Data for Resilient Cities

In the second episode of the podcast series titled ‘Data for Resilient Cities,’ Nitika Bhakuni starts a conversation with Stephen Diggs on climate change leading to extreme weather conditions and resulting in flooding especially in urban areas. The speakers discuss the impacts of these events on the cities and the various dimensions in understanding urban flooding.
 
Talking about planning future cities, the two put emphasis on how data can be used to build resilience in our cities by understanding the causes and impacts there off. They further explore the importance of data that is “fit-for-purpose” along with its timeless. Some of the interesting elements from their interaction highlight methods used internationally and locally in India for mitigating adverse impacts of urban floods, policy frameworks available for data sharing and the importance of financing data systems towards building resilient cities.
 
Nitika is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Planning, CEPT University. She is a geographer planner with a Doctoral Degree from CEPT University and Masters in Planning from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. With nearly 18 years of work experience in consultancy in India and the UK and over 10 years of teaching experience in India. Her expertise lies in database management, land use transport integration and equity issues for a wide range of transportation projects undertaken at CRDF, CEPT. Apart from this she is involved in organising, managing and delivering several capacity building programs for in-service transport professionals in the field of transportation.
 
Steve is the Technical Director of the Hydrographic Data Group at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  A former field engineer, he has dedicated the last three decades to the design and operation of enterprise-level geophysical information systems that seamlessly transform sensor telemetry into available data for the research community.  In addition, Steve is a member of numerous international data science teams and is co-chair of the Task Group on Improving Data Access and Reusability for the International Science Council (IDAR-TG CODATA).  He is also the 2018-2020 co-chair of the US National Science Foundation’s Council of Data Facilities.

In this episode of Data-driven geospatial solutions to address Community based challenges, Dr. Umamaheshwaran Rajasekar in conversation with Valrie Grant, explains the importance of Geospatial frameworks for data, its applications and challenges in community based solutions. Various community based initiatives have been discussed in particular with the example of the land registry management system, disaster management system and challenges of the last mile connectivity when it comes to data driven solutions as a whole. Further, national spatial data infrastructure initiatives have been highlighted globally with various organizations which have been involved in spreading awareness. In the end, the episode focuses on the efforts taken by organizations and the government in building awareness about the importance of geospatial data sharing policy and applications.

Dr. Umamaheshwaran Rajasekar is Chair Urban Resilience and Lead for the Climate Center for Cities at National Institute of Urban Affairs. He has over 17 years of professional experience in developing urban policy, risk modelling, climate analysis and institutional strengthening for governments, INGOs and bi-lateral agencies. As a team leader and project manager he has spearheaded pioneering data informed policy efforts in India including implementation of end to end early warning systems for urban floods, health and climate resilience. His recent work with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India is targeted towards bridging the gap between technology and society to enable informed decision making in a changing environment across 100 smart cities.
 
His work has been published as peer-reviewed journal articles, technical reports and has been commended in the form of grants and awards. His recent work on development and implementation of UrSMS which connects more than 500 hospitals in Surat, India to monitor diseases. His work was recognized as an intervention to watch, by the U.N Secretary General’s global pulse initiative.

Valrie Grant is the founder and managing director of GeoTechVision, an ICT and Spatial Technologies company in Kingston, Jamaica and Georgetown, Guyana and Miami Florida focused on delivering value through innovative solutions.  GeoTechVision is a reliable and quality provider of a range of customized services and data-driven solutions to governments, NGOs and corporate entities. Valrie is a lifelong learner, who is passionate about Technology and Entrepreneurship and relishes every opportunity to mentor women entrepreneurs and young people. She sits on several national, regional and international Boards and Committees such as the World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC) and the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM): Americas Private Sector Network. Valrie is a 2020 WE Empower UN Sustainability Development Goals Challenge Awardee. 
 
She holds a BSc. in Geology from the University of West Indies and a MSc. in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Environment from the Manchester Metropolitan University , post graduate certification in Business and Entrepreneurship; and notwithstanding a pressing schedule, is currently reading for an MBA.