I had a chance to spend a day with Dr. Jonathan Reichental, CIO of Palo Alto, Professor at the University of San Francisco and a global leader on blockchain and smart cities.
Here are some of his thoughts and feelings after the first launch event of The Smart City Association Italy in Monticelli Brusati (Brescia, Italy).
First, in the morning we had the great chance to go to the Council of the City of Milan, “Jonathan, which were your main feelings entering great historical sites such as Piazza Duomo and Palazzo Marino, and talking about such a modern topic a New Digital Deal”?
Jonathan: “It had been around 10 years since my last visit to Milan. I already had positive impressions of the city and I was quickly reminded of the incredible beauty and majesty of the Piazza Duomo and the surrounding architecture. On the day of our visit the sky was clear with an intense, hot sun. The place was particularly busy due to design week and this increased the sense of energy in the air. I was so honored to enter City Hall and even more humbled to have an opportunity to address the urban planning and smart city committee. The deputy mayor of Milan also joined us and was intenty engaged in what the visitors had to share. My short time at City Hall was a moment to pinch myself in order to be reminded this was all real. 10 years previously I arrived as a tourist and today I was invited to share my thoughts on digital transformaton and how I thought cities would evolve in the years ahead.”
Then in the afternoon, we had 2 hours of intense discussions and presentations about the need of “A New Digital Deal” with some great international speakers such as you and some other important italian entrepreneurs and managers committed on this topic, which impression did you have about italian approach to this topic?
Jonathan: “For the first event of the Smart City Association of Italy, it exceeded my expectations. We had a full room of leaders from across the local economy. For a few hours they listened intently to a range of views on the future. I was impressed, but I guess not too surprised, by the level of passion from all the speakers both international and local. There appeared to be a recognition of the urgency for action on many levels: for the environment, for clean air and water, for cleaner and lower cost energy, and for driving economic activity with new businesses and jobs. The networking that followed saw the exchange of many business cards and a genuine enthusiasm to meet again soon to continue what we had started in Brescia.”
You had a chance to arrange the accomodation on Iseo, a wonderful small town on Iseo Lake. This kind of landscape, territory and way of living, in your opinion could they demand for a different way of digitalization?
Jonathan: “Every town and city will benefit from digitalization, but often in very different ways. For sure, whatever is done should not diminish what makes these places great. Digitalization can make the local government agencies run more efficiently and perhaps result in lower costs of delivery. Paper forms and other interactions can all be made available via a smartphone. Old services can be improved and new services can be introduced for residents, businesses and visitors.”
Finally, we spent some hours in Brescia, we had nice chat on italian history, style and professional matters, in the end from you internation point of view, do you think that Italy can play an active role on digital transformation, and in case, with which specific shades?
Jonathan: “I really enjoyed my tour of the City of Brescia and my time with you discussing a wide range of topics. I see every reason why Italian sensibility will be essential in this digital transformation. Italians have been the great urban innovators for thousands of years and this will continue. Today, Italy can continue that incredible legacy by being design leaders and innovators in a wide range of solutions. I expect Italy to play a big role in the future of autonomous vehicles and in engineering of many types. Italy has been engaged in many revolutions and it will play an important role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution too. Afterall, this is a type of rennaissance in innovation and human progress.”
Thank you very much Jonathan, it was an honor and pleasure to meet you and have great talks.
Hope to see you soon again here in Brescia!