The increasing growth of urban populations combined with global challenges ranging from digitization to climate change means cities require new innovative ideas and solutions. In this 2019 summer school, four universities will come together to explore the potential of data-driven innovation, with the goals of developing new insights and tools as well as a better understanding of how our cities need to change and adapt in the face of modern challenges. Partner organizations, like Deutsche Bahn, Technologiestiftung Berlin and others, will provide data and current challenges that the cities across the globe are actively grappling with. Over the course of two weeks, interdisciplinary teams will work collaboratively on projects which will then be on display at the public CityLAB exhibition.
Universities
Technical University Berlin, Urban Resilience and Digitization
The research group at the Einstein Center Digital Future (ECDF) is led by Professor Jochen Rabe. Together with his team, they investigate the impact of digitization on urban environments. City are facing major changes driven by global challenges, such as climate change, increasing urbanization, automation, and the continued digitization of urban infrastructures. These changes confront us with new economic, social, and technological questions that require thoughtful, complex answers.
Lead: Prof. Jochen Rabe
Contact: Max Rudolph
HTW Berlin – University of Applied Sciences, Business Informatics
The Faculty 4 at HTW Berlin focusses on computer science, communication and economics. Olga Willner and her team have a particular interest in the domain of intelligent systems. They currently investigate the challenges and potential of IoT solutions for smart cities.
Lead: Prof. Dr. Olga Willner
Contact: Prof. Dr. Olga Willner
FU Berlin, Human-centered Computing
The Human-Centered Computing (HCC) Lab is a research group at the Institute of Computer Science at FU Berlin. The group has a particular focus on existing interdependencies between people’s participation processes (the social system), the employed software (the technical system), and the collectively created artefact (the knowledge system). The HCC.lab’s mission is to design computational systems that enable and augment collaboration between humans and machines.
Lead: Prof. Dr. Müller Birn
Contact: Dr. Christoph Kinkeldey
University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Institute for Urban Futures
The Institute for Urban Futures at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam carries out research on the transformation of our cities and municipalities towards sustainable development. This requires an inter- and transdisciplinary approach to gain a profound understanding of the complexity of urban processes, digital information spaces, and social dynamics. A research-oriented Master’s program is an integral component of the institute’s work.
Lead: Prof. Dr. Marian Dörk & Prof. Dr. Tobias Schröder
Contact: Prof. Dr. Marian Dörk
Challenge & Data Partners
to be announced shortly
Schedule
- 2019-9-9, Monday – Kick-off
- – Welcome
- – Introduction to challenges and datasets
- – First ideation phase for data-driven solutions
- 2019-9-10, Tuesday – Lectures and project work
- – Prof. Jochen Rabe – Dynamization of space
- – Prof. Dr. Tobias Schröder – Modeling social dynamics in cities
- 2019-9-11, Wednesday – Lectures and project work
- – Prof. Dr. Olga Willner – IoT in Smart Cities
- – Victoria Dykes & Dr. Sebastian Meier – Open Data Berlin & Civic innovation
- 2019-9-12, Thursday – Lectures and project work
- – Prof. Dr. Marian Dörk – Data Visualization and Urban Transformation
- – Dr. Christoph Kinkeldey – Uncertainty Visualization in Practice
- 2019-9-13, Friday – Intermediate project presentations
- 2019-9-16, Monday – Practical workshops & project work
- – Prototyping, Cloud Services, Physical Computing, etc.
- 2019-9-17, Tuesday – Practical workshops & project work
- – Prototyping, Cloud Services, Physical Computing, etc.
- 2019-9-18, Wednesday – Production day
- – Finalizing projects for inclusion in the CityLAB exhibition
- 2019-9-19, Thursday – 4pm – Presentation
- – Public presentation of the projects
- 2019-9-20, Friday – Global Climate Strike
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Apply for the summer school
If you are connected to one of the university groups listed above, please get in touch with the corresponding contact person. If not, you can apply directly to be part of this year’s summer school, for more information see below.
The summer school will be held in english. Participation in the summer school is free of charge. As space is limited, we need students to commit to full attendance of the summer school. The program will run from 9 – 19 September, Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you are interested, we kindly ask you to send us (meier@technologiestiftung-berlin.de) a one-page letter of motivation by the 10th of August. If you have a laptop, please bring it to the summer school, as we don’t have the infrastructure to provide computers. Included in the summer school are drinks and a small lunch each day. We cannot provide travel or accommodation grants. Every participant will receive a certificate of participation describing the skills you acquired during the summer school. In the past, we have had good experiences with other universities providing course credits for such certificates, but we cannot guarantee this.
Location:
CityLAB Berlin
Platz der Luftbrücke 4
12101 Berlin
