The Smart City Forecasts The Future

Original interview in Finnish (Suomeksi) by Joonas Ranta for Innovaatiot magazine (the edition of 18.09.2019) can be accessed here: https://newspool.fi/alykas-kaupunki-ennustaa-tulevan/ 

Extract in English below:

Cities contain a huge amount of information and data, which, however, is at times stored in a fragmented form or simply outdated. Meanwhile, the platforms that combine artificial intelligence and data can empower people and provide new information for real estate developers.

The number of technologies and networks and the general interest in urban development have exploded in recent years. Still, much of urban data and crowd insights remain underused. Frustrated by this, Natalia Rincón set out to create a new kind of service based on Artificial Intelligence, in which it is possible to accumulate centralized data that analyses people and stakeholders’ needs.

“Cities are full of data, but the information is often siloed. In addition, urban stakeholders do not communicate as well as they should. Data always exists. It’s just the matter of digging”, says Rincón.

CHAOS Digital Platform combines human intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, and the large amount of urban data. It allows citizens to actively develop their environment. At the same time, construction and real estate operators will have access to all business-relevant data.

Urban Insights

Artificial intelligence and Smart Cities are the mega-trends of our time. Yet few companies have seized opportunities to improve the quality of life in our cities. Given the size of the conservative real estate and construction sectors and their great influence, Rincón believes that things should be streamlined.

“By combining human intelligence and machine learning with large data masses, we can offer our clients a new way of analysing and forecasting”, shares Natalia.

And the service does not just provide the snapshot of the present. Its true value lies in enabling urban forecasting. Various indexes can be used to provide companies and organisations with the estimates of what a selected area or the socio-population trend will look like in the future.

A city from people to people

“By combining human intelligence and machine learning with large data masses, we can offer our clients a new way of analysing and forecasting”, shares Natalia.

Among others, CHAOS has worked with KONE. The solution allowed the elevator manufacturer, for example, dive into the data on the ageing population of particular areas, what helped the company to anticipate the future needs in property development.

In addition to big urban data, CHAOS empowers the residents and users of cities to be active. A free mobile application with a map-based interface enables the new form of civic activism. The app lets anyone provide a feedback or ideas about city areas, and neighbourhoods. The app also allows development companies create geo-fenced surveys, what provides developers with valuable real-time insights on the use of certain areas, and sentiments.

A truly smart city is not just about measuring. It must also be about listening.

“Ultimately, our goal is to create happy cities for everyone. However, it is not possible until the human voice can reach all the levels of development.”

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