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Coaxing a city into the digital age

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Take a look at the San Ramon City Council’s official portrait and see what you notice. I saw four white men of about Boomer age standing shoulder to shoulder — and in line with them one young woman rising just above their belly height. She’s about to shake things up there by coaxing the city into the digital age.

She’s Sabina Zafar, a senior director at GE Digital, a mom, born in Pakistan, and the first woman of color to be elected to the city council. Her job won’t be easy, as she’s found out since being elected last November.… Read the rest “Coaxing a city into the digital age”

Algorithmic city, Sicilian style

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I’m all for making data work for San Francisco, a city I know well and which strives to be “smart.” But then I think of Palermo, Sicily, a city I know a little bit. It has similar aspirations, but they start from a much different place — with a warm, rich indigenous culture that’s not so easily handled by algorithms.

A few years back at my relative’s house in Sicily just west of Palermo, eleven people crowded around her kitchen table about 9 on a Wednesday night. They joked, talked, nibbled, drank a little bit of my cousin’s white table wine.… Read the rest “Algorithmic city, Sicilian style”

Bad stories stop good data at the water cooler

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We agree by now that data’s a good compass. One neglected question is tougher: Which map?

Everyone’s known the kind of “grouchy guy” TDWI instructor Kellee M. Franklin, Ph.D tells about. This guy knew better than most of his co-workers about how their Washington, D.C. defense agency worked. And he was frustrated.

Over the years, he had offered a series of genuinely beneficial ideas over years — and saw each one ignored. He had become known as a complainer. No matter what he said, no one listened to a single word anymore.

Ignoring relevant data

“We have blinders on,” she said.… Read the rest “Bad stories stop good data at the water cooler”