  The man still lives in Jax, call him if you are so confused.  It's sad that our city government gets paralyzed with fear when it comes time to act, but far smaller cities manage to get things done by just trying something and then having the courage and tenacity to see it through.

In writing this, I realized this is exactly how I feel about DVI.  We pay them a million dollars a year to tell us that somebody needs to fix downtown, and yet they do almost nothing to fix it themselves.  Kind of reminds me of Captain Hindsight.

[cityimrov]

I think the political will has been what is missing.

IBM doesn't mention much on how to regain this political will.  If that's what's been missing, that's what IBM should have focused on instead of the low hanging fruit. 

How was it that Delaney and his crew knew how to get things done, but the past two administrations don't?

This is going off topic but Deaney's crew weren't elected.  Most were fired and are now doing other things.  The citizens voted for something else. 

It's sad that our city government gets paralyzed with fear

How do you know it's fear?  I tend to find the city brimming with self-confidence.  Look at the Mayoral Economic Summit as an example of this. 

[Fallen Buckeye]

So is the point of this study to actually create a comprehensive road map for downtown revitalization or is it more of a look at how the city can improve its planning and prioritization of downtown revitalization projects? Or both?

[vicupstate]

I think the political will has been what is missing.

IBM doesn't mention much on how to regain this political will.  If that's what's been missing, that's what IBM should have focused on instead of the low hanging fruit. 

How was it that Delaney and his crew knew how to get things done, but the past two administrations don't?

This is going off topic but Deaney's crew weren't elected.  Most were fired and are now doing other things.  The citizens voted for something else. 

It's sad that our city government gets paralyzed with fear

How do you know it's fear?  I tend to find the city brimming with self-confidence.  Look at the Mayoral Economic Summit as an example of this. 

How was Delaney's crew not elected but Peyton's and Brown's were?  Delaney won a narrow vistory the first time and won without opposition the second time.  He polled higher than nearly any politician in the history of the state during his term.  He wasn't defeated for re-election, he was term-limited?

Huh?

Having the courage to lead, is not what IBM is providing, they are providing the process and the metrics to reach the goal.       

[Know Growth]

Love the Power Points,at one time this stuff could hold a designated group transfixed.


Looks like a Genesis Group Beltway promo.........

[cityimrov]

I think the political will has been what is missing.

IBM doesn't mention much on how to regain this political will.  If that's what's been missing, that's what IBM should have focused on instead of the low hanging fruit. 

How was it that Delaney and his crew knew how to get things done, but the past two administrations don't?

This is going off topic but Deaney's crew weren't elected.  Most were fired and are now doing other things.  The citizens voted for something else. 

It's sad that our city government gets paralyzed with fear

How do you know it's fear?  I tend to find the city brimming with self-confidence.  Look at the Mayoral Economic Summit as an example of this. 

How was Delaney's crew not elected but Peyton's and Brown's were?  Delaney won a narrow vistory the first time and won without opposition the second time.  He polled higher than nearly any politician in the history of the state during his term.  He wasn't defeated for re-election, he was term-limited?

Huh?

Having the courage to lead, is not what IBM is providing, they are providing the process and the metrics to reach the goal.     

Not Delaney himself but his crew.  The most notable one here is Audrey Moran. 

I think IBM's end goal, I'll let them speak for themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PtiWdS6UZA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuBBGYFonXM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UFneGto4o8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w9w8j1vHB8

[Ocklawaha]

$400,000 dollars and neither IBM nor COJ have a clue about FIXED ROUTE MASS TRANSIT?

Finish the Skyway, (now that its free and actually has soaring ridership).

Downtown and Urban neighborhood streetcar.(This is the project where JTA finished the first required study to determine need, found it to be 'needed' then threw it all out the window.

Plan to get commuter rail up and running. (Supposedly a JTA 'priority' but nobody is explaining why they are paralleling the railroad track AND Skyway with MAX-BRT).

What was it that Momma 'Gump' said?

OCKLAWAHA

[dougskiles]

Looks like IBM has some competition out there.  Check out what Cisco is doing in Barcelona.

Barcelona: Life in a Connected City

The capital of Catalonia is continuing a centuries-old tradition of innovation with moves to develop a smart community model based on technology.

By Jason Deign

Wander the streets of Barcelona, Spain, and one of the most striking features you will observe is the legacy of centuries of innovation.
 
From the Roman ruins of the Gothic Quarter, through the Modernisme facade-studded grid of the Eixample, to the landmark buildings by architects such as Jean Nouvel or Sir Norman Foster, the Catalan capital carries the imprint of successive waves of new urban thinking.
 
Today, this history is a draw for the millions of tourists that make Barcelona the fourth most visited destination in Europe. But Spain's second-largest city is not resting on its laurels. It is forging ahead with plans to stay at the forefront of urban development, using information and communications technology as a motor for innovation.
 
In July, alongside Cisco and the French infrastructure giant GDF SUEZ, it announced the launch of the City Protocol, a cooperative framework among cities, industries, and institutions to address current and future urban challenges such as sustainability and quality of life.
 
The initiative followed the 2011 unveiling of a strategic pilot program aimed at advancing the city's vision for sustainable urban development, and plans to create a Smart City Campus in collaboration with Abertis, Agbar, Cisco, Schneider Electric, and Telefónica.
 
"Barcelona has always been a pioneer in the construction of its urban infrastructure," says Vicente Guallart, the city's chief architect and director of urban habitat, "and has always been a city that has looked to the future. In 1859, the Cerdà plan integrated what were then new transport technologies such as the train in its urban structure, along with ecological concepts in the organization of the city."
 
Like many other urban centers, the challenge Barcelona faces today, he says, "is to build on this existing structure and enable it to become more efficient, with greater added value. IT is an important medium for allowing us to add value to the city."
 
Guallart sees technology as critical in integrating and coordinating different services and increasing the resilience of the city, besides helping make the move from centralized to distributed systems in areas such as power generation.
 
"Some people would call this a smart city," he says. "For us, it is just part of our tradition to use the technologies within reach. In 20 years we will probably be talking about biotechnologies, and Barcelona will no doubt be using them, too."
 
What else will be happening in Barcelona in 20 years' time? Currently, the impact of IT on daily life is still quite subtle; to the casual observer, from a technology perspective there is little to distinguish the city from any other major European hub.
 
But behind the scenes, high-speed connectivity supports an important biomedical research cluster and MareNostrum, Spain's second most powerful supercomputer. IT is helping to bring greater efficiency to the city's transport system, including streamlining the bus route network and providing real-time arrival information at stops. And a dedicated technology district, 22@, acts as an incubator for innovation-led companies such as Barcelona Media and EfiData.
 
Going forward, Guallart believes a pervasive, underlying technology infrastructure such as the Cisco Smart+Connected Communities architecture will enable real-time interactions not just between people and organizations but also between systems and devices.
 
This will be the key to the introduction of more responsive systems that will be at the heart, for example, of efficient traffic systems or distributed energy networks allowing citizens to generate part of the power they consume from solar panels on building rooftops.
 
These systems will one day bring about changes that will benefit everyone in Barcelona, and in other smart cities around the world.
 
"Imagine, for instance, that everyone tells the city where they want to go when they get in their cars, and the city tells them which is the best route," Guallart says.
 
"The city would create a real-time information system where you could tell where cars were headed to and where they need to be directed. It could even change the direction of some streets if everyone is heading out of town at the same time."
 
In the future, says Guallart, more efficient transport and green energy generation, coupled with the introduction of electric vehicles, will result in cleaner air and quieter streets.
 
City planners are also working to ensure communities can be productive at a local level, so most people will one day be able to walk to work and many goods and products will be manufactured within neighborhoods rather than being shipped in from afar.
 
Not all of this will flow directly from technology, of course. The Spanish legislation around distributed energy generation is unclear, for example, so in areas such as this, city planners will need to come up with smart regulations as well as using smart technologies.
 
"The arrival of information in cities should enable the creation of new laws and regulations that allow some things which may even be extralegal to be ordained," states Guallart. "It is also fundamental that the regulation is made to benefit people and not just organizations.
 
"This is where the civil society and the administration have to work hard in order to foster innovation as quickly as possible. We are working on it, not just on next-generation projects but also on the regulations that will make sure they can function efficiently."
 
The results of this work will be of interest. Not just to the citizens of Barcelona, but also to those of all the other cities around the world whose leaders aspire to a better urban model.

http://newsroom.cisco.com/feature/1024698/Barcelona-Life-in-a-Connected-City

[ben says]

Weird...Barcelona is one of the last places I think of re: poor quality of life or poor transportation/sustainability. One of the most efficient public transport systems I've ever used...

[tufsu1]

perception is everything....even folks in cities with good transit systems (Chicago, Boston, NYC) have lots of complaints