Podcasts about connected places catapult

Greg Clark is a highly renowned UK urbanist. He is, among others, chair of the Connected Places Catapult, a board member of Transport for London, and a Chair of Places for London and 3Ci, the City Commission for Climate Investment. Clark is also an author and global advisor who has worked with cities, national governments, and organisations such as the OECD, the Brookings Institution, and the World Bank. Today, he joins us on the show to discuss how and where we will live in the future. My Wildest Prediction is a podcast series from Euronews Business where we dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week was a big one for the Connected Places Catapult. On the 19/20 March we hosted our second Connected Places Summit, in the heart of London. In this episode we hear from some of the leading voices who spoke at the Summit...  Sir Andrew Haines from Network Rail on the future of Britain's railways and transport connectivity; Dan Labbad from the Crown Estate on the future of innovation in placemaking, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram on the opportunities of devolution, Victoria Hills from the Royal Town Planning Institute on unlocking growth through planning, Prof. Sarah Sharples from Department for Transport on the emerging technologies that will revolutionising how we get from A to B.   Keynote talks will soon be available on the Summit website, and you can also subscribe to our newsletter now to find out all about our plans for our next Summit in 2025!   Visit the Connected Places Summit website Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) 

Long-serving Listeners might recall that for Episode 6 of 50 Shades of Planning Sam Stafford published a chat with Euan Mills, then of the Connected Places Catapult, on the potential for digital innovation, urban data, and user-centred design to improve the planning system. Euan, now CEO and co-founder of Blocktype, got in touch with Sam Stafford earlier this year and asked if he could put together an episode on the progress that has been made over the past five years towards this aim. This was both a kind invitation and a coincidental one because at around the same time the Spring Budget Statement included reference to “piloting the use of AI solutions to support planning authorities to streamline their local plan development processes, producing plans in 30 months rather than the current average of seven years. This builds on work to date which has already reduced planning officer processing times by up to 30% per application.” This episode features four conversations that Euan recorded back in March with four people both very knowledgeable and very active in this space. They are Alistair Parvin, CEO of Open Systems Lab; Dr Sue Chadwick, Strategic & Digital Planning Advisor at Pinsent Masons; Matt Wood-Hill, Head of Digital Planning Software at MHCLG; and Paul Downey, Planning Data Service Owner at MHLCG. During the course of this episode Listeners will learn a lot about how digital innovation, urban data, and user-centred design are improving the UK planning system. Some accompanying reading. Blocktype blocktype.co.uk Plan X  planx.uk Planning Data Planning.data.gov.uk Open Digital Planning opendigitalplanning.org The Future of Planning - How we can rewire the planning system for the digital age https://medium.com/@alastairparvin/the-future-of-planning-8a1f93e17ae1 Some accompanying listening. Digital – Goldie (feat. KRS One) (Armand Van Helden Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1dgKcpgKxs 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here. You can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shades Blog. Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.

Every year the UK spends £380bn on third party suppliers - £60bn of that is spent by local authorities - so it is vital to ensure we are getting the best value from the goods and services we buy. A big part of any public budget is not just the question of what things to buy, but how can we be more creative in how we buy, especially when it comes to innovation. So, in this episode we want to revisit what's happening in the world of public procurement, and what's being done to not only improve the UK's procurement landscape, but also make it more innovation-friendly. We were recently up in Leeds at UKREiiF – the UK's Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum – where we hosted a panel on the future of innovation procurement. We were joined by Emma Frost, Chair of the UK Innovation District Group, Amabel Grant, Chief Executive of Bloom Procurement Services, and the Catapult's own Rikesh Shah, Head of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre.   Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  SHOW NOTES:  Applications for the SES Awards are open until 31 July 2024. Interested organisations are invited to submit their programs and initiatives for consideration here. You can learn more about the work of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), a new partnership created to inspire, upskill and empower public authorities in innovation-friendly procurement procedures. You can also learn more about what the UK Government is doing to improve our public procurement regime by visiting the Transforming Public Procurement landing page where you can find webinars, factsheets, summary guides and even a checklist to help prepare for when the new rules come into force. To find out more about the work of Bloom, a professional services facilitator specialising in public procurement, click here to learn more about ‘NEPRO BloomSustain'.   If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you!  To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!  

In this episode, we speak to Centre for Net Zero, a non-profit, impact-driven energy research institute founded by renewable energy group Octopus Energy, we discuss the Centre's work on intelligent demand, exploring recent experiences with GB's Demand Flexibility Service, the growing role of automation, and CNZ's work with open and synthetic smart meter data with Lucy Yu, CEO and Izzy Woolgar, Director of External Affairs. Lucy is CEO at Centre for Net Zero (CNZ), a research unit leading pioneering research to make a fully sustainable global energy system a reality. Lucy has 20 years of experience in technology, policy, and regulation. She has led teams in the UK government and the UN, and has run operations, public policy, research, and strategy for some of Europe's brightest startups. Lucy is a Non-Executive Member of the Board at the Connected Places Catapult and E3G, and an Associate Fellow of Technology and Public Policy at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Izzy is Director of External Affairs at Centre for Net Zero. She gets the Centre's leading research into the hands of influential global stakeholders, driving bolder policymaking and an accelerated energy transition. Izzy is a specialist in strategic communication, with a background advising major global blue chips. She spent many years advising Centrica and bp, helping them to pivot to integrated energy companies by supporting their corporate venturing teams. She led campaigns that supported and raised the profile of their investment portfolios of high potential, green start-ups. She holds a degree from the University of Cambridge. Watch our video explaining FLEXtrack to understand more about ancillary services data across European Flexibility Markets Learn more about Centre for Net Zero's deep analysis of Demand Flexibility Service Find out more about OpenSynth   You can also visit our website to learn more about Flexibility Research Service at lcpdelta.com   Subscribe to LCP Delta email communications Select your areas of interest, and we'll alert you whenever new content is published. You can amend your choices or unsubscribe at any time.   Hosts – Jon Slowe and Sandra Trittin Produced – LCP Delta and D8   If you'd like to give feedback on this episode or would like to be a future guest on the podcast, please contact us at talkingnewenergy@lcp.com   Follow us on: Twitter | LinkedIn   Each LCP Delta Talking New Energy podcast is for information and marketing purposes only and does not constitute any form of advice. All views expressed by the podcast hosts and guests are purely their own opinions and do not represent those of LCP Delta, its clients or affiliates. All rights to this podcast are reserved to LCP Delta. LCP Delta does not accept any liability for any loss that arises out of or in connection with your or any third party's reliance on the podcast. Please refer to the Legal Notices section on the LCP website for further information.    Hosted on Podbean. See podbean.com/privacy for more information.

The UK is positioning itself to be a global hub for innovation by 2035. But how do we make sure that the innovation economy creates opportunities for people and communities from all corners of the country? Getting this right has implications not just for businesses and research institutions, but also for the life chances of people and communities who have typically been marginalised or overlooked by the innovation economy. So in this episode we explore some of the latest thinking on inclusive innovation and what it means for places - specifically one of the UK's most diverse and vibrant city regions: the West Midlands.   We'll be hearing from Emma Frost, Chair of the UK Innovation District Group, Pam Waddell OBE, Director of the Innovation Alliance for West Midlands, James Muscat-Sharpe, Co-Founder of Birmingham Digital Futures Innovation District, Monder Ram, Director of Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship, Alex Cousins, Business Director for Devolved & Local Government  for Connected Places Catapult and Catherine Hadfield, Principal Place Development Lead for Connected Places Catapult. Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  SHOW NOTES:    Register your interest for next year's Connected Places Summit in 2025 on the Summit website. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on the Connected Places Podcast, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you!  Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

Last week was a big one for the Connected Places Catapult. On the 20/21 March we hosted our first ever Connected Places Summit, in the heart of the City of London. It was a big one because even though we run multiple events throughout the year, this was the first time we've run a 2-day Summit which brought together all of our flagship projects under one roof. But it also included a keynote programme with some of the most influential thinkers and leaders from across government, business and academia. Over the two days had 220 speakers, 27 companies exhibiting, 30 supporting partners, and 850 people joined us in person and 1000 people joined us online. We are also very grateful to all of our partners, including of course Innovate UK, our strategic partner for the Summit, Department for Transport, and our headline partner, DNV. Keynote talks and other sessions will soon be available on the Summit website, and you can also register now to find out all about our plans for our next Summit on 2025! Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Register your interest for next year's Summit in 2025 on the Summit website, where you can also view videos of our keynote speakers. Join the IPEC network (mentioned in the episode) by clicking here. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on the Connected Places Podcast, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you!   Follow the show!  Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

Ask any Londoner what the city's greatest challenge is and they'll probably mention the housing crisis or, more specifically, the affordable housing crisis. Over the last 40 years, London's population has boomed from 6.9 million in 1980 to 9.6 million today. London now hosts 6 million jobs, £1.5 trillion of housing assets and a £4 trillion property asset base. All of that growth has put enormous pressure on the affordability of living and working in London. In this episode we meet Graeme Craig, CEO of Places for London – an innovate, TfL-owned property company that is transforming how under-utilised public land can be developed with the private sector. What does this new model of place-making mean for London's people and communities, and how might a different approach to property investment help tackle some of London's persistent challenges? Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes:   To register for our inaugural Connected Places Summit, being held in London on 20-21 March 2024, click here.   To learn more about Places for London and their ambitions as a company, click here.   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!    Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

In our latest podcast, Chris Walters, JLL's Head of UK Life Sciences, is joined by Professor Greg Clark, Chair of Connected Places Catapult and 3Ci. This episode delves into the role of innovation districts and the innovation economy's role in shaping the future of urbanisation as we continue to experience population growth and the drive to meet future sustainability requirements of the planet.

In this episode we meet Professor Dame Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge; member of the House of Lords and an engineer by training. We talked about the UK Government's ambition to become a science and technology superpower by 2030; what it's like to straddle the worlds of academia, industry, and government; the role that data and digital has to play in making our national infrastructure more resilient; and how alloys in aeroplane engines react under extreme pressure! Julia began her academic career by studying metals, and the composite structures used in wind turbines. Her specialty was designing metal alloys that are resistant to cracks under pressure.  Over the years she went on to teaching positions at the Universities of Nottingham and Cambridge, as well as senior positions at Rolls Royce, the Institute of Physics, Imperial College, and she also served as Vice-Chancellor of Aston University. In 2007 Julia was appointed by Gordon Brown to lead the King Review, which looked at a route to decarbonising a major segment of the transport sector within 25 years, making an important contribution to the UK's plans to try and achieve Net Zero. Julia then became a crossbench member of the House of Lords in 2015 and is now the chair of its Science and Technology Committee, which is holding the government to account on its promise to make the UK a science superpower by 2030.    Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  To register for our inaugural Connected Places Summit, being held in London on 20-21 March 2024, click here.   To learn more about the Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDO), the digital twin for climate change adaptation that is mentioned in the episode, click here. Also, learn more about the Digital Twin Hub which is hosted at the Catapult by clicking here.   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!    

This session will continue an ongoing dialogue between the UK and Saudi Arabia on Clean Technologies. Key areas for partnership in the sector will be considered, alongside the support available, government-to-government cooperation frameworks, market access, the role of clean technologies within ongoing projects, and Saudi plans for a circular carbon economy. Featuring Dr Abdulaziz Aljodai (Corporate Director, SABIC), Alison Young (Global Export and Investment Specialist, Connected Places Catapult), Dr Neil Quilliam (Energy Director, Think Research and Advisory), Noaman Al Adhami (Head of Country, UK, Al Fanar), and Rubina Singh (Principal, Octopus Ventures). The inaugural Innovation Zero Congress at Olympia London in 2023 convened 6,866 passionate, forward-looking experts who exchanged critical knowledge, debate and discussions around the implementation and scaling of the innovations needed to meet the Paris goals. Learn more via www.innovationzero.com.

Innovating isn't easy. It's risky, it's fraught with failure, and there's no guarantees of success. In this episode we meet two companies that have had to navigate the innovation rollercoaster to get to where they are. Both companies have been supported by the Connected Places Catapult at various points in their journey. They have each developed two ground-breaking products and collected some great stories to tell along the way. Our in-house journalist, Mike Walter, spoke to Eugene Bari, the CEO and Managing Director of Ecomar Propulsion and Dr Victoria Kroll, CEO & co-founder of Esitu Solutions. Ecomar Propulsion builds zero emission propulsion systems for the maritime industry, whilst Esitu Solutions is on a mission to improve road safety and reduce the number of driving accidents using virtual reality technology. Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes:   To read the full article on Ecomar Propulsion or Esitu Solutions, click on the link. To read more articles in our ‘Meet the Innovator' series, click here.    To register for our inaugural Connected Places Summit, being held in London on 20-21 March 2024, click here.   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!    Follow the show!  Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

With over half of automotive industry emissions by 2040 expected to come from materials used in production, the need for eco-friendlier material is more apparent than ever. Hear from senior executives from across the supply chain and their work to decarbonise vehicles via cleaner energy, enhanced manufacturing processes and materials innovation. Featuring Rohitesh Dhawan (President & CEO, ICMM), Philippa Oldham (Stakeholder Engagement Director, Advanced Propulsion Centre), Dr Wolfgang Schuster (Executive Director, Ecosystems Innovation, Connected Places Catapult), Chris Allen (Managing Director, LEVC), and Dr Thomas Becker (VP Sustainability and Mobility, BMW Group). The inaugural Innovation Zero Congress at Olympia London in 2023 convened 6,866 passionate, forward-looking experts who exchanged critical knowledge, debate and discussions around the implementation and scaling of the innovations needed to meet the Paris goals. Learn more via www.innovationzero.com.

Many businesses make the same basic mistake when they want to make video content, says today's guest Joseph Palmer of Open House Pictures.  His simple tip will help anyone wanting to use films to communicate, whether you want to work with a professional filmmaker, a local freelancer or even try to shoot them yourself.It's been a few years since Joe was last on the programme and Open House has achieved significant growth since then, creating jobs and taking on multiple creative and commercial projects. Joe explains – and tells us about:the value of finding mentorsa new networking event in Sheffield which supports LGBTQ+ businesses – Out2Meet: LGBTQIA+ Business Networking – on 29 November in the city centre ( https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/out2meet-lgbtqia-business-networking-sheffield-tickets-700504005337 )a couple of books which have made a lasting impact Joe's tips for anyone running a business, social enterprise or other organisation who wants to use video effectivelyFind Open House Pictures here https://www.openhousepictures.co.uk and Joe on LinkedIn here https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephdpalmer/Also in today's programme – a run through of several funding opportunities for businesses and social enterprises, includingGrants of up to £45,000 to businesses, universities and research organisations through the Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG) competition – which covers decarbonisation, connectivity and other "challenge areas." Details of this Department for Transport and Connected Places Catapult programme: https://cp.catapult.org.uk/opportunity/transport-research-and-innovation-grants-2023/ Closing date: 27 November.The Youth Music NextGen Fund, which offers young creatives grants of up to £2,500 to make their ideas happen. It's for early-stage musicians and wider music adjacent creatives; and aimed at those whose lack of finance holds them back from pursuing their goals.It's open to 18–25-year-olds (and up to 30-year-olds who identify as d/Deaf or Disabled). Details https://youthmusic.org.uk/nextgen/nextgen-fund Closing date: 19 January 2024.Community Interest Companies, charities and universities are invited to apply to the Armed Forces Families Fund: Supporting Partners programme to fund "projects that will improve support for Service partners and spouses regarding the skills and experiences they bring to the workplace." Grants of £30,000 to £80,000 available. Closing date: 25 January 2024.Grants of up to £2,000 are available to young people who need support with business start up costs that they would otherwise not be able to afford, through the SWEF Grants Programme. Applicants need to be between 18 - 30, living in South Yorkshire and from a low income household or facing other challenges that prevent developing the business. Details https://www.sycf.org.uk/apply/search-our-grants/swefThis is episode #390 of the show. Thanks for listening to the programme and to Sheffield Live! for broadcasting us on DAB and FM radio.

A zero-carbon world will continue to need high-quality built environments. To achieve full decarbonisation across these environments, companies cannot focus just on their own emission reduction but also on supporting an overall net-zero transition of buildings ' from raw materials, to finished structure and including their heating, cooling and management. Panellists will drive forward the discussion around how to join up these efforts. Featuring Nicola Yates OBE (CEO, Connected Places Catapult), Rob Lane (Chief Property Officer, Clarion Housing Group), Chris Trott (Partner & Head of Sustainability, Foster + Partners), Prof. Gaurav N. Sant (Director, Institute for Carbon Management - UCLA), and Jo Hills (Director, Real Estate Sustainability, Deloitte). The inaugural Innovation Zero Congress at Olympia London in 2023 convened 6,866 passionate, forward-looking experts who exchanged critical knowledge, debate and discussions around the implementation and scaling of the innovations needed to meet the Paris goals. Learn more via www.innovationzero.com.

Hear the leaders of pioneering cities and regions sharing their approach to providing the most liveable, healthy and desirable environment while enabling an increasing number of high-value well-paid jobs. Learn how different strategies are being applied to attract low carbon infrastructure and technology investments, in line with local conditions and challenges. Featuring Prof. Greg Clark CBE (Chair, Connected Places Catapult and 3Ci), Ben Houchen (Metro Mayor, Tees Valley), Mark Atheron (Director of Environment, Greater Manchester Combined Authority), Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh (Mayor, City of Malmö), Philip Glanville (Mayor, London Borough of Hackney), and Joana Balsemão (Deputy Mayor, City of Cascais). The inaugural Innovation Zero Congress at Olympia London in 2023 convened 6,866 passionate, forward-looking experts who exchanged critical knowledge, debate and discussions around the implementation and scaling of the innovations needed to meet the Paris goals. Learn more via www.innovationzero.com.

The future of Britain's national infrastructure is getting a lot of attention. In large part because it's facing some big challenges. Not least our changing climate and the commitment to decarbonise our economy. But also the question of who pays for it, who benefits from it, and who gets to contribute to the decision-making process about its future. There are also the opportunities that new technologies bring to improve the way we design, build and operate our infrastructure – from transport and energy, flooding and waste management, digital and data, to protecting our biodiversity and the wider natural environment. In this episode we're delighted to have on the show someone who spends a lot of time thinking about all of this; Sir John Armitt, the Chair of the UK's National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).   The Commission's job is to provide the UK Government with impartial, expert advice on major long term infrastructure challenges. Later this month the NIC will publish its second National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA). The last one was published 5 years ago in 2018. This year's NIA will focus on three strategic priorities for the UK's national infrastructure:   Reaching net zero by 2050   Reducing environmental impacts and adapting to a changing climate   Supporting levelling up and creating sustainable economic growth across all regions of the UK.  Sir John and his team recently visited the Catapult and he kindly agreed to an interview with our Chair, Prof. Greg Clark CBE.   They explored a number of key questions:   How can innovation and technology and optimise existing infrastructure?   Where are the business opportunities in responding to climate resilience, net zero and decarbonisation?  Why is procurement, or ‘smarter spending', so important for making investment go further?  What is the role of enlightened leadership at the local level – how important are sub-national bodies at the city and regional level in driving the change we need?  What does the future hold for the UK's national infrastructure?   Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes:   To learn more about the NIC and the upcoming Nation Infrastructure Assessment to be published on 18th October 2023, click here.   To register for our inaugural Connected Places Summit, being held in London on 20-21 March 2024, click here.   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!    Follow the show!  Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

There are 14 million people in the UK with some form of disability.  For too many, using public transport can be a nightmare - whether it's getting on and off a bus, or navigating the complex, stressful and often-confusing environment of a large transport interchange.    Sadly, when it comes to accessibility, there's some way to go before we can genuinely say that our public transport system really is open and accessible for all. In this episode we take a look at what airports and airline operators are doing to make flying more accessible. How are new technologies making a difference? What do innovators need to be thinking about when developing solutions for people with disabilities? And what is the Catapult doing to support better collaboration and support for companies working in this space? We meet Ann Frye, the UK Government's Disability and Access Ambassador for Aviation, Fredi Nonyelu, CEO and Founder of Briteyellow, Gavin Neate, CEO and Founder of WelcoMe, Yael Shomron, Marketing Manager at Step Hear, and Andrew Chadwick, the Catapult's Interim Ecosystem Director for Airports & Aviation. Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes:   To learn more about this issue and what the Catapult is doing, check out this article by Vasant Chari, the Catapult's Director of Human Connected Design. To register for our inaugural Connected Places Summit, being held in London on 20-21 March 2024, click here.   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!    Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

In this episode of the Urban Exchange, host Paul Wilson, Chief Business Officer for Connected Places Catapult and Chair of the SmartCitiesWorld Advisory Board, is joined by Robert van Asten, Deputy Mayor and Alderman for Urban Development, Strategy and Europe for The Hague. On the agenda this month is The Hague's work on water resilience, its international significance as the peace and justice capital of the world, and the city's work on advancing the urban resilience practice. Throughout, Paul delves into the role the Deputy Mayor's leadership has played throughout this work, finding the key takeaways he has identified along the way, and how these could represent opportunities that other cities can learn from. It is a fascinating time to have the conversation, following the UN's Water Conference earlier in 2023 – the first UN conference exclusively about water. Reflecting on the conference, we discover the commitments The Hague has made to the Water Action Agenda, and the key takeaways from the conference that put water front and centre. The Deputy Mayor has been a big advocate of The Hague's water resilience approach since taking responsibility for urban development and strategy, and here we discover the nature-based work that the city has been doing around water storage in the city. We also delve into water management as a facet of the city's wider climate action work, and how the city is getting buy in from key allies and keeping them engaged. Sharing these insights, conversation turns to the importance of knowledge sharing and being a part of something bigger than yourself. Here, the Deputy Mayor talks about The Hague's role as the city of peace and justice and the impact that reputation has on the city's administration in how it carries out its work. There's also talk of the importance of being part of wider collaborative networks, like the Resilient Cities Network.

We conclude our three-part podcast series on digital twins with a conversation with Ali Nicholl, Head of Engagement at IOTICS, a data company helping innovators to better collaborate on digital transformation. Ali and his colleagues are passionate about this. They're impatient too! IOTICS are on a mission to empower those dedicated to making a meaningful impact on our world. They're providing the tools to navigate the intricate landscape of data and information, enabling companies to unlock valuable insights and share data and information better.  So in this episode we invited Ali into our studio to tell us about some of the organisations that IOTICS are working to create a greener and more sustainable future. Ali explains some of the complexities of data sharing between companies, and the importance of making sure digital twin technologies have the real-world impact when it comes to some of society's greatest challenges. The voices in this episode are also featuring on The IOTICS Podcast, where Ali has interviewed a number of fascinating guests to showcase the growing significance of digital twins in shaping our connected future. Featured in this episode are Elly Howe, Environmental and Sustainability Coordinator at Portsmouth International Port;  Louise Donaghey, Services Programmes Director at Rolls Royce; Simon Evans, Global Digital Twin Leader at Arup; Ian Gordon, Head of Data at Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal; and Rich Walker, a Data and Analytics Leader in the Government and Public sector.   Connected Digital Twins Summit – 22 June, 2023  The huge opportunity that digital twins offer place-based infrastructure is what guides the work of the Digital Twin Hub (which came out of the UK's National Digital Twin Programme) housed at the Connected Places Catapult. It is a network that is helping to bring people together to learn from each other and collaborate on this hugely ambitious social, environment, and technical journey.    Their work is also guided by the Gemini Principles which are shaping the development of an ecosystem of connected digital twins. And they also host the weekly Gemini Call which has become a staple date in the diary for practitioners across the UK.    On 22 June 2023 the Digital Twin Hub and the Connected Places Catapult hosted the inaugural Connected Digital Twins Summit. IOTICS is an active supporter of the Hub and was a sponsor of the Summit.  

In the latest episode of the Urban Exchange, Paul Wilson, chair of the Advisory Board for Smart Cities World and Chief Business Officer at the Connected Places Catapult, is joined for a talk on all things urban mobility by Diego Marquez, the Planning Mobility Manager for the Metropolitan Institute of Planning and Development for the Metropolitan area of Guadalajara, and Jose Rodriguez, Head of Urban Mobility at Visa in Mexico. This episode is part of the Future Ready Cities programme, a partnership between Visa and the Resilient Cities Network, and focuses on the city of Guadalajara, its sustainable mobility strategy, and the role that Visa and smarter, simpler payments have had in achieving it so far. During the conversation, we discover what it's like to live in Guadalajara, and the economic role that it plays within Mexico as the nation's second-largest city. We also delve into the opportunities within urban mobility this presents, particularly for the State of Jalisco's pubic transportation network – the westerly state where Guadalajara is located. From here, we hear more about Guadalajara's Comprehensive Plan for Sustainable Urban Mobility (abbreviated in Spanish to PIMUS) – how it started, how it has been developed, and the critical role that stakeholder management has played in its success to date. This leads into conversation on the benefits of new and sustainable mobility, plus to benefits of mobility innovation and technology to the city, Mexico, and the wider Latin American region. The discussion of technology also extends into Guadalajara's recent work on payment systems, including its mobility card, and how it is improving services for citizens. We also delve into the important role of the Future Ready Cities programme in this work and Visa's role in it, including how it can extend into other cities in Mexico and across Latin America given the success of the work in Guadalajara. This includes conversation on the nature of the working relationship and collaboration between the city, Visa and the Resilient Cities Network, and the importance of being part of a network of cities which have common goals at heart.

In this episode we meet National Grid ESO, the electricity system operator for Great Britain, and one of the sponsors of the Digital Twin Hub's inaugural Connected Digital Twins Summit held this summer. The UK Government has a target for National Grid ESO to be running a zero-carbon electricity system by 2035. This ambition is crucial in helping the UK meet its wider zero carbon targets. For National Grid ESO, a major milestone in that journey is the development of a Virtual Energy System. This is a real-time, digital replica of Great Britain's entire energy landscape which mirrors the physical system - a network of interconnected digital twins that can be shared by industry to improve ESO's ability to simulate and forecast electricity supply and demand. So how is digital twin technology helping to bring this bold vision to life? How is it being used to better understand and influence consumer behaviour, especially during a cost-of-living crisis? And is the tech always the biggest hurdle when it comes to digital transformation? Featured in this episode are Carolina Tortora, National Grid ESO's Head of Innovation Strategy & Digitalisation in conversation with Dr. Alison Vincent, Chair of the Digital Twin Hub, as well as Lucy Yu, CEO of Centre for Net Zero, and Symon Brown, Smart Grid Director at CGI. Connected Digital Twins Summit – 22 June, 2023 The huge opportunity that digital twins offer place-based infrastructure is what guides the work of the Digital Twin Hub (which came out of the UK's National Digital Twin Programme) housed at the Connected Places Catapult. It is a network that is helping to bring people together to learn from each other and collaborate on this hugely ambitious social, environment, and technical journey. Their work is also guided by the Gemini Principles which are shaping the development of an ecosystem of connected digital twins. And they also host the weekly Gemini Call which has become a staple date in the diary for practitioners across the UK. On 22 June 2023 the Digital Twin Hub and the Connected Places Catapult hosted the inaugural Connected Digital Twins Summit. National Grid ESO is an active supporter of the Hub and was a sponsor of the Summit. Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes:   Centre for Net Zero is an impact-driven research unit founded by the global tech disruptor, Octopus Energy. They deliver pioneering research to make the future energy system a reality.   Their access to tens of billions of customer data points gives them an unparalleled insight into the behaviours of people and businesses around the world. They combine analysis of this dataset with field trials and experimentation, to build models and centre intelligent demand into the design of the changing energy system.   Centre for New Zero works directly with governments, policy-makers, grid operators and academics, translating their research and analysis into real-world action. Find out more at centrefornetzero.org  To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!  Follow the show!  Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.     

In this episode we meet Lord Adonis who we were delighted to welcome to our offices last week alongside senior representatives from across the rail sector. Andrew Adonis is a member of the House of Lords and founding Chair of the UK's National Infrastructure Commission. He was a Government Minister in Tony Blair's government, and went on to become Secretary of State for Transport under Gordon Brown. So his reflections on where we've come in Britain when it comes to rail travel, and what we need to be thinking about in the future draw on a wide range of personal experience. Lord Adonis was closely involved with setting up HS2 when it was just a small start-up. He also played a leading role in bringing Crossrail to London – one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects the capital has ever delivered. Music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you would like to hear more about the themes that Lord Adonis discusses listen to our feature episode “Reimagining our railways and stations” where we explore how innovation and new technologies are shaping the future of the rail industry as it rises to the huge challenges the 21st Century is throwing at it. You can also listen to our interview with the broadcaster and former MP, Michael Portillo about Britain's railway history and what the future might look like – click here. To learn more about the UK's first ‘Station Innovation Zone' and how the Catapult is supporting Bristol Temple Meads station to trial new technologies, click here. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

A profound shift is happening in the world of infrastructure. Advances in software, sensing and computational technology are seeing connected digital twins being adopted across whole infrastructure systems and even entire cities.  In this episode we meet the global engineering consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV (RHDHV), event podcast partner for the Digital Twin Hub's inaugural Connected Digital Twins Summit, 22 June 2023 (see below for event details). RHDHV are helping their clients rise to the challenges of resiliency, sustainability, and digital transformation. One of the key technologies that is enabling this change is the place-based digital twin. We explore how RHDHV's digital twin services are helping Bacton Beach in Norfolk tackle coastal erosion through a hugely ambitious sandscaping project. We meet the rail startup, East West Rail that is applying digital twin technology to a new railway connecting Oxford and Cambridge. And we visit the Dutch province of Limburg where RHDHV's AquaSuite software is using digital twin technology to improve the processing of 150m3 wastewater across a vast infrastructure network. Featured in this episode are Lisette Heuer, Director of Business Transformation at RHDHV; Ben Lomax Thorpe, Leading Professional – Digital Twin at RHDHV; Rob Goodliffe, Coastal Transition Manager, North Norfolk District Council; Dino Nola, Head of Digital Engineering at East West Rail; and Melchior Schenk, Sales Leader – AquaSuite, RHDHV. Connected Digital Twins Summit – 22 June, 2023 The huge opportunity that digital twins offer place-based infrastructure is what guides the work of the Digital Twin Hub (which came out of the UK's National Digital Twin Programme) housed at the Connected Places Catapult. It is a network that is helping to bring people together to learn from each other and collaborate on this hugely ambitious social, environment, and technical journey. On 22 June 2023 the Digital Twin Hub and the Connected Places Catapult hosted the inaugural Connected Digital Twins Summit. Royal HaskoningDHV is an active supporter of the Hub and was event podcast partner for the Summit. Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  SHOW NOTES For a list of resources about the work of Royal HaskoningDHV and their digital twin services, see below links. RHDHV websites Royal HaskoningDHV (corporate overview), click here. Twinn, by Royal HaskoningDHV, click here. RHDHV videos The Story of a Digital Twin, click here.   Starting your Digital Twin Journey, click here.     Twinn Witness Predictive Simulation Software for Better Decision Making, click here.  Connect your data models to live data | Machine Learning, click here.  RHDHV case studies featured in podcast Sandscaping on Bacton Beach with North Norfolk Council, click here.   Improving wastewater treatment with WBL, click here.   Latest RHDHV White Paper Simplifying Complexity: 3 ways industrial companies can drive value from digital twins, click here.  ***** To learn more about the Digital Twin Hub and how you can become a member, click here. 

Money is tight right now and tough times call for a renewed focus on how public money is spent. Every year the UK spends £300bn on third party suppliers so it is vital to ensure we are getting the best value from the goods and services we buy. A big part of any public budget is not just the question of what things to buy, but the process of agreeing the terms and procedures for acquiring them.  The technical term is public procurement. So, in this episode we're going to have a brief look at what's happening in the world of public procurement, or smarter spending, and what's being done to not only improve the UK's procurement regime, but also make it more innovation-friendly. We hear from Lucy Sydney, Head of Head of Strategic Relations, Procurement Reform at the Cabinet Office who's working on the UK's Government's new Transforming Public Procurement Bill. We meet Hao Zheng, Co-Founder and CEO of RoboK, a 3C sensing software company at the coalface of innovating in the transport sector. And we also hear from the Catapult's Ecosystem Director for Place Leadership, Sam Markey.   Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: Our Smarter Spending Hub has a range of case studies, playbooks for professionals, and an e-learning module that we've produced in collaboration with Open and Agile Smart Cities. You can also learn about the work of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), a new partnership created to inspire, upskill and empower public authorities in innovation-friendly procurement procedures. You can also learn more about what the UK Government is doing to improve our publice procurement regime by visiting the Transforming Public Procurement landing page where you can find webinars, factsheets, summary guides and even a checklist to help prepare for when the new rules come into force. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

Liz Peace CBE was CEO of the British Property Federation. She specialises in politics, property and the built environment and advises both public and private sector bodies, making her the perfect podcast guest to discuss the politics of energy efficiency in real estate with. Her roles include as a Non-Executive Director at Howard de Walden Estates and the Connected Places Catapult, as Chair of the GLA's Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, the University of Cambridge Property Board, the Churches Conservation Trust and Real Estate Balance. We discussed: The role of central government, local government and communities in improving energy efficiency The role of the housing industry in reducing real estate carbon emissions The challenge of funding and commercial case for retrofit  Guest website: https://cp.catapult.org.uk/team/liz-peace-cbe/ Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-peace-a6b41a16/ Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/ Host website: annaclareharper.com

Bristol Temple Meads recently became the UK's first ‘Station Innovation Zone'. Working in partnership with Network Rail and Innovate UK we're helping the station to test new technologies designed to improve the passenger experience the station.  In this episode we meet three innovators from the three companies who will be live trialling their solutions in the station over the coming months; Rosie Richardson from Createc, Rob Franklin from Jnction and Neal Byers from Workfromhub. What are the exciting new products that they'll be developing at Temple Meads, how could they make a difference for the travelling public, and what does success look like at the end of the trail phase?  We also hear from one of the Catapult's SME Accelerator Programme Managers, Poppy Driver, and our Ecosystem Director for Rail & Stations, Alan Peters.   Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes:   To read our full announcement about Bristol Temple Meads becoming the UK's first Station Innovation Zone, click here.   The trio of firms – Createc, Jnction and WorkfromHub – have been chosen as part of the Station Innovation Zone programme that aims to test new ways of improving the rail passenger experience.  Createc offers a LIDAR based crowd monitoring system called Situate which uses artificial intelligence to alert operators to incidents in real time and warn of concerning activity. A single sensor can cover large distances and be alert to people running or standing too close to the platform edge.  Jnction has developed a passenger assistance app known as Aubin designed to help neurodiverse passengers and others who may find travel difficult. It provides journey information, accessible station detail and direct communication with carers and customer experience staff.  WorkfromHub looks to install a remote workspace pod at the station which is bookable via a dedicated app. The remote workspace offers a quiet and private space to enable people to join a virtual meeting or get some deep work done during their time at the Station. To learn more about all nine companies that showcased their solutions to Network Rail at Bristol Temple Meads, click here (this article includes links to the websites of all nine companies). You can also catch up on some of our other rail-themed episodes by clicking on the below links:  Reimagining our railways and stations Great Rail Journeys of the future with Michael Portillo  If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you!   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!    Follow the show!  Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Bristol Temple Meads recently became the UK's first ‘Station Innovation Zone'. Working in partnership with Network Rail and Innovate UK we're helping the station to test new technologies designed to improve the passenger experience the station. This episode is a brief taster of what the Catapult is doing at Bristol Temple Meads to create a safer and more seamless, social and sustainable station. We meet Susan Evans, Head of Passenger Strategy at Network Rail, Brian Wortman, Network Rail's Programme Sponsor for the Station Innovation Zone, and Paul Wilson, the Catapult's Chief Business Officer. In the second episode on the Station Innovation Zone we'll introduce the inovative UK companies who are testing new technologies in the station, and we'll hear what they're hoping to achieve. Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes:   To read our full announcement about Bristol Temple Meads becoming the UK's first Station Innovation Zone, click here.   To learn more about the innovators honing passenger tech in Bristol Temple Meads Station, click here.    You can listen to the following episodes by clicking on the below links:  Reimagining our railways and stations  Great Rail Journeys of the future with Michael Portillo  If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you!   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!   Follow the show!  Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

Earlier this month the Catapult announced an exciting new venture which will see Glasgow Airport become the UK's first ‘Connected Airport Living Lab'. With funding from Innovate UK the aim is to test new technologies designed to improve the passenger experience, boost productivity, and help the airport hit its sustainability targets. This episode is a brief taster of what the Catapult is going to be doing with Glasgow Airport over the next 5 years. How does this all fit with how aeronautical and digital technologies are changing the way we think about aviation. More fundamentally, how are we starting to think differently about how places, like airports, feed into the wider economy of a city region? Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  SHOW NOTES:   To read our full announcement about Glasgow Airport becoming the UK's first Connected Airport Living Lab, click here.   You can listen to the following episodes by clicking on the below links:  Reimagining our railways and stations  Great Rail Journeys of the future with Michael Portillo  Reimagining the UK's ports & maritime economy  Our maritime past and future with David Shukman  If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you!   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please visit our website at www.cp.catapult.org.uk and sign up to our newsletter!   Follow the show!  Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

It's been another eventful year on the Connected Places Podcast and we've got a lot to look back on as 2022 draws to a close! In this episode we revisit some of the stories we've featured on the show this year, and the fascinating guests we've been able to have on. We hear from two well-known TV personalities here in Britain – the BBC's former Science Editor, David Shukman and one of Britain's most well-known rail enthusiasts of Great Railway Journeys fame, Michael Portillo. We return to the world's 4th largest city - Sao Paulo, Brazil - where a UK and a Brazilian company have teamed up to tackle the effects of climate change in the city's water supply. And there's the inspiring story of the innovators who are using gaming technology and artificial intelligence to make public transport more accessible for people with disabilities. Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes:   You can listen to the following episodes by clicking on the below links:  How are tech innovators making it easier for people with disabilities to use public transport?  How are companies in Cambridge and Sao Paulo tacking climate change in Brazil?   Reimagining the UK's ports & maritime economy  Our maritime past and future with David Shukman  Reimaging our railways and stations  Great Rail Journeys of the future with Michael Portillo  Also, to find out more about the UK Government's Transport Research & Innovation Grants (TRIG) 2022, click here. Applications close on 15th January 2023 so don't be late! If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!   Follow the show!  Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.

The fight against climate change will be won or lost in cities. We've known this for some time. The question is, What do cities need to do financially to rise to that challenge?   How can they strengthen their business cases for net zero investment? And if their plans are brought together and aligned in a new and creative ways, could they generate greater scale, volume and predictability in ways that might make them more attractive to investors?  To answer this, the Connected Places Catapult has teamed up with the UK's Core Cities and London Councils to create the UK Cities Commission for Climate Investment, or 3Ci. The aim is to the leverage the combined scale and clout of the UK's cities to mobilise investment into low and net-zero carbon projects across all of the UK's largest cities, not just individual ones. 3Ci was launched in the lead up to COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, so in this episode we hear about the momentum that's been growing behind 3Ci over the last year. We hear how the UK's cities have started having a closer, more collaborative conversation with banks, pension funds and private investors.   We hear from:   Cllr Susan Aitkin, Leader of Glasgow City Council  Mayor Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol  Cllr Georgia Gould, Leader of Camden Council and Chair of London Councils  Prof Greg Clark CBE, Chair of 3Ci  Chris Sood-Nicholls, Managing Director and Head of Regional Development, Lloyds Banking Group   Pete Gladwell, Group Social Impact & Invesment Director, Legal and General  Lesley McEwan, Assistant Director (Government & Infrastructure), Deloitte  Ingrid Holmes, Executive Director, Green Finance Institute  Josiah Lockhart, CEO of Changeworks  Steve Turner, Director of 3Ci  The 3Ci partnership is now widening to include Metro Mayors, Combined Authorities, Scottish and Key Cities, Counties and Districts and a growing number of private investors, financiers, advisors, developers and built environment technology professionals. Innovate UK has also been providing core funding for 3Ci and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is providing programme support.   Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)

Michael Portillo's Great Railway Journeys have captured the imaginations of millions of TV viewers as he explores the vast world of rail travel, its fascinating history, and what it can reveal about a country. In this episode Michael shares his thoughts on how far we've come in Britain when it comes to our railways, and what we need to be thinking about in the future. As well as a broadcaster and film maker, Michael is also a former Member of Parliament. Throughout the 80's and 90's he held a number of senior Ministerial roles in the Governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including Minister of State for Transport. Looking back on his time in government, as well as his travels and film making adventures, he reflects on how the rail industry has changed over time, the political obstacles that have held Britain back, and what our priorities should be now. This episode is the full interview with Michael, excerpts of which were included in our previous feature on “Reimagining our railways and stations”. In that episode we explored how innovation and new technologies are shaping the future of the rail industry as it rises to the huge challenges the 21st Century is throwing at it. Like the disruption of a global pandemic, the need to decarbonise our economy, the march of digital technology, and the importance of putting people and the passenger experience at the heart of all of that. Music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes: To learn more about the UK's first ‘Station Innovation Zone' and how the Catapult is supporting Bristol Temple Meads station to trial new technologies, click here. And if you're interested in applying for our Station Innovation Zone Competition – we're looking for up to 10 innovators with technology, products or services which can improve passenger experience when travelling through stations – then click here to learn more. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

In this edition of the EG Property Podcast, brought to you in partnership with Savills, EG editor Samantha McClary is joined by five experts from the south coast to find out more about what being awarded one of eight freeport statuses means for Southampton and the wider region. Listen in to this special EG Cities Live: Southampton recording to understand why collaboration between public and private sector is vital and why competition between UK freeports would be the worst thing for the country. In this 45-minute recording you'll find out more about how the freeport is the south coast's opportunity to showcase innovation, to retain talent and to, maybe, finally bring the region's logistics market out of paralysis. All that and much more expert insight delivered by: Gavin Hall, head of office, Savills Southampton Nella Pang, managing director, Omega-RE Patrick Freestone, deputy fund manager, Fiera Real Estate Logistics Development Fund Stuart Irvine, senior director, Turley Tom White, Ecosystem director, maritime & ports, Connected Places Catapult

The Wright brothers first took to the air in 1903. That revolution started with the propellor engine. Only a few decades later the jet age began, and since then aviation has become an absolutely vital part of the global economy, as well as the lives of millions of people. But what's really interesting is that our experience of flight - the kind of aircraft we fly in, the routes they take through our airspace, where we need to go in order to get on a plane, and how the airborne goods that we buy to get to us – that hasn't changed very much over the decades. Yet it's starting to change now. The next chapter in the story of flight will look very different to the story that unfolded over the last century. And this has huge implications for how we think about places such as airports, new modes of flight like electric vehicle take-off and landing or air taxis, electric and hydrogen powered planes, and what sustainable flight looks like as we transition to net zero. So in this episode, we turn our attention to the future aviation; to the airports, airlines and aeronautical technologies that have been taking us to the skies, and connected us to the wider world, and to each other, for over a century. What is the next century going to look like? We also meet some of the innovators and industry leaders who are writing that new aviation story, like Captain David Morgan, Interim Chief Operating Officer at easyJet, Prof. Sarah Sharples, Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport, Arnab Chatterjee, VP - Infrastructure at Zero Avia, Michael Cervenka, President of Vertical Aerospace, Simon Earles, Director of Sustainability & Corporate Affairs at Bristol Airport, and Gary Cutts, Challenge Director at the Future Flight Challenge, and Katy Milne, former Head of Industrial Strategy at Fly Zero. And, of course, we hear from the Catapult's Chief Operating Officer, Rachel Gardner-Poole, as well as our Technology Innovation Leads for Aviation, Andrew Chadwick. Music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) *****  Show notes: If you would like to apply to be part of our Future of Air Mobility Accelerator Programme, you have until 11 September to do so. For more information, click here. To find out more about our Zero Emissions Flight Infrastructure Blueprint, click here, as well as our ZEFI White Paper, click here. To learn more about 11 SMEs that we've been supporting as part of the Future Flight Challenge, click here. To learn more about the ‘third revolution of flight' check out a fascinating feature article in our Connected Place Magazine, in which aviation journalist Ben Griffiths looks into aviation's crystal ball – click here. You can also learn more about how drones are being deployed in the housing industry, ports and harbours, search and rescue operations, monitoring coastal erosion, as well as the agriculture industry. You can also access the repository of reports produced by the Fly Zero project, click here. To download our report on Hubs of Innovation, click here, and you can also read our playbook for place leaders by clicking here. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.

In this episode, we meet David Shukman, former BBC Science Editor. For over 30 years David has been reporting from all over the globe on the profound changes that are happening in our environment, our seas, and the wider natural world. Having started his career with the BBC in 1983, he was appointed the BBC's first science editor in 2012, a position he held until stepping down at the end of COP26 in Glasgow. David has some fascinating stories to share from his time as a science reporter, and he's also thought a lot about the future of the world's oceans and the profound changes and innovations we're witnessing here in Britain. This episode is the full interview with David, who briefly appeared on our recent episode on the future of the UK's ports (episode 45). In that episode we explored the innovation that's happening the UK's maritime economy, the role of ports as a powerful engine of regional growth and a potential gateway to new global markets and routes to foreign direct investment. We also heard from some of the innovators and port operators who are writing a new maritime story in Britain, like Bob Sanguinetti, CEO of Aberdeen Harbour and Nolan Gray, Freeport Director at Tees Valley Combined Authority. We heard from Anna Ziou, Policy Director at the UK Chamber of Shipping, as well as Mark Wharton and Sophie Peachy from IOTICS, a UK company specialising in data and digital twin technology. Music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.

In this episode we explore the concept of ‘place' in care, the principles behind it, the impact of Covid-19 on care delivery, prospects for innovation following the introduction of Integrated Care Systems, examples of industry best practice, and where listeners can go to learn more about ‘place' and innovation in care. We were joined by Helena Zaum (Social Care Lead at Microsoft and Chair of techUK's Social Care Working Group), Scott Cain (Associate at the Connected Places Catapult) and Hannah Groombridge (Healthcare Engagement Manager at Person Centred Software). This discussion forms part of techUK's Digital Place Week 2022 activity and will feature on its soon-to-be-launched Social Care Innovation Hub.

Pete the Builder and Steve Randall make you feel like you are at FOOTPRINT+ yourself!This first FOOTPRINT+ Special kicks off with an insightful catch-up interview with Emily Day, the Co-Founder of Footprint+. Speaking to Pete, Emily, who believes that through connections people can learn from each other and come up with new ideas, talks about how she feels about the first ever FOOTPRINT+Emily Day is co-founder and director at Footprint+, she is an award-winning architect and urban designer with a particular focus on global development and social responsibility. As founder of Footprint+, she has taken the opportunity to redeploy her knowledge to make a positive social contribution, helping all parties make progress towards a Carbon Zero future.Qualified as a chartered architect , Emily has over 20 years of experience working on large-scale projects. She has worked with many key players within the industry; local authorities, developers, and financial institutions which have given her a unique insight into the needs of the different partiesHere are some of the questions we Pete asked Emily:Do you think the Footprint Plus+ event went well? Do you wonder what the founders of the event think about the state of the industry and prospects for future? If so, you will enjoy this interview with one of the founders of Footprint+.“The event itself is intended to bring people together, to share knowledge and through this knowledge sharing able to approach projects with new initiatives...“It's a slow changing industry, it's not going to change overnight but I can really see the opportunities are there” Read more at Constructive Voices Radio special episode page.Steve Randall spoke to Prof. Greg Clark about the role of cities in our quest towards NetZero.Prof. Greg Clark is Chair of the Connected Places Catapult and UK Cities Climate Investment CommissionGreg is a world expert on cities, urban investment, and sustainable urban transition. Over a career of 35 years he has advised more than 300 cities, 40 national governments, 20 multilateral institutions, and multiple global corporates and investors.Next up Pete the Builder talks to top engineer, Tom Holbrow, who specialises in public sector projects.Tom Holbrow is the Business Development Director at Mace Group. He is a senior Board level professional with expertise in Engineering and Construction Business Development. He leads the Business Development function for the Public Estates, Research, Education, Arts and Culture and Healthcare Construction team at MACE.Our next guest touches on one of the most important things right now when it comes to achieving our goals around NetZero…collaborationKatie Clemence-Jackson, MENG CENG MCIBSE, Senior Engineer & Partner, Max FordhamKatie is a senior project engineer and sustainability consultant, experienced in delivering varied and unique projects at all construction stages. She is chartered with CIBSE and actively involved in the Institution, including chairing the CIBSE Technology Committee.Katie coordinates the activities of Max Fordham's Net Zero Carbon (NZC) working group, and was key to establishing the Practice's NZC design service. She is also co-chair of the Practice's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion group. Plus she was an NLA Expert Panellist for Net Zero Alumni 2021.Timothy E. Glew, Business Development Manager, Q-Bot talks about robots, and specifically BettyQ-Bot featured on BBC Breakfast following the announcement of the UK's Energy Security StrategyAlong with 25 robots, Q-Bot employs 35 humans at a headquarters in London and offices in Newcastle. The highly-experienced multidisciplinary engineering and research team has a unique blend of robotics, digital and building experience.

This week's Highways Voices again features conversations from the south of France and the ITS European Congress 2022 in Toulouse. This podcast is brought to you thanks to the support of our 2022 Congress sponsors https://www.swarco.com/ (SWARCO), https://www.nota.ai/ (Nota.ai) and https://gewi.com/ (GEWI), who'll also be supporting us heading to Los Angeles for the World Congress in September. Subscribe to Highways Voices free on https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/highways-voices/id1551975855 (Apple Podcasts,) https://open.spotify.com/show/0U6BbFBYLr5eeX0HuZtPv8 (Spotify), https://highways-voices.captivate.fm/amazon (Amazon Music), https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vaGlnaHdheXMtdm9pY2Vz (Google Podcasts) or https://pca.st/7a3xxskl (Pocket Casts) and never miss an episode! In this week's podcast we hear about European Commission transport priorities, along with a warning about money, before talking traffic management through AI and how to properly deliver active travel information to better manage the network. There's also a chat with the Connected Places Catapult about sharing best practice through the Manual for Smart Streets before we talk to an executive from Google Cloud about the transport industry's need for more expertise in machine learning to get the most out of the data collected. There's also our partner news from our partners the Transport Technology Forum, ADEPT, ITS (UK) and LCRIG, and of course Adrian Tatum brings you top stories from the Highways News website and his Accolade this week. Follow Highways News on https://twitter.com/highways_news (Twitter), https://www.linkedin.com/company/42942684/admin/ (LinkedIn) and https://highways-news.com/subscribe/ (subscribe to our daily newsletter here). Links: http://lcrig.org.uk/ (LCRIG website) https://its-uk.org.uk/ (ITS (UK) website) https://ttf.uk.net/ (TTF website) https://adeptnet.org.uk/ (Adept website)  

Happy Long Weekend Friends! (For those in the UK) This week we have Will Daubney dialing in from London. Will has held various tech and engineering roles over his career but currently is the Software Engineering and Data Science Team Lead at Connected Places Catapult.We discussed his career and his thoughts on how to be the best manager that you can be. We also discussed progression within the tech industry and the rise of individual contributors.Finally, we discussed the value of diversity in the tech space, and Will shared his perspective on how important it is to have a diverse team so that your products reflect the world, not just the people building them.  I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did! 

The United Kingdom is a maritime nation. Our ports have long been hubs connecting Britain to the rest of the world. Yet if we think of ports as under-utilised hubs of innovation, things start to get exciting! Whether it's 5G, autonomous systems, or net zero infrastructure, our ports can foster diverse innovation ecosystems. They can also be powerful engines of regional growth, as well as gateways to new global markets and routes to foreign direct investment. With the right vision and imagination, we have the tools and capabilities to write a new and exciting chapter in Britain's maritime story. This episode features a special guest, David Shukman, the BBC's former Science Editor, who's reported from around the world on climate change and the environment for 30 years. We also meet some of the innovators and port operators who are writing that new maritime story, like Bob Sanguinetti, CEO of Aberdeen Harbour and Nolan Gray, Freeport Director at Tees Valley Combined Authority. We hear from Anna Ziou, Policy Director at the UK Chamber of Shipping, as well as Mark Wharton and Sophie Peachy from IOTICS, a UK company specialising in data and digital twin technology. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To find out more about our Clean Maritime Demonstrator project in Aberdeen, click here. To learn more about our work on the future of the UK's Freeports, click here. To learn about how our ports are increasing being seen as hubs of clean energy and innovation, click here. To download our report on Hubs of Innovation, click here, and you can also read our playbook for place leaders by clicking here. And to register for the Maritime Innovation Week, which the Catapult is participating in as part of London Innovation Week from 13th-17th June, click here. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.

The UK has a powerful story to tell when it comes to regenerating our towns and cities in the wake of industrial decline. We haven't always got it right, and yet we've learned a lot along the way. So as we face the daunting task of decarbonising our entire built environment, what lessons can we glean from the real estate and property sectors? What does the road ahead look like in this current moment of profound disruption? And where might the opportunities lie for investment in new technologies and the connected places of tomorrow? Our guest on this episode is Liz Peace CBE, who has 35 years' experience in government and the property sector. Liz spent her early career in the Ministry of Defence before moving into the property sector and becoming Chief Executive of the British Property Federation (BPF). Liz retired from the BPF at the end of 2014. Among many other roles, she Chairs the Architectural Heritage Fund and Real Estate Balance - the property industry's leading diversity organisation - as well as the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, and the Sponsor Board for the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme. She also serves as a non-executive Board Member at the Connected Places Catapult.  Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To register for our Integrated Place Planning for Net Zero event on 11 May, click here. To be part of our inaugural Connected Skies event at the British Science Museum in London, on 17/18th May, click here. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Brazil is a vast country with 16% of the world's fresh water and home to most of the Amazon Rainforest – often referred to as the lungs of the planet. But the frontline of the climate crisis in Brazil is not only protecting its forests, important of course as they are. The fight is also being fought in Brazil's cities. Like Sao Paulo - the 4th largest city in the world. In fact, Sao Paulo isn't just a city. It's a state that's home to around 20% of the Brazilian population.  In this episode, we visit Brazil to hear about the innovation economy from the President of Invest Sao Paulo, Gustavo Junquiera. And we hear how a company in Sao Paulo, and a company in Cambridge, here in the UK, are tackling climate change together. Dr. Thomas Martin, Founder of MeteoIA and Dr. Jessica Ocampos-Colina, Founder of CamNexus are using artificial intelligence and sensing technology to anticipate and plan for climate-related challenges in Sao Paulo's water supply and distribution network. Their collaboration has been made possible by the Catapult's Latin America Net Zero Challenges project, which is being delivered in partnership with Invest Sao Paulo and IdeiaGov, and with the support of the UK Government's Science & Innovation Network. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Are you one of the 14 million people in the UK with some form of disability? Or do you know someone who lives with a disability? Then you'll probably know how hard it can be to use public transport - whether it's getting on and off a bus, or navigating the complex, stressful and often-confusing environment of a train station.   We're working with innovators to find solutions that will make it easier for people to live active lives. In this episode of the Connected Places Podcast we speak to some of those innovators about how artificial intelligence, gaming and sensing technology is revolutionising how we get from A to B.   It's all part of the UK Government's Inclusive Transport Strategy and the Department for Transport (DfT) is working with technology companies to help find the products and services that could make a real difference in people's lives by removing barriers to travel for people with additional needs.   One of the programmes it's using is called a Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG). It's a way of funding proof of concept research projects that are all about not just improving the UK's transport system, but helping to grow businesses and the wider economy.   And the Catapult's role in this?   As part of our strategic partnership with DfT we're providing wrap around support to government and business, to make sure that the good ideas that come out of these grants don't fail for the wrong reasons.   In this episode we meet some of the companies who participated in the 2021 Accessibility TRIG (formally known as A-TRIG) and what they got out of the programme. We speak to Chris Thompson, CEO of You.Smart.Thing, Fredi Nonyelu, CEO of Brite Yellow, Mark Robinson, Founder of Chrome Angel, as well as Christine Hemphill, Managing Director of the inclusive research consultancy, Open Inclusion, and the Catapult's SME Development Programme Lead, Rebecca Goulding.   Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)   Show notes:   If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you!   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!   Follow the show!   Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/highways-voices/id1551975855 (Apple Podcasts,) https://open.spotify.com/show/0U6BbFBYLr5eeX0HuZtPv8 (Spotify), https://highways-voices.captivate.fm/amazon (Amazon Music), https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vaGlnaHdheXMtdm9pY2Vz (Google Podcasts) or https://pca.st/7a3xxskl (Pocket Casts) and never miss an episode! “The Manual for Smart Streets is intended to provide guidance to support local authorities in implementing technology that supports traffic management and the operation of streets,” explains New Mobility Technology Integration expert Daniel Hobbs of the Connected Places Catapult on this week's Highways Voices podcast. “Things like how traffic signals will develop to connect to vehicles in the future, how new sources of data can link into implementing other services in the local authority like information for how people should be around, providing a wider control and management of the network to the to the local authority.” The initiative is by the Department for Transport and the Connected Places Catapult through the Transport Technology Forum. It is designed to complement the 2007 document the Manual for Streets, by helping local authorities enhance their network with the application of technology. Daniel Hobbs is joined on the podcast by Darren Capes, ITS Policy Lead at the DfT who explains that it's all about delivering efficiencies using what local authorities will already have. “It's not about nuclear powered space hoppers, it's not about the future,” he says. “It's about, in large part, how we do the jobs we do now better.” The podcast discusses the ways equipment can be used better, how connected car technology is becoming a game-changer for authorities and why authorities with differing transport management capabilities will all be able to benefit. This latest Highways Voices also hears the latest news from the industry and why connected vehicle start-up Eloy win this week's Adrian's Accolade. Follow Highways News on https://twitter.com/highways_news (Twitter), https://www.linkedin.com/company/42942684/admin/ (LinkedIn) and https://highways-news.com/subscribe/ (subscribe to our daily newsletter here). Read more about the Manual for Smart Streets https://ttf.uk.net/resources/mfss/here (here).

It's been another eventful year at the Connected Places Catapult and we've got a lot to look back on as the year draws to a close! We've had some great conversations with thought leaders across government, business, cities and industry - from London to Mexico City to New York. We've brought you news from our ground-breaking events on active travel, the innovation economy and the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission. And of course, when it comes to harnessing the business opportunities that come from technology and innovations that are shaping the connected, sustainable and low carbon places of tomorrow, we were excited to be at the summit of summits – the UN's COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow. In this episode we take a look back at the people and stories we covered in 2021, and we cast an eye to what 2022 has in store for the Connected Places Podcast. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Back in the summer of this year, the UK Government launched its Innovation Strategy which set out how the UK plans to become a global hub for innovation over the coming years. It recognised the critical role that place-based innovation is going to play on that journey. One of the many things that place leaders need to take into account is not just how successful that economy is in monetary terms, but also how inclusive it is in societal terms. How can the innovation economy benefit everyone is a question we're interested in at the Catapult and earlier this year we announced a new Research Commission on Inclusive Innovation which is going to be getting under the bonnet of some of these issues, and identifying some of the best practice that's already emerging from across the UK. Our guest on this episode is Claudette Forbes who's held a number of senior roles across local and regional government, including the London Development Agency where she led a £125m London-wide regeneration programme. She's also led numerous city development, economic development, and holistic local area regeneration programmes and she's a strategic adviser to local authorities, government, non-profits across the UK.  Claudette grew up in an inner-city area which was regenerated following race riots in the early 1980s, and she's passionate about combating poverty and deprivation in urban areas.  She's a faculty member of the Whitehall & Industry Group and she currently holds a number of Non-Executive Director positions including the Future of London, and the Connected Places Catapult.  Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! If you're interested in working on the Connected Places Podcast you can find out more about our Media Production Assistant role and how to apply here. Applications close 14th December 2021. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

How we design, build and invest in infrastructure is at the heart of how we'll decarbonise our economies, as well as harness the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution. The coming decade is set to be the most consequential in living memory for infrastructure investment, especially for new, low carbon technologies and the industries of the future as we repivot our economies towards new zero. In this episode we look at what this means for those larger connectivity projects like ports, airports and critical rail infrastructure? What's the role of government and industry. Where do public and private sector responsibilities lie? And how is the Connected Places Catapult playing a role in enabling new innovation and business growth? Prof. Greg Clark CBE, Chair of the Connected Places Catapult speaks to Dr. Nelson Ogunshakin, CEO of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Ogunshakin has more than 30 years' experience in planning, finance, delivery and managing major property and infrastructure investment projects around the world. He's also a board member of Transport for London, and he was previously a board member of Crossrail Limited as well as chair of the Investment Committee on the new £18 billion East-West Rail development in London. Among other leadership roles, Nelson is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Non-Executive Board member of the Connected Places Catapult. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. To register for our upcoming event, ‘Getting to Net Zero locally – a practical tool for local authorities' in partnership with OnePlanet, please click here. To register for our ‘Innovate at HS2: Net Zero & Safety Demo Day' which is showcasing disruptive, scalable technologies in the designing and building of railways, click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

MBA alumnus Andrés Martell talks about creating lasting legacies. In this episode, Andrés retells his journey into the U.S. Marine Corps and fulfilling his childhood dream to join the military.  After leaving the Marines at 22, he founded Vin Ambassador, a travel and events business. Growing up with an entrepreneurial father and a tourism background, he used these connections and experiences to offer something unique. But how did his Haas experience prepare him for this pivot? How did he survive the pandemic, and how did he recalibrate to a new direction? Discover how he forged his way to entrepreneurship and how he keeps reinventing himself to adapt to the changes, challenges, and struggles life throws at him. Episode Quotes:Did your childhood dream to become part of the military live up to your expectation?[00:18:49] The organization is, is fantastic. The pride that everyone has in wearing the uniform is palpable. The standards that the Marines hold each other are pretty high, and to feel like you're part of a lineage is just really strong. The part that I wasn't expecting was —well, let me back up and say, the U.S. Marine Corps is not just an organization it's also a tool. You know, a hammer is not inherently wrong. A hammer to build a house is a phenomenal tool—a hammer to tear down a house, something else.How did you end up as an entrepreneur and in the tourism and F&B sector?[00:27:04] I don't know what I want to do next, but I want to learn more about wine, and I want to keep traveling. I think somehow that evolved into this frame that entrepreneurship would be the next great hurdle. This is the next way to identify that identity I would find for myself, the next hill I would climb. I was thinking about how do I put these two things together?How did you pivot to a nonprofit?[01:32:26] I'm working for a nonprofit, which I was not expecting to say when I came to Haas as an entrepreneur. Or even when I was looking around at potential pivots. But this is a unique nonprofit; it's called Connected Places Catapult. It is the accelerator for the future of mobility and smart cities in the U.K. It does a lot of things because it has the capacity to not just run startup accelerators but to do research. To do research that potentially affects policy that can create a path for not just any startups but ones that have public good associated with them. As the Design Futures team lead, designing the strategy is to understand what those paths look like and create clear visions of the future scenarios that we all want to work towards.Despite the many changes in your career path, how were you able to pivot quickly?[01:34:27] A great deal of balance. Without balancing your life, you will become lost. If not right away, you'll eventually find yourself off track. If your life is unbalanced you will find yourself going down paths, not necessarily good paths, that you are not expecting to go down. When you have balance in your life you can explore. You're able to go down different paths. But there's intentionality around that exploration.Show Links:Andrés Martell on LinkedInAndrés Martell on TwitterCatapult Connected PlacesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Why has the Catapult been at the UN's COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow? Because so much of what was discussed, planned and negotiated in Glasgow had everything to do with cities, how we think about place, and how we imagine, design, build and finance places that are not just liveable, but also low carbon and sustainable. One of the big questions we've been tackling is How can cities strengthen their business cases for net zero investment? And if their plans are brought together and aligned in a new and creative ways, could they generate greater scale, volume and predictability in ways that might make them more attractive to investors? To answer this, the Connected Places Catapult has teamed up with the UK's Core Cities and London Councils to create the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission. The aim is to the leverage the combined scale and clout of the UK's cities to mobilise investment into low and net-zero carbon projects across all of the UK's largest cities, not just individual ones. In the lead up to COP26 we published our City Investment Analysis Report and Glasgow has been an invaluable opportunity engage with businesses and the investment community. In part I of ‘Live from COP26' we heard from a number of voices from across the financial industry, including two of the UK's leading banks and two new banks in Britain's financial infrastructure. In part II we hear from Mayors and civic leaders from across the UK and what the challenge and the opportunity of net zero infrastructure means for places. We also take some time to reflect on some of the other conversations that the Catapult has been having at COP26 with technology companies, asset owners and other place leaders. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: You can read the Joint Declaration of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission on our website, as well as our City Investment Analysis Report. You can also listen to the first podcast we did to introduce the Commission, as well as a follow episode on decarbonising transport in cities. To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

So why has the Connected Places Catapult been at the UN's COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow? Well, because so much of what's being discussed, planned and negotiated here in Glasgow has everything to do with cities, how we think about place, and how we imagine, design, build and finance places that are liveable, sustainable, low carbon and fit for the 21st Century.  One of the big questions we've been tackling is How can cities strengthen their business cases for net zero investment? And if their plans are brought together and aligned in a new and creative ways, could they generate greater scale, volume and predictability in ways that might make them more attractive to investors? To answer this, the Connected Places Catapult has teamed up with the UK's Core Cities and London Councils to create the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission. The aim is to the leverage the combined scale and clout of the UK's cities to mobilise investment into low and net-zero carbon projects across all of the UK's largest cities, not just individual ones. In the lead up to COP26 we published our City Investment Analysis Report and Glasgow has been an invaluable opportunity engage with businesses and the investment community. In this episode we present some highlights from the events and conversations we've been convening at COP26. We hear from; Prof. Greg Clark, Chair of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council John Flint, CEO of the UK Investment Bank Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC UK Carl Ennis, CEO of Siemens Elsa Palanza, Global Head of Sustainability & ESG, Barclays Susan Campbell, Investment Director for Sustainable Investment, Scottish National Investment Bank Stephen Pegge, Managing Director for Commercial Finance, UK Finance Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: You can read the Joint Declaration of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission on our website, as well as our City Investment Analysis Report. You can also listen to the first podcast we did to introduce the Commission, as well as a follow episode on decarbonising transport in cities. To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Are people drone-ready? Listen to this new C-Level podcast with Hannah Tew, Director of Air Mobility at Connected Places Catapult. She provides an excellent overview of the status of the UK drone industry, with a focus on sustainability and decarbonization. We also look beyond drone technology and explore how data collection and processing fits within the organizational framework of a modern enterprise. Finally, we talk about regulation and talent acquisition and retention, a much-needed skill to advance air mobility not only in the UK but globally. Barriers to BVLOS operations, the "Pathfinder Programme", the CAA's Sandbox; we touch all these topics and reflect on diversity and how we want this nascent industry to portray itself in this regard. For drone specialized marketing, PR email us at info@dronetalks.online At DroneTalks we have gathered the top experts in the drone industry to design a set of easily digestible courses to get you up-to-date, fast. Learn more: https://dronetalks.online/academy/ For more information about Connected Places Catapult https://cp.catapult.org.uk/ BIO: (1) Hannah Tew | LinkedIn Bio: Hannah recently joined Connected Places Catapult as Director of Air Mobility to lead the newly formed Air Mobility Directorate. Her career has been spent in collaborative industrial R&D, predominantly in the Aerospace industry so she can navigate industry, government and academia. She brings insights and stakeholder understanding of a broader aviation system, along with a complementary and in-depth knowledge of the manufacturing sector.

In this episode we bring you some of the highlights from our Active Travel Summit, which we held on 29th September, and what the road ahead looks like for collaboration, R&D, and commercialising innovation in this exciting and growing sector. The summit was a space to explore with innovators, city leaders, transport authorities, active travel commissioners, central government, business leaders and world-leading academics, how Britain can unlock the full potential of active travel to power the shift to healthy, net zero mobility.  Active travel is one of the most exciting areas of growth and opportunity within urban mobility - the kind of getting from A to B where your legs, arms and heart have to do their fair share of the work, rather than an energy consuming machine. When we think about what more active travel in places means, it's about creating options for us to move more. This can have a massive impact on our physical and mental health, the air quality in our overly congested cities by getting more commuters out of cars and onto bikes and footpaths, and the UK's collective effort of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But active travel is also about seizing a potentially huge economic opportunity! Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes You can click on these links to read the two UK government reports that are referenced in the episode – Gear Change: A Bold Vision for Cycling and Transport, and Decarbonising Transport: Setting The Challenge. To read and download our Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. You can also read and download free of charge the Catapult's new report on Hubs of Innovation which looks at the role of districts, corridors and quarters as hubs in the COVID-adjusted economy, as well as the accompanying Playbook for Place Leaders, a practical guide for establishing or growing an innovation hub. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

The innovation economy has become one of the defining features of the economic cycle, especially the role of innovation in the post-pandemic recovery and the wider ‘levelling up' agenda. Yet there are stark differences between the innovation activity in different parts of the UK, and there is renewed focus on enabling the innovation economy to flourish right across the country. On 23 September the Catapult hosted the UK's first Innovation Places Summit which brought together place leaders, businesses, researchers, policy makers and innovators from across Britain and around the world. The summit was the first of its kind and it explored some of the key questions facing business and place leaders in the innovation economy; how can innovation locations help to leverage foreign direct investment; how can we democratise innovation; how can we support SMEs; and how do existing hubs build on strong foundations and maintain momentum over time? This episode is a whistle-stop world tour of some of the places of innovation from across the UK and around the globe that we heard from at the summit; from New York to Sydney, from Tel Aviv to Mexico City, we explore what it takes for a place to become a hotbed of innovation. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes Our Hubs of Innovation podcast series comes out of two reports that the Catapult recently published, 1) Hubs of Innovation which looks at the role of innovation hubs in the COVID-adjusted economy, and 2) the accompanying Playbook for Place Leaders, a practical guide for how to establish or grow an innovation hub. Both reports are free to download on our website. On Monday 5th October we'll be running an event looking at how innovation procurement can drive new local transport services. Click here to register. On Thursday 7th October is our Transport Innovation Expo where we'll be celebrating early stage innovation in the transport sector. Click here to register. Then on Thursday 21st October the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission will present its findings on the up-front investment needed to address the Net Zero pledges in London and across the UK's Core Cities. Click here to register.

How can cities strengthen their business cases for net zero investment? And if their plans are brought together and aligned in a new and creative ways, could they generate greater scale, volume and predictability in ways that might make them more attractive to investors? To answer these and other questions, the Connected Places Catapult has teamed up with the UK's Core Cities and London Councils to create the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission. The aim is to the leverage the combined scale and clout of the UK's cities to mobilise investment into low and net-zero carbon projects across all of the UK's largest cities, not just individual ones. As an initial step we have commissioned research to assess and analyse the low carbon investment that cities need, and the associated investment cases. The findings of the report will be launched at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow and will look at the following sectors; commercial and industrial property, waste and electricity generation, and transport. In this episode we take a look at transport, which contributes almost a quarter (22%) of the UK's green house gas emissions. There are of course different modes of transport – cars, buses, lorries, trains – and they each contribute emissions in different ways too. In a UK context you also have to bear in mind that local authorities have limited impact on most of those modes, and zero impact on some. So the Commission has been focussing on where councils can have the most impact through policy and investment: Reducing the need to travel. Increasing the use of public transport Increasing the uptake of active travel - walking, cycling Converting from fossil fuelled to electrified forms of transport Prof. Greg Clark, who chairs the Commission, speaks to Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council about what this looks like from the perspective of one of the UK's core cities. We also meet Andrea Fernandez, Managing Director of C40 Cities Climate Leadership and specialist in climate finance in cities, as well as Asif Ghafoor, CEO of Iduna, a company playing a leading role in Greater Manchester's electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To read the Joint Declaration of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission on our website. You can also watch a recording of the launch of the Commission, which was held on 1st July, which included a presentation on the initial findings of the research report. To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. To register for our Pathway to Net Zero Investment event on the 21st October, where the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission will be presenting its findings, click here. You can also learn more about the organisations featured on this episode; Iduna – a UK infrastructure company specialising in mobility, telecoms and energy. EV. – Iduna's electric vehicle charging company which operates Greater Manchester's largest EV charging network. C40 Cities – a network of 100 megacities committed to addressing climate change. City of Glasgow's plans to host the UN's COP26 Climate Summit from 31 October – 12 November 2021. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Greg Clark is the doyen of international urbanists. He has over 30 years built up a reputation as a go-to thought-leader and analyst on cities, having by now worked in and for more than 300 of them world-wide. Professor Clark is Group Advisor, Future Cities & New Industries at HSBC, one of the world's leading banks, with his advice sought by governments at all levels and leaders of industry and commerce across 67 countries and 400 cities. He is Chair of the Connected Places Catapult, the UK's innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership and he is on the Board of Transport for London and chairs its Investment Committee. In this deeply insightful talk on cities and Covid, Greg sets out the evidence – his reasoned optimism – that though some cities have been deeply challenged by Covid, they will, as they always have done, reinvent themselves. The future is still urban and indeed as Greg points out, some parts of the world have not seen any slowdown in their urbanisation, with China firmly on a path to 65% of its population being urban by 2025 and with Africa now having many of the fastest-growing cities on the planet. Cities remain central to our human future and the core drivers of creativity and innovation. But they are changing and COVID has accelerated that evolution. Join Greg Clark and Tim Williams for a fascinating discussion on what this means for us all. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this instalment of our City Leader's dialogues, “The net zero road to COP26 and beyond”, we speak to Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol; the largest city in the south west of England and a hotbed of innovation, creativity and discovery going back centuries. Before the industrial revolution catapulted cities like Manchester and Liverpool to prominence, Bristol was Britain's third most prosperous city and throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries it remained a key trading gateway to the wider world. To this day Bristol remains a uniquely global city with cosmopolitan connectivity and dynamism in its DNA. In more recent years its innovation and technology economy has shaped what's come to be known as Silicon Gorge – comprising the wider regional economies of Bristol, Swindon, Gloucester and Bath, now ranked as the fifth largest high-tech region in Europe. Behind London, Bristol is now the fourth most popular city for startups in the UK. Yet this globally-minded city also has a reputation as a progressive city where activism on the legacy of colonialism and slavery through to social justice, urban sustainability and tackling climate change have shaped its civic culture. So in this fourth episode in our City Leaders dialogues that we've been holding in the run up to the COP 26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow this November, Prof. Greg Clark speaks to Mayor Marvin Rees. He asked him how Bristol is positioning itself for the monumental changes ahead; both the challenge of achieving net zero, and the opportunities that innovation and digitisation are bringing to the city? And what does a fair and just transition to net zero look like for a city with some of the highest levels in England of both wealth and deprivation? This conversation was recorded live as part of our City Leaders Dialogue and you can watch the full video here. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To read more about the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission, founded by the Connected Places Catapult, London Councils and Core Cities, click here. To learn more about the work of the Coalition for Urban Transitions, click here. You can also register for our Innovation Places Summit on 23rd September, as well as our Active Travel Summit on 29th September. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

In this instalment of our City Leader's dialogues, “The net zero road to COP26 and beyond”, we speak to Jan Vapaavpouri, former Mayor of Helsinki; the world's northern most city region with over a million people and the most northerly capital in Europe. Helsinki is often referred to as Finland's only metropolis, the Pearl of the Baltic sea, and after Stockholm and Oslo it's the third largest in the Nordic countries. Famously, Helsinki has one of the world's highest standards of living and consistently ranks among the world's most liveable cities. In July this year Time magazine ranked Helsinki as one of the greatest places in the world in 2021 and the Boston Consulting Group ranked it as the third best city in the world to live, behind New York and London. Yet Finland urbanised quite late compared to most European cities with the population tripling since the 1970's and the arrival of the subway system the same decade. In recent years the city has become a world leader not only in public health and wellbeing, but also environmental sustainability and digital innovation. And now, as cities around the world are adapting to a rapidly changing global climate Helsinki, like most other large cities, has a suite of ambitious plans to reduce carbon emissions and achieve net zero by 2035. Yet Jan Vapaavpouri has attracted a lot of attention for his vision of simply making Helsinki ‘functional'. So in this third episode in our City Leaders dialogues that we've been holding in the run up to the COP 26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow this November, Prof. Greg Clark met the Mayor of Helsinki as he prepared to leave office. He asked the Mayor how Helsinki is positioning itself for the monumental changes ahead; both the challenge of achieving net zero, but also the opportunities that digitisation is bringing to the city? How should the political leadership of a city bring people along with it? And is the intention to become a ‘functional' city a bland sounding slogan, or surprisingly compelling vision? This conversation was recorded live as part of our City Leaders Dialogue and you can watch the full video here. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To read our CEO's recent blog on the role that innovation hubs can play in accelerating the UK Government's ambition to level up the economy, click here. You can register for the live City Leader Dialogues with the Mayor of Bristol, Mayor Marvin Rees on 7th September. You can also register for our Innovation Places Summit on 23rd September, as well as our Active Travel Summit on 29th September. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

In recent months we've been exploring one of the most exciting areas of growth and opportunity within urban mobility, and why it matters so much to the Connected Places Catapult, and the future of healthy, connected and net zero places. Active travel is about creating options for us to move more. This can have a massive impact on our physical and mental health, the air quality in our overly congested cities by getting more commuters out of cars and onto bikes and footpaths, and the UK's collective effort of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In this third episode in our active travel podcast series we continue the conversation with businesses, place leaders and campaigners for better and more active travel. We ask what seizing this potentially huge opportunity might look and feel like on our streets and in our neighbourhoods. How do we design our public spaces for more active travel? How do we ensure that change is accessible to everyone? And what are the gaps in our existing knowledge base when it comes to understanding even the current market? In this episode we hear from Prof. Rachel Aldred, Director of the Active Travel Academy at the University of Westminster, Susan Claris, Associate Director at Arup and Vice President of Living Streets, Isabelle Clement, Director of Wheels for Wellbeing, and Ben Knowles, CEO of Pedal Me. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes Register now for our Active Travel Summit on 29th September! You can click on these links to read the two UK government reports that are referenced in the episode – Gear Change: A Bold Vision for Cycling and Transport, and Decarbonising Transport: Setting The Challenge. To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. The Active Travel Academy has co-authored a report out this month on the benefits of cargo bikes in London, which was supported by Pedal Me. You can download the report here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

How does innovation happen in a place? What is it about a district, a neighbourhood, a cluster or a corridor that makes it possible for innovation to flourish? And what is the role of local authorities in curating innovation within and between places? In the 2021 Budget, the UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP announced a commitment “to stimulating private sector investment to create jobs, develop hubs of innovation, and revitalise local areas and regions across every part of the UK”. This was followed in July by the launch of the UK Government's Innovation Strategy which aims to make the UK a global hub for innovation by 2035. The innovation economy has become one of the defining features of the economic cycle, especially the role of innovation in the post-pandemic recovery and the wider ‘levelling up' agenda. Yet there are stark differences between the innovation activity in different parts of the UK, and there is renewed focus on enabling the innovation economy to flourish right across the country. This is the second episode in our Hubs of Innovation podcast series which began with two reports that the Catapult recently published, 1) Hubs of Innovation which looks at the role of innovation hubs in the COVID-adjusted economy, and 2) the accompanying Playbook for Place Leaders, a practical guide for how to establish or grow an innovation hub. In this episode we explore the role of local authorities curators in the innovation economy. This episode is an edited version of an online event that the Catapult held on 20th July, 2021, “Local Authorities: Curating Places of Innovation”, which is also available to watch in full online. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes:  Our Hubs of Innovation podcast series comes out of two reports that the Catapult recently published, 1) Hubs of Innovation which looks at the role of innovation hubs in the COVID-adjusted economy, and 2) the accompanying Playbook for Place Leaders, a practical guide for how to establish or grow an innovation hub. Both reports are free to download on our website. You can register for our Innovation Places Summit on 23rd September, as well as our Active Travel Summit on 29th September. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

In this instalment of our City Leader's dialogues, “The net zero road to COP26 and beyond”, we speak to the Leader of Manchester City Council in the north of England; one of the most important cities in the history of the industrial revolution and the story of modern Britain. For centuries Manchester has been a hive of innovation, and the urban and industrial technology that's come out of Manchester has had a profound impact not just on the rest of Britain, but on much of the world. Manchester is the home of the UK's first canal and its first passenger railway. It's the birthplace of atomic theory, the programmable computer and the world's thinnest material, graphene. It's a city defined not only by science and industry, but huge amounts of creativity and dynamism. So it's no surprise that going back 150 years the much-loved symbol of Manchester has been the industrious worker bee. And now, as cities around the world are adapting not just to the fourth industrial revolution but a rapidly changing global climate, Manchester is aiming to be a net-zero carbon city by 2038, 12 years before the rest of the UK. So in this second extended summer episode, we meet the Leader of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese. Greg spoke to Sir Richard as part of the City Leaders dialogues that he's holding in the run up to the COP 26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow in November. How is Manchester positioning itself for the monumental changes ahead; both the challenge of achieving net zero, but also the opportunities that digitisation is bringing to the city? What will a liveable, sustainable and thriving Manchester look like as we begin to recover from a pandemic? And how will the political leadership of this globally connected hive of a city, bring people along on the next phase of Manchester's journey. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To read our CEO's recent blog on the role that innovation hubs can play in accelerating the UK Government's ambition to level up the economy, click here. You can register for the live City Leader Dialogues with the Mayor of Bristol, Mayor Marvin Rees on 7th September. You can also register for our Innovation Places Summit on 23rd September, as well as our Active Travel Summit on 29th September. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Cities aren't so much becoming smart, they've always been smart and the history of urban technology is often forgotten when it comes to cities. Yet even the most global and future-facing of cities are living legacies of long histories. Taking a long view of innovation can help us think more creatively in the present about the many possible futures that a city needs to prepare for. Whether it's recovering from a global pandemic, responding to a rapidly changing climate, repivoting an economy to net zero, or improving the trust between city government and citizens, technology will play a defining role. In this extended episode of Connected Places we explore what this means for one of the world's most global and iconic of cities, New York, and few people are more qualified than our tour guide when it comes to understanding the role that urban technology has played, and continues to play, in New York's story. Rit Aggarwala has advised cities all over the world on urban technology and sustainable planning, including his hometown of New York where he played a key role in Michael Bloomberg's administration when he was Mayor of New York. Rit is an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and a Senior Urban Tech Fellow at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute. He was also a founding member of the team that built Sidewalk Labs, an urban innovation company founded by Google.  What's so insightful about Rit's reflections is that the story of New York is similar to the story of many other cities because the questions he's grappling with apply to any city: How has technology played a role in the evolution of New York, what are the technologies that will most likely shape its future, and how is the city's leadership preparing for that future? How do you ensure that all New Yorkers can participate in the digital economy? How do city leaders bring people with them in a time of growing mistrust in public institutions and concerns over privacy and civil liberties? And how consequential is the role of leadership, both political and business, in shaping the future of a city? Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To read our CEO's recent blog on the role that innovation hubs can play in accelerating the UK Government's ambition to level up the economy, click here. You can register for the live City Leader Dialogues with the Mayor of Bristol, Mayor Marvin Rees on 7th September. You can also register for our Innovation Places Summit on 23rd September, as well as our Active Travel Summit on 29th September. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

How can cities strengthen their business cases for net zero investment? And if their plans are brought together and aligned in a new and creative ways, could they generate greater scale, volume and predictability in ways that might make them more attractive to investors? To answer these and other questions, the Connected Places Catapult has teamed with a number of partners to create the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission. The aim is to the leverage the combined scale and clout of the UK's cities to mobilise investment into low and net-zero carbon projects across all of the UK's largest cities, not just individual ones. As an initial step we have commissioned research to assess and analyse the low carbon investment that cities need, and the associated investment cases. The findings of the report will be launched at COP26 with a series of dissemination events being planned in the months leading up to November. The aim of the commission is to; Support UK cities in achieving their carbon reduction targets, whilst developing a deeper understanding of the low carbon investment opportunities and challenges faced by UK cities. Create increased confidence within the investment community in low carbon projects by leveraging the benefits of the scale offered through networks of cities rather than individual ones. Provide the basis for engaging with industry on the opportunities for the supply and deployment of low carbon technologies into the marketplace. This episode is a summarised overview of the work of the commission using audio from the launch event that was held on 1st July, 2021 chaired by Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of the Centre for Cities and attended by Prof. Greg Clark, Chair of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission, Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, Niall Bolger, CEO of the London Borough of Hounslow, Rachel Dickie, Executive Director for Investment at Grosvenor Britain and Ireland, Shuen Chan, Head of ESG at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To read the Joint Declaration of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission on our website. You can also watch a recording of the launch of the Commission, which was held on 1st July, which included a presentation on the initial findings of the research report. To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. You can register for the live City Leader Dialogues with Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council on Monday 26th July, and Mayor of Bristol, Mayor Marvin Rees on 7th September. You can also register for our Innovation Places Summit on 23rd September, as well as our Active Travel Summit on 29th September. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

The physical and digital infrastructure that connects and powers our towns, cities and transport systems is something we don't often think about until emergency strikes. Which is why in countries all around the world the COVID pandemic has refocussed our attention on the resilience and adaptability of our infrastructure. Yet ironically, how we design, build and invest in infrastructure is at the heart of the post-pandemic recovery. Even before COVID, the 2020s were set to become the most consequential decade in living memory for infrastructure investment, especially for new, low carbon technologies and the industries of the future as we re-pivot our economies towards new zero. In this episode we look at the global investment patterns and infrastructure needs that will shape the coming decade, and the opportunities that digitisation brings in decarbonising our economies and achieving net zero carbon emissions. What might this mean for those larger connectivity projects like ports, airports and critical rail infrastructure? What's the role of government and industry - where do public and private sector responsibilities lie? Prof. Greg Clark CBE, Chair of the Connected Places Catapult speaks to Nick Chism, an expert in the field of infrastructure investment and delivery. Nick was Global Chair of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare at KPMG, where he worked on infrastructure and new technologies in global markets across 120 countries worldwide. He represented KPMG on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the CBI Infrastructure Board, and at the World Economic Forum.  More recently, he was Chief Business Adviser and Director General of Enterprise at the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy where his portfolio overed business engagement, growth and investment. Nick is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and Executive Chair of IPFA, the global professional association for infrastructure and energy project financing. We're also very lucky to have Nick on the Board of the Connected Places Catapult. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. Our Connections Cafés are our series of SME innovation support webinars that explore developments and opportunities in the built environment and mobility sectors that enable new levels of physical, digital and social connectedness. Our next café is on the 14th July and will be focussing on knowledge exchange and collaboration between SMEs and Universities. You can register here. We're working with the Department for Transport, to help deliver their 2021 Transport Research and Innovation Grants for Zero Emission Flight. The department will be awarding a minimum of 12 funding grants of £50k to organisations doing R&D in this space, and on the 12th July we're running a webinar that will provide further information, support and guidance to interested businesses You can register here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

We're running a series of dialogues with Mayors from around the world in the lead up to the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow later this year. The series was launched this week at the World Cities Summit 2021, which was hosted by our partner, the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) and held virtually for the first time. Over the coming months the Catapult will be convening a series of dialogues with city Mayors from around the world about the road to a resilient and green recovery. Each dialogue will be facilitated by Prof Greg Clark, the Chair of the Connected Places Catapult. The effects of the COVID pandemic are far from over but city leaders have already begun planning for the recovery. And with the grand urban challenges of climate change, population growth and quality of life still very much in the in-tray, that recovery needs to be both resilient and green. In the first conversation in the series, we begin with a city that is often lauded as one of the most liveable in the world: Melbourne, one of Australia's urban jewels known for its parks, beaches, thriving cultural life and innovative economy. But Melbourne is also a city that has had to adapt, pivot and embrace change throughout its history, and no more than during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode we meet the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp to hear how the City of Melbourne has actually used the disruption of lockdown to fast track it's environmental sustainability programme. We ask how Melbourne's world-renown innovators and entrepreneurs are shaping the city's embrace of a digitised future. How is the city's innovation economy and its iconic global port helping to make Melbourne a more connected place in which to do business? And how is the Lord Mayor taking Melburnians with her on the road to a greener and more resilient future? Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: You can learn more here about what the City of Melbourne is doing on climate action and a list of climate change impacts on the city region, as well as the city's Climate Change Mitigation Strategy. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. If you're an SME looking to understand the impact of COVID-19 on your business, the wider supply chain and what the road to recovery might look like, come along to our next SME Masterclass: Rebalancing the Supply Chain in COVID Recovery being held on 29th June. To register for free, click here. On the 1st July we'll be launching our UK Cities Climate Investment Commission, in partnership with Core Cities and London Councils. We'll be presenting some early-stage findings on the estimated Net Zero investment need of the UK's Cities. It's a piece of work that we've commissioned in the run-up to the COP26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow later this year. To register for free, click here.   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

In episode 16, “Accelerating the UK active travel market” we explored one of the most exciting areas of growth and opportunity within urban mobility, and why it matters so much to the Connected Places Catapult, and the future of healthy, connected and net zero places. Active travel is about creating options for us to move more. This can have a massive impact on our physical and mental health, the air quality in our overly congested cities by getting more commuters out of cars and onto bikes and footpaths, and the UK's collective effort of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In this episode we kick off a series of conversations we've been having with businesses, place leaders and experts in active travel. We ask what seizing this potentially huge opportunity for economic growth and public health and wellbeing looks like around the country. How do we design our cities for more active travel? How do we ensure that change is led by communities and accessible to all? And where are the opportunities, at home and abroad, for government and industry to get ahead of the curve? We begin by speaking to Dame Sarah Storey, one of the most decorated British athletes of all time and the Active Travel Commissioner for the Sheffield City Region. We also hear from Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bikes, one of Britain's best known cycling brands and sold all over the world. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes To find out more about the Sheffield City Region's active travel programme, check out their Active Travel Implementation Plan, as well as the region's interactive Active Travel Map. You can click on these links to read the two UK government reports that are referenced in the episode – Gear Change: A Bold Vision for Cycling and Transport, and Decarbonising Transport: Setting The Challenge. To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. On the 23rd June we're running an event on Connecting Homes for Healthy Ageing as part of our multi-year Homes for Healthy Ageing Programme which is contributing towards the UK Government's goal of supporting older people to live at home independently for 5+ years longer. We'll be exploring the barriers and opportunities for leveraging innovation to overcome the existing healthy ageing challenges in the UK. To register for free, click here.  On the 1st July we'll also be launching our UK Cities Climate Investment Commission, in partnership with Core Cities and London Councils. We'll be presenting some early-stage findings on the estimated Net Zero investment need of the UK's Cities. It's a piece of work that we've commissioned in the run-up to the COP26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow later this year. To register for free, click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

Cycles of technologies and innovations have been connecting and shaping the places where we live and work for centuries – from aqueduct and sewerage systems through to the advent of the motor vehicle, railways and the skyscraper. But the digital age has accelerated the pace of change more than any other, and it has not only brought with it a slew of new technologies, but also a profound and complex set of risks and dilemmas that governments, businesses and citizens are having to navigate. In episode 18, “Connected and Secure Places: A Conversation with Matt Warman MP” we discussed the secure and connected places of tomorrow with the UK Government's Minister for Digital Infrastructure. In this episode we ask how the next cycle of new technologies are shaping these places, and what place leaders, businesses and individuals need to do to be ahead of the curve. What will 5G connectivity bring to our towns and cities, and at a time of rising mistrust in public institutions and even wild conspiracy theories, how do place leaders bring citizens with them on a journey of change? How do we ensure that our national digital infrastructure is safe and secure, and where is the balance between protecting civil liberties such as the right to privacy, and creating new data ecosystems that enable ground-breaking innovation? In this episode, Prof. Greg Clark CBE, Chair of the Connected Places Catapult speaks to Dr. Alison Vincent, a technical thought leader in the field of technology, innovation and global business. Throughout her 30 year career Alison has held senior positions at Cisco, HSBC, IBM and Micro Focus. Among many of her hats, she's a Member of the Court of the University of Southampton, an Ambassador for Women In Science and Engineering (WISE), a Fellow of the British Computer Society and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and a Non Exec Director on the Board of the Connected Places Catapult. Alison's experience and expertise covers cybersecurity, digital strategy, research and development, product management and mergers and acquisitions. She holds a PhD in Cryptography from London University.  Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email us at: podcast@cp.catapult.org.uk  If you're interested in the often tricky question of how to procure innovation, come along to the next event in our Challenging Procurement Series: Co-creating Innovation which is being held on 14th June. You'll get a chance to hear case studies and best practices in procurement, and learn why citizen-led projects are often cited as a powerful tool by innovative public sector organisations. To register, click here. Applications for the HS2 Accelerator are now open. The programme in partnership with HS2 and Connected Places Catapult is looking for five SMEs to provide innovative digital solutions to cut carbon and increase construction site safety and security as part of Europe's largest infrastructure project. To find out more about a support and information webinar we're holding on 15th June, click here. On the 23rd June we're running an event on Connecting Homes for Healthy Ageing as part of our multi-year Homes for Healthy Ageing Programme which is contributing towards the UK Government's goal of supporting older people to live at home independently for 5+ years longer. We'll be exploring the barriers and opportunities for leveraging innovation to overcome the existing healthy ageing challenges in the UK. To register for free, click here.

In this next part of our series on Hubs of Innovation, we return to the question of how innovation happens in a place. What is it about a district, a neighbourhood, or a corridor that makes it possible for innovation to flourish? And how can a deeper understanding of the innovation economy inform our thinking about how to create better connections within and between places across the UK? In this episode Prof. Greg Clark speaks to Chris Oglesby, CEO of Bruntwood, a property company that employs over 800 people and owns over £1.4 billion of commercial assets and 100 properties across the city regions of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham and Cambridge. Bruntwood provides everything from coworking spaces and meeting rooms, through to serviced and managed offices for all sorts of innovation labs, hubs, and tech spaces. We ask how the buildings which host the innovation economy can shape a successful innovation location in how they're designed and serviced. Do you have to be a smart company yourself if you're a property company that's hosting innovators? And given Chris' strong involvement in shaping the innovation economy of Greater Manchester, we explore the link between the city regions across the North West of England and the UK government's ambitious plans to level up the national economy. As well as running Bruntwood, Chris is involved in a number of public and private partnerships, including the Manchester Climate Change Forum, the Manchester Oxford Road Corridor, the Greater Manchester Enterprise Partnership and the North Powerhouse Partnership. He is Interim Chair of Innovation Greater Manchester which brings together business, science academia and government. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you would like to learn more about Bruntwood and the buildings, workspaces, innovation and science facilities that they own, let and manage, click here. Our Hubs of Innovation series comes out of two reports that the Catapult recently published, 1) Hubs of Innovation which looks at the role of innovation hubs in the COVID-adjusted economy, and 2) the accompanying Playbook for Place Leaders, a practical guide for how to establish or grow an innovation hub. Both reports are free to download on our website. If you're interested the often tricky question of how to procure innovation, come along to the next event in our Challenging Procurement Series: Co-creating Innovation which is being held on 14th June. You'll get a chance to hear case studies and best practices in procurement, and learn why citizen-led projects are often cited as a powerful tool by innovative public sector organisations. To register, click here. To register for our next Virtual Connections Café on 9th June, click here. These SME innovation support webinars explore developments and opportunities in the built environment and mobility sectors, as well as offering support and guidance to growing businesses. Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

If the UK is going to hit its net zero targets by 2050 we need to decarbonise across every sector of the economy – that includes shifting from fossil fuel consumption to electrification and other sustainable energy sources like hydrogen. We've made good progress on decarbonising the power sector in the UK, but more needs to be done to mainstream renewables such as wind and solar. Yet it's not just the fossil fuel consuming machines that move us around which contribute a huge amount to our carbon emissions, the same is also true of the buildings in which we live and work. So the question of how we decarbonise the most carbon-reliant sectors like transport and the built environment speaks to a bigger question: if we are to increase our electricity demand we will only decarbonise if that electricity is being generated from low carbon sources. In this episode we ask what the barriers and the enablers to that net zero future look like, and what emerging technologies are mostly likely to help us achieve it. But we also explore another power source that gets us from A to B which is so often untapped in our towns and cities: human power. As we saw in episode 16 “Accelerating the UK's active travel market” the world of active travel is now at a tipping point as new technologies, applications, business models and digital platforms are revolutionising how we'll get around the connected places of tomorrow. So as a global pandemic ushered in a massive uptick in walking, cycling, running and even scooting, is this an opportunity to rethink and reimagine our net zero future? In this episode, Prof. Greg Clark CBE, Chair of the Connected Places Catapult speaks to Lucy Yu, CEO of the Centre for Net Zero (backed by Octopus Energy), Senior Advisor to Voi Technology, and Non-Executive Director on the Connected Places Catapult's Board. Lucy is a business leader who is well embedded in the UK's tech and innovation ecosystem and over the years her work has focused on artificial intelligence, future mobility, open data and open source, regulating high risk technologies, and the social impact of disruptive technology. She's led commercial operations, policy and research functions for several high-growth, globally-renowned tech start-ups, including two unicorns. She's also worked ob tech policy and regulation for the UK government, the European Commission, and the United Nations.  Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: If you're interested the often tricky question of how to procure innovation, come along to the next event in our Challenging Procurement Series: Co-creating Innovation which is being held on 14th June. You'll get a chance to hear case studies and best practices in procurement, and learn why citizen-led projects are often cited as a powerful tool by innovative public sector organisations. To register, click here. To register for our next Virtual Connections Café on 9th June, click here. These SME innovation support webinars explore developments and opportunities in the built environment and mobility sectors, as well as offering support and guidance to growing businesses. Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

When we think about how places change, we often think in the short term over single business cycles, Mayoral terms or a city's immediate response to crises and formative events. But stepping back and taking the longer view can also be helpful, especially in light of the profound changes that that have shaped England's cities in recent decades. In this episode we explore the story of one of England's most iconic city regions – Greater Manchester – with one of the city's most influential civic leaders over the last 25 years, Sir Howard Bernstein. We ask what Manchester's last quarter century might tell us about the next. How the reforms to local government over this period such as Metro Mayors and City Deals have helped to shape a “Manchester Model” and what the next phase in the city's devolution journey might look like. What the ingredients for success have been in shaping Manchester's innovation economy, and how the vision of connected places and digital connectivity is at the heart of future growth, resilience and prosperity. Prof. Greg Clark CBE, Chair of the Connected Places Catapult speaks to Sir Howard Bernstein, former Chief Executive of Manchester City Council and former Head of the Paid Service of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Sir Howard led a team which oversaw the regeneration of the city and transformational economic change over 25 years. Among many other hats, Sir Howard is an Honorary Prof. of Politics at Manchester University, he sits on the Board of Health Innovation Manchester and he's a Strategic Advisor to Deloitte.  Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To learn more about the Manchester City Region and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority you can read Our People Our Place: The Greater Manchester Strategy, as well as a White Paper on the The Manchester Model of unified public services. If you're interested the often tricky question of how to procure innovation, come along to the next event in our Challenging Procurement Series: Co-creating Innovation which is being held on 14th June. You'll get a chance to hear case studies and best practices in procurement, and learn why citizen-led projects are often cited as a powerful tool by innovative public sector organisations. To register, click here. To register for our next Virtual Connections Café on 9th June, click here. These SME innovation support webinars explore developments and opportunities in the built environment and mobility sectors, as well as offering support and guidance to growing businesses. Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

The Queen's Speech this week – which sets out the UK Government's legislative programme for Parliament – promised to level up opportunities across all parts of the United Kingdom, supporting jobs, businesses and economic growth, as well as addressing the impact of the COVID pandemic on public services. Levelling up the UK economy is an ambitious vision which goes to the heart of many of the structural and spatial challenges that towns and cities face. How do we create more jobs, growth and opportunities across the country, and not just in our largest cities or the South East corner of England? How can digitisation, the innovation economy and better connected places help us to address disparities between and within places? What next for devolution in a country that is still one of the most centralised in the world? And what do we need to do differently in the future to create a country that's not just more connected, but also more competitive, resilient and sustainable? In this episode the Chair of the Catapult, Prof. Greg Clark speaks to Lord Kerslake, Chair of the Peabody Group and formerly the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government, Head of the Civil Service and Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council and the London Borough of Hounslow. Lord Kerslake has worked at the highest levels of local and national government and in 2015 was made a cross-bench Peer in the House of Lords.  Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Show notes: Find out more about the UK2070 Commission, an independent inquiry into city and regional inequalities, as well as policy and spatial issues related to the UK's long-term development. You can also learn more about Laptops For Kids which Lord Kerslake mentions – the charity that facilitates the donation and distribution of used digital devices, enabling children from disadvantaged backgrounds to have access to the technology they need to participate in remote learning. Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

We've all had to find new and creative ways to stay connected over the last year. But one of the most important has been maintaining our digital connectivity. The pandemic has shone a spotlight on all aspects of our infrastructure. It's been a stark reminder that in the 21st Century digital connectivity, such as high-speed broadband, is just as much a critical utility for our economy as water, electricity or gas. And as our COVID-adjusted economy begins to recover, attention is refocussing on the importance of not just maintaining Britain's digital infrastructure but upgrading and expanding it across the country too. So what does this mean for our towns and cities and how we think about the infrastructure of a ‘connected place'? How can the vision of digitally connected places help to level up the UK economy? Where are the opportunities for UK companies in all of this? And how can we ensure that cybersecurity is at the heart of our ambitions so that our digital infrastructure is both connected and secure? In this episode the Chair of the Catapult, Prof. Greg Clark speaks to Matt Warman MP, Minister for Digital Infrastructure at the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Matt has responsibility for cybersecurity, tech growth policy and artificial intelligence, foreign direct investment and Building Digital UK. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: To find out more about Project Gigabit, the UK Government's £5 billion plan to bring fast, reliable broadband to everywhere in the UK, click here. To learn about DCMS's Ten Tech priorities for building back better, safer and stronger from COVID, click here. The National Cyber Security Centre - which provides advice and support to business, government and the public on reducing the UK's cybersecurity risk – has published a new set of cyber security principles for connected places. You can learn more here. Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

Active travel is one of the most exciting areas of growth and opportunity within urban mobility - the kind of getting from A to B where your legs, arms and heart have to do their fair share of the work, rather than a massive energy consuming machine. When we think about what more active travel in places means, it's about creating more options for us to move more. This can have a massive impact on our physical and mental health, the air quality in our overly congested cities by getting more commuters out of cars and onto bikes and footpaths, and the UK's collective effort of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But active travel is also about seizing a potentially huge economic opportunity. This is the first in a series of episodes where we begin to explore the opportunities for UK companies in the global market for active travel products and solutions. Throughout the series we'll be hearing from leading figures in business, local government, academia and the wider active travel world. We begin in this episode with Neil Fulton, our Chief Delivery Officer who's leading a new active travel programme, as well as Catapult Associate, Scott Cain who's a passionate advocate for the benefits that active travel can offer people, places and the wider economy. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes You can click on these links to read the two UK government reports that are referenced in the episode – Gear Change: A Bold Vision for Cycling and Transport, and Decarbonising Transport: Setting The Challenge. To read and download our Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. You can also read and download free of charge the Catapult's new report on Hubs of Innovation which looks at the role of districts, corridors and quarters as hubs in the COVID-adjusted economy, as well as the accompanying Playbook for Place Leaders, a practical guide for establishing or growing an innovation hub. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

In this episode Prof. Greg Clark meets Paul Doney, Director of Innovation & Continuous Improvement at Highways England – the highway, traffic and street authority that manages 4,300 miles of motorways and major A-roads across England. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic the reduction in traffic volume on England's strategic road network was huge. But as the economy now starts to recover it's important to remain focussed on those medium to long term challenges that haven't gone away. What do the UK's net zero ambitions mean for England's strategic road network? What contribution is innovation making on that journey and where are the opportunities for businesses? How can digitisation and new and emerging technologies help to connect not just people but places? Paul Doney has had a distinguished career as a civil engineer and a background in contracting, engineering and local government, Paul joined the Highways Agency in 2003 and more recently has been leading the innovation agenda at Highways England with a strong focus on customer value. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes Conversation topics/themes: The impact the pandemic has had on the road network in England, and changing mobility patterns over the last year The bigger trends that pre-date COVID which are shaping the future of England's strategic road network, and how Highways England preparing for that future.  The role that digitisation plays when thinking about the road networks of the future, and the new and emerging technologies; how such technologies can connect not just people, but places.  How Highways England is responding to the innovation challenges that these trends and technologies are bringing with them, particularly the question of how a public body can work more creatively with researchers and SMEs.  What the net zero agenda means for Highways England and the strategic road network To read and download our report on ‘Transition to Zero Emission Transport: A Pathway for Long Haul Heavy Goods Vehicles', which investigates the options for decarbonising road freight, click here. To find out more about the first tranche of funding for zero-emission ‘freight trials' in the UK, you can learn more in a briefing webinar that was recently run by KTN on the competition by clicking here. To read and download the Highways England report, ‘Connecting the Country: Planning for the Long Term', click here. Our wider innovation programme with the UK Department of Transport also includes a number of case studies from drones and the future of aviation, to new innovations in micro-mobility and active travel. Our next Virtual Connections Café is taking place on Wednesday the 14th April. These cafes offer practical support to businesses and they're a great way of plugging into new networks. Our next one will be exploring some of the best practice that's out there to help SMEs and local authorities procuring new solutions at city scale. To register for our upcoming webinar on ‘Innovative financing's potential to drive sustainability in the built environment sector' which is being held on 31st March, click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

In this episode Prof. Greg Clark meets Amanda Clack, Executive Director at CBRE, one of the largest commercial real estate services companies in the world. The pandemic and its economic fallout have had a huge impact on the built environment sector. Yet if the UK is going to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, it needs to urgently address the energy efficiency of its built environment; twenty seven percent of the UK's greenhouse emissions come from buildings; most of which are our homes, but at least a third are commercial and public buildings. So as we enter the recovery phase, how do we build back better, faster and greener? Where are the new growth opportunities for investment in new technologies, and what does this mean for the connected places of tomorrow? Amanda Clack is an Executive Director at CBRE. She is the Chair of CBRE's Strategy Board, Head of Strategic Advisory and Head of Public Sector. Amanda has over 30 years' experience in the built-environment sector, and for 20 of those years she was partner at PWC and EY. She is the past Global President of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) where she was the longest serving President in 123 years. Amanda is also passionate about diversity and inclusion in the built environment sector, and it's a subject that she has both championed and written about extensively. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes Conversation topics/themes: The impact on the real estate sector here in the UK, and globally, as modalities of work and travel have changed during the pandemic. Reimagining and re-building a physical environment that's both safe for people, and commercially viable for businesses. What the disruption of the pandemic, and the opportunities in the built environment sector mean for how we think about place, and the vision of a connected place. Accelerating innovation in the built environment on the road to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Changing opportunities and business models in digitisation, new technologies, and the circular and sharing economies. New investment opportunities in the economic recovery phase, and what they could mean for the future of towns and cities, and the UK's levelling up agenda. The role that business leaders and built environment professionals can and should be playing in ensuring diversity and inclusion across the sector. For more information on Amanda Clack's work to promote and foster diversity and inclusion in the real estate sector, check out her book ‘Managing Diversity & Inclusion in Real Estate'. To read and download our Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the real estate and construction sectors, click here. To register for our TRIG showcase webinar on solving transport challenges through research innovation grants, click here. To register for our breakfast briefing on ‘Enabling thriving urban communities through sound sensing AI technology', click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

Providing accurate, up-to-date data and tools to the public to enable them to make instant journey decisions will help encourage more active travel use, according to Scott Cain, owner of runfriendly.com and consultant to the Connected Places Catapult, speaking on this week's Highways Voices podcast. He said by optimising journeys for the public alongside providing with them with the other necessary information for for their trips when they need it was 'very important' if local authorities and road operators want to encourage the public to me more active and make use of the recent investments in cycling and walking infrastructure. "People want choice and they want all the information they can possibly get to help optimise their journeys. Then there is the practical stuff they need such as where they can park their bikes at the other end or where they can charge their electric bike near their destination-all of that is a really important part of the active travel offer. So making that information to people who are deciding to make active trips at the point they really need it, is really, really important." He cited work done by the Connected Places Catapult on combination travel-a body of work that is looking at how people can travel seamlessly across different modes of transport, as an important example of work that was needed now and in the future, Also speaking on Highways Voices, Karla Jakeman, Innovation Lead – Connected Transport for Innovate UK said successful active travel is all about providing 'choice'. "I think when it comes to choice, we need to have that information, we need to feel safe, we need to know that we can put our bike on the bus or on the train, we need to know what the routes are. If I get off the bus at this stop? Is it easier for me to walk or cycle the rest of the way? “All of that kind of information helps us to make those informed choices. And certainly with some of the competitions we've been doing such as the Geospatial Commission competition, which we ran on their behalf, we have seen that starting to happen more. We've got five projects from that around active travel, and they're very much around using satellite technologies to create better information to create a safer environment, as well as things like asset management for cycle ways and pathways and things like that. But ultimately, it's really about giving people that element of choice,” she added. Karla mentioned the TDI webinar on active travel - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.eventbrite.co.uk_e_tdi-2Dwebinar-2D6-2Denabling-2Dactive-2Dtravel-2Dtickets-2D145711048669&d=DwQFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=7zn4VFL4aWCYogDavcciLlBKemgoZ_jPxmCy0lcTnqXO7HadBwy-_2vdNoCwjBY7&m=gfGAiOrFKLkkirDWNbdc3G2puVNFN0y4EvHekchpocI&s=s5G4kMuQuY6Lm7XR0bayUJPUL10KGsHpB-FDgfW6c4I&e= (click here). Gillian's website is https://betternutritionbygilly.com/ (here), and Scott's is https://www.runfriendly.com/ (here).

Spring is on its way and with it the hope that COVID-19 restrictions might soon be eased. Yet many weeks of uncertainty still lie ahead, resilience is wearing thin, and while we wait for better days many of us continue to work from home. Even those who can't work from home are certainly spending a lot more time at home. In this episode we ask how place leaders and city planners can help create homes, high streets, public spaces and urban infrastructure which enable human flourishing. We hear from three experts in mental health, human-centred design and the built environment about how the places and spaces we live and work in affect our wellbeing – and the opportunities for innovators to create environments that encourage health and wellbeing for all. This episode includes extracts from our Third Thursday webinar which was held in October. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes This episode includes extracts from our Third Thursday webinar which was held on Thursday 22nd October and you can watch the full video of the discussion on our website. The event was chaired by one of the Catapult's Board Members, Pam Alexander OBE, a leading UK expert in housing, planning and economic regeneration. The discussion panellists were; Pam Alexander OBE, Chair of Commonplace Digital and Non-Executive Director of the London Legacy Development Corporation Sarah Niblock, CEO, UK Council for Psychotherapy Dr Andrea Cooper, Director of Human Centred Design, Connected Places Catapult To read the article mentioned in the episode ‘How neuroscience could shape a more empathetic built environment' by Pam Alexander OBE, click here. To read and download our Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, click here. To register for our upcoming webinar on “Homes for Healthy Ageing: How innovation can help people live healthily and independently at home for 5+ years longer”, click here. You can also register for our two upcoming showcase events for CertiCAV on the 15th March, and VeriCAV on the 22nd March by visiting our events page. You can also find out more information on our website about the Catapult's VeriCAV project, which is building and testing an integrated framework to allow Automated Driving Systems (ADSs) to be validated in simulation. Our CertiCAV project is creating practice framework for assessing the safety of automated vehicles. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

It's easy to get caught-up in the urgent push for change, but we don't often take a step back and look at the net zero transition in the context of our history and the kind of future we imagine. Doing so can be worth our while because in many ways, we've actually been here before. In this episode we ask what we can we learn from past experience to help our transition to net-zero? How can we make sure that the massive and ambitious change ahead is one that includes social justice and promotes individual and societal wellbeing? How can we use our understanding of what went before us to our advantage in what's yet to come? This episode includes extracts from our Third Thursday webinar which was held on Thursday 25th February. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes This episode includes extracts from our Third Thursday webinar which was held on Thursday 25th February and you can watch the full video of the discussion on our website. The event was chaired by one of the Catapult's Associates, Max Wide, an advisor on organisational change and transformation strategy advisor. The discussion panellists were; Victoria Lawson, Executive Director for Environment, Culture and Customer Services at the London Borough of Hounslow Dr Carlos Lopez-Galviz, Senior Lecturer in The Theory and Methods of Social Futures at Lancaster University Philippa Oldham, Stakeholder Engagement Director at the Advanced Propulsion Centre To read and download our Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, click here. To register for our Climate Needs Action event on pathways to net zero port and airport cities which is taking place on Tuesday 9th March, click here. You can also register for our two upcoming showcase events for CertiCAV on the 15th March, and VeriCAV on the 22nd March by visiting our events page. You can also find out more information on our website about the Catapult's VeriCAV project, which is building and testing an integrated framework to allow Automated Driving Systems (ADSs) to be validated in simulation. Our CertiCAV project is creating practice framework for assessing the safety of automated vehicles. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

In this episode Prof. Greg Clark meets Daniel Deparis, Head of Urban Mobility Solutions at Mercedes-Benz. As our towns and cities become more connected, so too are the ways in which we get around them. In this episode we explore how urban mobility is changing. How will connected vehicles shape the connected places of the future. What will they need to connect to and what value can they add to the city and the citizen? What are the new emerging technologies that are shaping mobility systems in cities around the world? Where are the UK's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to innovation in urban mobility, and which cities around the world can UK city leaders and transport authorities can best learn from? Daniel Deparis is Head of Urban Mobility at Mercedes Benz. His team works with cities around the world to unlock new products, hardware and services for the mobility and transport systems of tomorrow. Daniel previously headed the Daimler Smart Lab - a world-leading think tank and incubator looking at the future of urban mobility and how we move around our towns and cities. Originally from France, Daniel studied business administration in Lille before beginning his career in 1999 as an intern at Mercedes-Benz in Global Services and Parts in Stuttgart. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes Conversation topics/themes: The changing patterns of mobility in cities evolving in the future – the trends that pre-dated COVID and what's changed since COVID. What these changes mean from the perspective of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) like Mercedes-Benz/Daimler and others in the market. The most interesting emerging technologies; how they are likely to shape the urban mobility systems in different cities around the world; and the importance of scaling what we already have in place. The evolution of connected vehicles, and the kind of economy and society they will produce. How connected vehicles will become part of the connected places of the future, and what they most need to connect with. Where the UK has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to innovation in urban mobility, and which cities around the world UK city leaders and transport authorities can best learn from. The emergence of ‘connected places' and the importance of finding a common language to forge new partnerships across a diverse array of partners?   More information is on our website about the Catapult's VeriCAV project, which is building and testing an integrated framework to allow Automated Driving Systems (ADSs) to be validated in simulation. Our CertiCAV project is creating practice framework for assessing the safety of automated vehicles, and our ServCity project is making autonomous mobility a reality in the UK's cities by deploying cutting-edge autonomous vehicle technology in complex built-up environments. You can also register for our two upcoming showcase events for CertiCAV on the 15th March, and VeriCAV on the 22nd March by visiting our events page. Our wider innovation programme with the UK Department of Transport also includes a number of case studies from drones and the future of aviation, to new innovations in micro-mobility and active travel. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

In this episode Prof. Greg Clark speaks to Prof. Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practise at the London Business School (LBS) and best-selling author. We'll be exploring what we need to do now if we are to live to 100. What do businesses, policy makers and place leaders need to be thinking about now as we prepare for the age of longevity? Where are the opportunities for innovation in how we imagine and shape the homes, workplaces and communities of the future? And what can the UK learn from health systems and business practises around the world, especially the oldest population on the planet: Japan? Over the last 20 years Lynda has written extensively about the interface between people and organisations and her writing has been translated into 15 languages. She directs ‘Human Resource Strategy in Transforming Companies' at the London School of Business, considered the world's leading programme on human resources. Her work covers the link between business and HR strategy, the new ways of working, the rise of complex collaboration and the impact of a changing world on employment and work. In 2016 she and her co-author, Professor Andrew Scott published “The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity” which became a bestseller in Japan. It was followed last year by “The New Long Life: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World”. Lynda is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum and has chaired the WEF Council of Leadership. She was also invited by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to serve as the only foreigner on Japan's “Council for designing the 100-year-life society”. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes Conversation topics/themes: The advantages and disadvantages of living a 100-year life for the individual, and what governments, businesses, and we as individuals need to do to prepare for living longer lives than our forebears. What longevity means in societal terms, both in terms of societal expectations and social policy. What an age-friendly city looks like, how certain cities are more age-friendly than others, and what they look and feel like for older people. The current technology frontiers that are contributing to the vision of the ‘hundred-year life' (robots, materials, bio-med etc.) and what the emerging business models look like. As innovations are helping us live longer lives as individuals (food, medicine, health, habitat, water, environment) what are the innovations that are going to enable whole societies to live and thrive for longer?  How Japan might show us a vision of the future in terms of mobility, cities, real estate and tech. Key differences with the UK, and what are the limitations are in any country for people living a 100-year life. What Britain's local leaders and place-makers can be learning from abroad, including Japan and other countries that are important peers to Britain.    To read Lynda's recent articles in MIT Sloan Management Review on the future of work post-COVID, which she mentioned in her interview, click here. To learn more about the Catapult's Future of Housing Programme, and to access case studies, insights and numerous articles, click here. You can also download our report on Homes for Healthy Ageing which we released last year. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!  

In this episode Professor Greg Clark speaks to Lord Nigel Crisp, former Chief Executive of the NHS and an independent crossbench peer in the House of Lords. We'll be exploring the question of living a healthy life, not just in terms of avoiding sickness and disease, but creating health where we live, far away from the hospital ward. Where are the opportunities for innovation in how we imagine and create healthier homes and communities? What's the role of government, public health institutions, entrepreneurs and individuals? What can the UK learn from health systems around the world? Lord Crisp is the co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health, as well as a global campaign on nursing called Nursing Now. Before entering the House of Lords he was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Health and he was also the Chief Executive of the National Health Service, one of the largest health organisations in the world employing 1.5 million people. He is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, an Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Medicine. Lord Crisp now works and writes extensively on global health issues with a strong focus on health and wellbeing practice in several African countries. His recent book, ‘Health is made at home, hospital is for repairs' encourages us to think far more creatively about how we live and how we think about health. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes Conversation topics/themes: Experience and insights from the UK's national health service, and the core question at the heart of Lord Crisp's book, ‘Health is made at home, hospital is for repairs'. How we need to be more innovative about creating health in homes, workplaces and communities, particularly given how the COVID pandemic has brought about a real step change in how we think about health. Health at the city level and what the ‘healthy city' looks like – how we can improve human interaction with the built environment in cities and create more active local communities, for better health outcomes. Creating better partnerships between government, business and communities for better health and wellbeing outcomes. Where the most exciting opportunities for innovation in healthy living lie, and some of the key the barriers to innovation that need to be tackled by both government and the private sector. Regulating the built environment and Lord Crisp's work on a Healthy Homes Bill, which would require all new homes and neighbourhoods to be of decent quality. The Bill would aim to improve the health and wellbeing of residents and encourage human flourishing in Britain's communities. What Britain's local leaders and place-makers can be learning from abroad, including countries in the global south and other emerging markets that are important to Britain.    Are you an SME with a product or solution that helps older residents reduce the risks around trips, slips or falls in the residential housing sector? Would you like to know more about how you can apply to showcase your product at an Industry Day on 10th March? The deadline for the open call is Wednesday 17th February, so you need to be quick! Click here to find out how to apply, and to read more about how the Catapult is collaborating with Places for People (PfP) as part of their Forever Living Homes programme. To read the article mentioned in the episode ‘How neuroscience could shape a more empathetic built environment' by Catapult Board Member and Chair of Commonplace Digital, Pam Alexander OBE, click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

What a year 2020 has been! On so many levels we've all had to pause, reflect, pivot, reimagine and rethink almost everything we do. Like many businesses we've also had to find new ways to connect digitally with our global network, and one of the new initiatives in our outreach work is our new podcast, Connected Places. So in this ‘2020: A Year in Review' episode we listen back on some of those conversations, as well as the other voices that contributed our online programme of webinars, masterclasses, workshops, roundtables and networking events. The Connected Places Podcast will be back in the new year and we're excited about the conversations we have planned. We're going to be exploring the big trends that haven't gone away despite the pandemic. We'll be looking at the UK's ambitious plans to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2050. What does that mean for how we use energy in our homes, businesses and transport systems? And where will the opportunities for innovation be in the built environment? We'll also be looking at the levelling up agenda. How do we ensure that as and when the economic recovery comes, growth and opportunity is shared across the country? What might this mean for how we think about the innovation economy at the local and regional level? We look forward to sharing more stories and conversations with you in the new year! Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)  Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult. 

The pandemic has had a huge impact on our built environment, but so too has the economic fallout. Any economic recovery, whenever or however it may come, is going to rely on our ability to create physical environments where we feel safe, as well as new business models that take account of our new reality. So in this episode we'll be asking, “What now for the real estate sector?” And where might the opportunities lie for innovation in how we imagine, design and operate our buildings and physical assets? In this sixth and final episode of season one of Connected Places, Professor Greg Clark speaks to Rosemary Feenan, Executive Vice President of QuadReal how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the real estate sector and cities around the world. We'll also be hearing from Yalena Coleman, Solution Architect for Applied Data & Technology at Connected Places. We'll be talking about the Catapult's Urban Technology Testbed, and how we've turned our own office building in London into a place of experimentation for businesses and innovators. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes Rosemary Feenan is Executive Vice President of QuadReal, a global real estate investment group headquartered in Vancouver. An expert on real estate futures, urbanisation, city competitiveness and technology in real estate, she was previously Director of Global Research Programmes at JLL. Rosemary has served on the Boards of Chesterton International, the Urban Land Institute, the Centre for Cities, and she sits on the World Economic Forum's ‘Future of Cities and Urbanisation' Council. Yalena Coleman is Solution Architect for Applied Data and Technology at the Connected Places Catapult. She has played a leading role in shaping the Catapult's Urban Technology Testbed programme, which facilitates the testing of new and emerging technologies in the built environment and how data-driven decision making can be harnessed across the public and private sectors. Yalena has worked in multiple industries across the technology sector in Europe, Asia and Africa, including software development, IoT, digital strategy and cybersecurity. If you'd like to know more about QuadReal's Oak Ridge development, you can learn more here. You can also learn more about the Catapult's Urban Technology Testbed, as well as the Catapult's approach to creating digital twins in the built environment, and a short video about our Advanced Building Information System. To learn more about what the Catapult is doing to support innovators and place leaders rise to the challenge of COVID-19, check out our Post-Pandemic Places Hub which explores the market opportunities the pandemic is creating or accelerating, including a briefing on the built environment which includes real estate and asset management. The Catapult has also published a new report looking at mental health and emotional wellbeing for city dwellers. You can read ‘Cities on the Couch' by Prof. Sarah Niblock, Chief Executive of The UK Council for Psychotherapy by clicking here. To apply to be part of our upcoming MK:5G Accelerator Programme and the work we are doing with businesses working on 5g technology solutions, please click here. To register for a webinar on Glasgow's Net-Zero Carbon ambitions, which the Catapult and the Centre for Liveable Cities are jointly hosting on 8th October, click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

If there's one place we've all been spending a lot more time in during lockdown, it's our homes. As we've been spending more time in our home, many of us have been thinking about them more too, and whether the places where we live are adding or subtracting to the quality of our lives. So this week we'll be asking, “What now for our homes and our wellbeing? And where might the opportunities lie for innovation in how we imagine, design and build the homes of the future? In this fifth episode of Connected Places, Professor Greg Clark speaks to Alexandra Notay, Director of Placemaking & Investment at PfP Capital about the UK's growing build to rent sector and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the housing market. We meet Pam Alexander OBE, one of the UK's leading housing, planning and regeneration experts, she also sits on a number of Boards, including Commonplace Digital, the London Legacy Development Corporation and the Connected Places Catapult. And we also meet Ed Warner, the UK Government Champion for the Design of Products and Places, and the CEO of Motionspot, a company specialising in accessible home design for disabled and older people. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes Alexandra Notay is Placemaking and Investment Director at PfP Capital, the fund and asset management arm of Places for People Group, overseeing a UK-wide residential strategy. She is an internationally recognised expert on build to rent, placemaking and sustainable urban development, with strategic advisory experience to government, private sector and third sector organisations across four continents. Pam Alexander OBE is one of the UK's leading housing, planning and regeneration experts. She has run the South East England Development Agency, the Housing Corporation and English Heritage, and she sits on a number of Boards, including Commonplace Digital, the London Legacy Development Corporation, the Mayor of London's Cultural Leadership Board, and the Connected Places Catapult. Ed Warner is the CEO and Founder of Motionspot, an award-winning design company recognised by RIBA. He has worked with hundreds of homeowners, businesses, Occupational Therapists, architects and interior designers helping deliver beautifully designed access for all. In 2019 Ed was appointed UK Government Champion for the Design of Products and Places. To learn more about the Catapult's Future of Housing Programme, and to access case studies, insights and numerous articles, click here. You can also download our report on Homes for Healthy Ageing which we released earlier this year. We'll be announcing more about our housing programme in the coming months, and a good way to stay in touch is by joining our Housing Innovation LinkedIn Group. To learn more about what the Catapult is doing to support innovators and place leaders rise to the challenge of COVID-19, check out our Post-Pandemic Places Hub which explores the market opportunities the pandemic is creating or accelerating. If you found this episode on the future of public transport helpful. The Catapult has also published a new report looking at the future actions and opportunities for innovators across 3 post-pandemic horizons: the immediate response, restarting the economy and the long-term economic recovery. To read and download the full report, click here. To register your interest in our upcoming MK:5G Accelerator Programme and the work we are doing with businesses working on 5g technology solutions, please click here. To register for a free Raising Investment Masterclass that we're running on 7th October for small and medium businesses, you can click here for more details on how to apply. To find out more about a joint initiative that the Catapult is running with the Department for Transport's Future Aviation Security Solutions programme (S-TRIG) you can register here for an application support webinar we're running on 30th September.   To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements – and please sign up to our newsletter!

Some profound changes are happening in our city centres, and the pandemic is certainly playing a big part; activity and footfall in our shops, restaurants, and central business districts has plummeted in recent months. Yet some of these changes have been rumbling away for years – and they go to the heart of how we think about, imagine and experience the places where we live, work, travel, shop and socialise. In this episode we'll be asking, “What now for our cities and city centres? And where might the opportunities lie for innovation and creativity and a new way of thinking about place?” In this fourth episode of Connected Places, Professor Greg Clark speaks to Miguel Gamino, Executive Vice President at Mastercard about the future of the city itself. We'll also meet Dr. Julie Grail, a world renown expert in business improvement districts, urban governance and place-making, and the Managing Director of the BIDs Business. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes Miguel Gamiño is Executive Vice President for Global Cities at Mastercard. Miguel leads Mastercard's global activities with cities and the City Possible platform, forming public-private partnerships that drive civic efficiency, inclusivity, equality and ultimately better quality of life. Prior to joining Mastercard, Miguel served as the Chief Technology Officer for New York City, San Francisco and El Paso, Texas. Dr. Julie Grail is the Managing Director of the BIDs Business, a management consultancy specialising in Business Improvement Districts. She's also the former CEO of British BIDs, and she's a leading national and international commentator and expert on local business partnerships, urban governance and place management. If you'd like to learn more about the work that Miguel and his colleagues at Mastercard are pioneering with City Possible – a new urban innovation model in which is creating a global network of cities, businesses, academics and communities – you can find out more here. If you'd like to read the articles which Julie mentioned on the future of work and town centres, you can find out more at the BIDs Business where she regularly posts articles. To learn more about what the Catapult is doing to support innovators and place leaders rise to the challenge of COVID-19, check out our Post-Pandemic Places Hub which explores the market opportunities the pandemic is creating or accelerating. If you found this episode on the future of public transport helpful. The Catapult has also published a new report looking at the future actions and opportunities for innovators across 3 post-pandemic horizons: the immediate response, restarting the economy and the long-term economic recovery. To read and download the full report, click here. To register for our next Third Thursday on the 17th September, where we'll be looking at the levelling-up lessons from Belfast, click here. To watch our recent Third Thursday webinar on Post-Pandemic Places, please click here. To register your interest in our upcoming MK:5G Accelerator Programme and the work we are doing with businesses working on 5g technology solutions, please click here. To register for our online Intellectual Property Masterclass that we're running for small and medium sized businesses on 16th September, click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements – and please sign up to our newsletter! Discussion points: The future of cities & digitisation The experience of being a Chief Technology Officer in three US cities The ability of city government to execute and deliver with the private sector Developing an appreciation of public service Creating the City Possible learning community bringing together city leaders, innovators and academics from around the world Mobilising the private sector to develop high social impact solutions for cities The importance of city leaders and the public responding to new public health information The question of density and the pandemic and the management of scientific understanding People have left major cities around the world – how will they return? Second tier cities are well placed to compete with larger cities to offer higher quality of life Accelerating things that were already on the to do list, i.e. digitisation (contactless) is now a public health priority Next generation of urban technologies – autonomy, mobility and MaaS Shift to hyper digital - how to be effective and refocus on what's important Hybrid ways of living, working and travelling Avoiding economic segregation and inequality by design The future of the town centre Heightened choice, mobility and disposable income has profoundly shaped our local places The power of online retail - traditional brands, new brands, Amazon, and the ‘global anywhere' shop The town centre mix and diversity of offer has changed Overdevelopment of retail and food and beverage The impact of home-working on town centres and the future of work and changing commuting patterns The largest city centres are now the most vulnerable post-COVID The demographics of home-working and the implications for co-working in city centres The role of businesses in hearing the mood of local centres and working with innovators The importance of public sector partnerships and regulations and controls Using digital to enhance the shopping experience, online ordering and home design The development of omni-channel digital strategies for town centres Rebalancing the commercial element of the town centre for living communities The role of tactical urbanism and testbeds in innovating in town centres  

As we gradually start getting back onto trains, buses, trams and tubes how will we get safely from A to B? What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the future of mobility within and between places? And where might the opportunities lie for new innovations that could make these unprecedented disruptions more manageable?” In this third episode of Connected Places, Professor Greg Clark speaks to TC Chew, a globally renowned transport expert who leads Arup's global rail business. We'll meet Ben Plowden, Director at Transport for London who's coordinating TfL's COVID-19 Restart & Recovery Programme. We'll also meet Nicolas LeGlatin, CEO of Open Space whose AI-enabled technology is helping rail operators monitor social distancing, and Alby Miller, Software Engineering Team Lead at the Catapult who's helping businesses like Open Space develop potentially game-changing innovations in mobility. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.  Show notes TC Chew leads Arup's global rail business where he specialises in rail transit systems, including high speed rail, metros, light and heavy rail. TC oversaw the delivery of Asia's first fully automated underground heavy metro system in Singapore, several new railway lines on Hong Kong's MTR, and the London Underground Victoria Line upgrade. Ben Plowden is the Coordination Director for Transport for London's COVID-19 Restart and Recovery Programme and has extensive experience of the workings of both national and local government. Ben overseas TfL's surface transport, the Mayor's air quality programme, and major projects including the Silvertown Tunnel, the Rotherhithe/Canary Wharf river crossing and the London Overground extension to Barking Riverside. Nicolas LeGlatin is the CEO and Founder of Open Space; a company aiming to use digital twin technology to put people at the heart of the built environment. Nicolas is an experienced director who has worked in the architecture, engineering, construction and operations sectors. He specialises in developing and applying people modelling and simulation platform technology for the use of asset owners and operators. Alby Miller is Software Development Team Lead at the Connected Places Catapult. With a background in aeronautical engineering, he specialises in visualization-based software systems built around 3D environments and immersive technologies. Alby has led projects as diverse as BIM model management and federation, the development of GIS platforms, mobile games and the creation of city-scale VR environments. To learn more about Arup's insights, as well as the ideas and issues shaping the future of rail and mobility around the world, check out what they are doing on Transformative rail, Future of Rail 2050 and the Future of transport. If you would like to know more about the collaboration between the Connected Places Catapult and the Open Space, you can read more here. Transport for London has published a number of publications and reports about how it's responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including briefings for a range of different businesses. For more information, click here. To learn more about what the Catapult is doing to support innovators and place leaders rise to the challenge of COVID-19, check out our Post-Pandemic Places Hub which explores the market opportunities the pandemic is creating or accelerating. If you found this episode on the future of public transport helpful, then you can also learn more in our briefing on Post-Pandemic Mobility. To register for our next Virtual Connections Café focussing on mobility on 9th September at 10am UK time, click here. To register for a webinar on our HS2 Accelerator Programme being held on 10th September at 11am UK time, click here. To find out more about a joint initiative that the Catapult is running with the Department for Transport's Future Aviation Security Solutions programme (S-TRIG) we're running a webinar on 7th September and 2pm where you can find out more information by registering here. To register for our next Third Thursday on the 17th September, where we'll be looking at the levelling-up lessons from Belfast, click here. If you're a company that's active in the mobility and transport sector and you're like to attend our next Virtual Connections Café on the 9th September, you can register here. To watch our recent Third Thursday webinar on Post-Pandemic Places, please click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult, visit our website for the latest news, events and announcements – and please sign up to our newsletter! Discussion points: Total systems approach to rail and mobility Modelling and sensing data is being used by transport operators around the world to understand new modes of mobility Hygiene and public health guidelines have also had a significant impact on transport operations The SARS pandemic has positioned many east Asian cities to better respond to COVID The need for human connectivity is likely to mean that connectivity will not decrease in the long run Demand could be boosted by a demand for lower carbon travel The railway, including freight, will be key to achieving net zero carbon emissions The total systems approach to rail is not a revolution, but the evolution of rail within wider systems Investors are focussing beyond build phase to the entire lifecycle of the asset We have to think beyond rail when thinking about mobility – station arrangements, road facilities etc. working in harmony with other modes. Digital technologies allow us to understand our assets in a better way and to also enhance both our asset management and our operational performance Place making requires an open mind to adapt to external changes using intelligence and data Integrated thinking about the needs of a greater city area and the transport requirements are critical – and this requires leadership across business, industry and local government Transport in London – COVID and beyond Mayor of London's transport strategy, London's mobility priorities and TfL's business plan TfL's restart and recovery and rebuild programme Restoring public trust and confidence in the public transport system Working with Boroughs, schools and communities across London The affect of COVID on different transport modes in London Avoiding a car-lead recovery Substantial reduction in transport authority income – closing the financial gap Reconfiguring the physical environment to enable social distancing Working with Boroughs to rethink the utilisation of public space, footways, cycle routes Predicting what will happen longer term is genuinely too difficult Innovation has two aspects: internal innovation within a transport authority, and enabling external innovation in the services they provide Mayor's Transport Strategy very much guides the kind of innovation that TfL encourages For many cities the goals are still the same are they were 6 months ago – cutting carbon emissions, achieving equitable growth etc. and innovators need to respond to that. Most world cities are now broadly pursuing the same goals around sustainable transport, energy and economy. Optimising resources of a city and utilisation of assets is critical for innovation – how can we optimises scarce resources?