2 December Usman Haque gave the closing keynote at ThingsCon Amsterdam 2016. Decision-making and design are central to the production of technologies in networked urban environments, but it’s important to understand how definitions of efficiency, optimisation, etc, that often underpin such processes, especially in so-called ‘smart cities’ help determine how and why things are implemented and with whom and where power concentrates. The questions of who designs and who decides (data, technologies, actions), as well as how we collectively make designs and decisions about the future are crucial. This talk will discuss these issues in the context of some of Usman’s work in the internet of things.

1. Infrastructures for
Participation
Usman Haque
Founding Partner, Umbrellium, London, UK
usman@umbrellium.co.uk
@uah

4. infrastructure for
participation
increase possibilities
build a shared memory

5. fundamental incompatibilities
democratic infrastructures
urban infrastructures
technological infrastructures

6. decided by those who don’t participate

7. http://miami.curbed.com/2016/11/15/13638614/king-tides-octopus-miami-beach

8. inequality, geography & climate change
Results by party in the general election of 2010

9. very dumb smart cities
Operations Center – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

10. who designs?
who decides?
if we are to redesign
everyday life

11. working together (agency)
deciding together (responsibility)
acting together (accomplishment)
impact / sustainability / ROI
(NOT ‘wisdom of the crowd’)

12. ‘Another Life / Linguine’ (2012) – Bradford City Park, UK

13. Cinder (2016)

14. VoiceOver (2016)

15. Thingful.net – a search engine for IoT

16. WearON.io – prototyping platform for social wearables

17. Madrid 15M – structures of collaboration
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=madrid+15m+structures&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch

18. Occupy Sandy – structures of decision making
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=occupy+sandy&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X

19. Umbrella Revolution – structures of empathy
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=umbrella+revolution&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X

20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S7YtfahaGc
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewolf011/6096373486
NYC & Toronto – structures of communication

22. Infrastructures for
Participation
Usman Haque
Founding Partner, Umbrellium, London, UK
usman@umbrellium.co.uk
@uah