This document discusses the need for smart citizens in smart cities and Waag Society's role in empowering citizens through technology. It advocates for living lab methodologies, citizen appropriation of technologies, and digital social innovation. Waag Society facilitates innovation through linking different domains, human-centered design, and incubating projects. It enables users to become designers through various labs and methodologies. One project is a city dashboard that aggregates open data for citizens, governments and organizations to improve cities.

1. Artistic Research,
Critical Design & Social Innovation
Frank Kresin
Research Director
@kresin / frank@waag.org

2. Smart Cities need Smart Citizens

3. Needed
• Living Lab
methodologies
• Appropriation of
technologies
• Empowerment of
citizens
• (Digital) Social
Innovation
• Acceleration and
Incubation of promising
results

4. Technology
• For self expression and
communication
• Linking people, groups,
communities
• Sharing thoughts,
blueprints, algorithms
• Reflecting &
understanding
And discovering it’s
underlying meaning.

5. Waag DNA

6. Fablab Amsterdam

7. Fab Principles
• Best producer is the
user
• (S)he can learn to
make (almost)
anything
• Sharing is key to
innovation
• Making is crucial to
understand & act in the
world

8. Knowledge institutes
Developer hubs
Accelerators
Innovation labs

9. Partners

10. Activities & Services
• Linking arts, science, technology & society
• Human centered development
• Facilitating innovation processes
• Consultancy, workshops & brainstorms
• Visualizations, demonstrators & prototypes
• Incubating products
• Organizing events &
competitions
• Academy programme

11. Waag Labs
Open Design Lab
Wet Lab Creative Care Lab
Future Internet Lab
Creative Learning Lab
Urban Reality Lab

12. Creative Research

13. Users as Designers

14. Co-creation Roles
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15. Co-creation Methodologies
Waag Society: Users as Designers

16. Bodyguard

17. Smart Citizen Kit

18. Fabschool

19. Health Lab

21. City Dasboard
• Aggregating open &
closed data
• Key Performance
Indicators
• For citizens, civil
servants and politicians
• Open Source, modular
platform
• Powered by CitySDK
http://citydashboard.waag.org/

22. What design can do for government
• Retain a focus on the user / citizen
• Give a structure for being creative about
problem-solving
• Test iterations of possible solutions in order to
learn more about the problem;
• Identify new, more relevant ideas and services
and steward them through delivery
• Engage users (citizens and employees) in the
design of change.
Design Council, UK: Restarting Britain

23. Pointers
• Design Rules for Smarter Cities
http://waag.org/nl/blog/design-rules-smarter-cities
• Smart Citizens Publication
http://futureeverything.org/publications/smart-citizens/
• Digital Social Innovation
http://digitalsocial.eu/
• CitySDK
http://www.citysdk.eu/
• Users as Designers
http://waag.org/en/project/users-designers
• Apps for Europe - Turning Data into Business
http://www.appsforeurope.eu/

24. Sint Antoniesbreestraat 69
1011 HB Amsterdam
waag.org
Frank Kresin
frank@waag.org
@kresin