RSA Early Career Grant opportunity

The Regional Studies Association (RSA) has again earmarked funding to support Early Career research i.e. those within five years after finishing their PhD.

RSA Early Career Grant Scheme

The RSA Early Career Grant Scheme is open to single applicants in their early career (those within five years after finishing their PhD). Applicants must be based within an eligible higher education institution (HEI) and must be a current, early career member of the Regional Studies Association and throughout the duration of the grant.

How does it work?

The RSA Early Career Awards are provided to support a discrete piece of regional studies and/or regional science research. The value of the award is up to £10,000 (or its equivalent in dollars or Euros depending upon the agreed exchange rate at the time of the award). The award has a maximum time span of 18 months and reporting conditions apply. Only one award will be made to any successful applicant.

Award

There will be four grants each up to £10,000 available in the 2014 round.

Candidates should ensure that their application:

•　Is ambitious in their scope and have a clear international impact;

•　Includes the full research specification within the main application document instead of an attached document;

•　Includes a CV that lists only the top 5 relevant publications to the research proposal;

•　Includes a copy of the PhD certificate showing the date of the award;

•　Excludes the mentor letter;

•　Asks why the RSA should fund the research and how the research fits within the Association’s themes of development.

Submission deadline: 8th September 2014, 10am GMT

For more information and the application form, please go to www.regionalstudies.org/funding/page/early-career-grant-scheme

Selected RSA workshop presentations

Find here the slides of selected presentations given during our RSA workshop in Thessaloniki. E.Mitsakis reviewed the Evaluation of co-operative Intelligent Transport Systems (in English), whereas A.Tsoukala, Prof. P.Tournikiotis and K.Petrakis focused on Greece and discussed (in Greek) A Greek plan for Urban Mobility, a new approach for Athens i.e. Rethink Athens as well as a Strategic plan for sustainable mobility in Western Athens respectively. Contact us directly in case you would like to receive the slides of another workshop presentation.

Report of the RSA workshop held in Thessaloniki on 5th-6th June 2014

Workshop title:

Theory and practice of using ICT to facilitate smart and green regional development

Workshop host: Professor Panagiotis Papaioannou

Report by: Dr Nikolas Thomopoulos, Prof.Panagiotis Papaioannou, Dr Ioannis Politis

 

The second workshop of the Research Network about “Using ICT to facilitate smart and green regional growth” hosted by Prof. Panagiotis Papaioannou took place in Thessaloniki, Greece on 5th-6th June 2014 and was co-hosted with the ENDURANCE research project. The workshop theme was: “Theory and practice of using ICT to facilitate smart and green regional development”. The first day was held in Greek which allowed a lot of students and local authority representatives from all over Greece (e.g. from Athens, Crete, Kavala, Kozani, Serres, Thessaloniki, Veroia, Volos) to join and participate actively. The focus was on the use of ICT and new funding schemes to foster Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans by local and regional authorities which triggered exciting debates between academics, practitioners and policy makers.

Dr I.Politis chaired the first session stressing the role of European networks such as RSA Research Networks or the ENDURANCE research project. Mr I.Kolliousis addressed the improvement potential through evaluation of SUMPs through the prism of the ADVANCE platform, whereas Mr P.Karkavitsas highlighted the importance of consultations and forums to increase public engagement when introducing innovative solutions in cities and regions, particularly those related with public transport. Along the same lines, K.Petrakis referred to the role of local authorities in such processes and underlined the opportunity arising from the current budgetary restrictions. The next session included presentations by Ms F.Mikiki and A.Tsoukala who reported on the regional impacts by the ENCLOSE project in Serres and the plan in Edessa respectively, offering evidence from regional policy applied in practice within the contemporary economic environment in Greece. The focus shifted subsequently to urban and regional planning addressing the need to consider the benefits of pedestrianisation and integrated approaches with presentations from Prof.P.Tournikiotis and Mr Angelidis. The final session, co-ordinated by Prof.P.Papaioannou, triggered a lively discussion with local and national experts, including Mr E.Mitsakis, M.Vougioukas, T.Patsiaoura, G.Dimarelou, A. Giannakou and P.Tournikiotis, regarding the capacity and expertise available in regional and local authorities to implement innovative solutions, particularly where there is a jurisdiction overlap. A key conclusion was the fact that consensus may not be always easy to attain but can be gradually built up and also that Universities should play a key role in this process which could benefit the metropolitan area and wider region. The first day was concluded with a short walk in the city centre and ended with a tasty dinner overlooking the White Tower and the Thermaic gulf.

The second day was held in English and introduced more academic insights since it included two keynote speeches by Prof. Magda Pitsiava-Latinopoulou of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on: “ICT use towards sustainable mobility in urban areas” and by Prof. David Allen of the University of Leeds on: “Inclusion and exclusion in the digital city: Reflection on mobile and wireless technology deployment and use in the UK”. Both of these set the agenda for the day and provided common ground to launch the debate about the use of ICT to enable smart innovation in cities and regions, as well as about the often neglected side-effects of technological advancements. The first session of the day focused on innovation in smart cities and issues intertwined with their organisation for diverse city types e.g. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Singapore. The next session provided evidence on how much users value their on-line information based on a ground breaking study of Dr D.Potoglou et al. Then, T.Arriaga-Azkarate described the success of a regional network of entrepreneurs through the use of ICT to promote their business using new technologies and their limited funds. The day ended with another panel discussion which focussed on the lessons which could be learnt and applied in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia or other similar sized cities and regions with restricted funds available.

Overall, more than 150 people participated in this two-day workshop which generated wider interest around the Research Network themes and triggered a discussion about future events and collaborations. Thus, the Research Network hosts are currently in discussions with presenters regarding input in one of the forthcoming Regions issues which would allow the dissemination of output and lessons learnt to a wider audience. Furthermore, the Research Network Chair is editing a volume about ICT for transport where the support of RSA through these workshops is acknowledged since it was instrumental in exchanging views and information with other contributors. The ultimate objective at this stage though is the continuation of relevant research activities through the potential renewal of this Research Network with the inclusion of new hosts and other collaborators who are keen about smart and green regional development.

Great success of our RSA workshop in Thessaloniki

The RSA workshop held on 5-6 June in Thessaloniki in collaboration with the ENDURANCE research project and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was attended by more than 150 participants including academics from various parts of Greece, the UK and the US, as well as students, practitioners and policy makers. More details will follow in the workshop report. Here you can view the workshop programme.

Defining smart cities is crucial

A key weakness in current debates among practitioners and academics about smart cities is the definition of this term. It certainly forms a challenging task, but undoubtedly it can aid in shaping discussions and taking initiatives. ITU has recently completed a study of various definitions used and has provided a suggested definition which may still be broad but it forms a significant contribution in this debate:

A smart sustainable city is a city that leverages the ICT infrastructure in an adaptable, reliable, scalable, accessible, secure, safe and resilient manner in order to:

• Improve the Quality of Life of its Citizens.
• Ensure tangible economic growth such as higher standards of living and employment opportunities for its citizens.
• Improve the well-being of its citizens including medical care, welfare, physical safety and education
• Establish an environmentally responsible and sustainable approach which “meets the needs of today without sacrificing the needs of future generations”.
• Streamline physical infrastructure based services such as the transportation (mobility), water, utilities (energy), telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors.
• Reinforce prevention and handling functionality for natural and man-made disasters including the ability to address the impacts of climate change.
• Provide an effective and well balanced regulatory, compliance and governance mechanisms with appropriate and equitable policies and processes in a standardized manner.

EU Atlas of ICT hotspots

This atlas shows where digital technologies thrive and examines the factors contributing to this success. It is interesting to conduct comparisons both within countries but also within the EU.

Top ICT hubs in Europe announced

Availabitliy of research centres, universities and funding are key in developing into an ICT hub in Europe. Other key features which allow smaller cities to evolve as ICT hubs are relevant policies, having a leading role historically or clustering together such as Silicon Valley, Bangalore or Changzhou have done.

“This is proof that digital success comes through a willingness to invest, an open mindset for innovation and planning. Europe needs to build these values today to be a global leader in technology.” (Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice-President)

South and Eastern European cities are low in this ranking indicating the need to redirect attention, funds and policies. Read here about this issue.

Join the RSA workshop about smart and green regional development

Join our RSA workshop about: “Theory and practice of using ICT to facilitate smart and green regional development: best practice, evaluation and future challenges for multi-level governance”.It will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece on 5th-6th June 2014.
Attendance is free, but prior registration is required. Contact us at sgICTregion@gmail.com with any queries.

Call for abstracts for our next workshop in Greece

Join us for the next workshop of this RSA Research Network which will focus on : “Theory and practice of using ICT to facilitate smart and green regional development: best practice, evaluation and future challenges for multi-level governance”. The workshop will take place in Greece between 5th – 6th June 2014 offering opportunities for interaction with academics, local stakeholders and policy makers. All participants have to register and abstracts (250w – 400w) should be submitted by those wishing to make a presentation. 3 travel bursaries up to £150 each are available for RSA Early Career Researchers, RSA student members and RSA associate (retired) members or those in bands B, C, D.

You may read the Call For Abstracts here or contact the organisers at sgICTregion@gmail.com with any queries.

Open Internet

Internet has been an open resource for the past two decades in most countries allowing immense development and choice. The revised European Commission Framework supports the existing features of network:

• choice
• transparency
• quality of service
• e-privacy

There are still a lot of challenges due to the increased use of the internet globally, which also has implications for smart and green development. Find out more here.