Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship (DTE)

The Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship (DTE) pillar comprises one component of SCIGC research focused on developing new and innovative smart city engagement mechanisms.  When simply presented with flows of information regarding smart city performance, there is often little incentive or value for smart city residents to engage or act.  Engagement and value around the world are most commonly, and most effectively, driven by firms that meet customer needs in innovative or enterprising ways.  Human-centered design (a hallmark of design thinking), gamification, and business model innovation have yet to be fully leveraged in the design and operation of smart cities to date.  The SCIGC HUI research effort includes activities and workshops that bring together diverse user groups to explore the needs of urban residents, and devise products, systems, and startups that can meet these needs by leveraging the sensing and computational layers of smart city metastructure.