Join Smart City and circular economy expert Heikki Ruohomaa from Finland, and Tim Packer from NEC Wellington as they discuss what makes a Smart City, and how Dunedin can best utilise its GigCity status for the benefit of all residents.

Dunedin is in a great position to become a world-leading Smart City with its new ultra-fast broadband. Being a Smart City could greatly enhance the lives of the city’s residents and Dunedin would be recognised as a place where world-leading solutions are born to create solutions to global challenges.

Heikki’s knowledge and expertise will bring huge value to this free public Techweek talk. He has experience with revitalising communities and regions, because a Smart City cannot be disconnected from the region it is situated in. He will show how other countries are working on the difficult problems Dunedin and Otago are facing, and that we can learn from each other.

Tim Packer's Smart City work in Wellington has included modelling of the effect on the CBD of rising sea-levels, monitoring high risk of harm areas in the CBD, mapping road traffic hotspots, and many other projects that have helped to create a safer envrionment for residents.

As New Zealand’s first GigCity, Dunedin has the infrastructure, the people and the vision to become a leading Smart City of the future but we need to understand the best ways to get there. Learning from experts in this field is a key part of that journey.

This event is for anyone interested in utilising technology for the good of all in the city, and offers a chance to hear from and question two leaders in this field.

Both speakers have been brought to Dunedin with the assistance of GigCity Dunedin funding from the city’s Digital Community Trust.