2nd Annual Smart Cities and AI Innovations Symposium
Thursday MAY 02, 2024 9:00 AM to 4:00PM CDT
Avaya Auditorium Peter O'Donnell Jr Building, 201 E 24th St Austin, TX 78712
About the Event
The Smart Cities and AI Innovations Symposium is a day-long gathering of interdisciplinary professionals across academia and industry to inform, examine, and discuss how generative artificial intelligence impacts our cities. Happening in the Avaya Auditorium on the University of Texas at Austin main campus, this robust program will feature presenters from multiple universities across Texas and beyond, as well as smart mobility professionals working in our cities. Students from the Urban Information Lab at UT Austin will also present their research in this area, further generating discussion on this timely topic.
Symposium attendees will benefit from the rich diversity of perspectives present, and a networking lunch will allow opportunities for connection and collaboration. We aim to create a space for interdisciplinary learning, relationship building, and problem solving as AI technologies continue to shape our cities.
This event is organized by UT Austin researchers working on A Good System for Smart Cities, a core research project of Good Systems. Good Systems is a university-wide, interdisciplinary research grand challenge focused on designing ethical AI technologies for the benefit of society.
Agenda
09:00 AM
Welcome Remarks: Setting the Stage for Innovation Dr. Dan Jaffe, UT’s Vice President for Research
9:07 AM
Future Horizons: A Warm Welcome to the New Dawn of AI and Smart Cities Dean Heather Woofter
9:15 AM
Industry Frontiers: Harnessing AI for Smart Urban Futures with Q&A session Darran Anderson - Thoughts on use of AI in transportation
Amit Dhurandhar - Atomist or Holist? A Diagnosis and Vision for More Productive Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Ethical AI
David Atkinson - AI and the Unsettled Law Doctrine
Juan Sequeda - Investing in Knowledge Graphs for Accurate and Explainable Enterprise AI
Moderated by Dr. Junfeng Jiao
10:30 AM
Break
10:40 AM
Expert Panel Discussion: Navigating the Future of Smart Cities and AI - Insights from Industry Leaders Darran Anderson
Amit Dhurandhar
David Atkinson
Juan Sequeda
Wente Xiong
Moderated by Dr. Wei Zhai
11:40 AM
Lunch & Networking
12:40 PM
Integrating AI into Urban Innovation: Scholarly Approaches to Building Smart Cities
Dr. Tom Sanchez - Planning on the Verge of AI, or AI on the Verge of Planning
Dr. Michael Goodchild - GeoEthics for Smart Cities
Dr. Zhong-Ren Peng - The Pathway of Urban Planning AI: From Planning Support to Plan-Making Dr. Zoltan Nagy - AI for Intelligent and Resilient Communities
Moderated by Dr. Ming Zhang
2:00 PM
Break
2:10 PM
Urban Information Lab's Spotlight: Pioneering Projects Shaping the Future
Dr. Saleh Afloogh - Navigating LLM Ethics: Advancements, challenges, and Future Trajectories
Sean Lewis - AI Emergency Communication: Deterministic Models for Critical Information
Dr. Yiming Xu - A Digital Twin for the City of Austin Dr. Dev Niyogi - CIMBY, Atmospheric Urban Digital Twins, and City Climate Colab
Moderated by Dr. Kijin Seong
3:00 PM
Advancing Smart City Solutions: Insights and Collaborations with the Good Systems Smart City Advisory Group
Sam Krassenstein
Bart Bohn
Lonny Stern
Chelsea Collier Dr. Craig Watkins Dr. Sharon Strover
Moderated by Marc Coudert
3:50 PM
Closing Remarks Dr. Junfeng Jiao
Presenters
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Saleh Afroogh
Senior Research Program Coordinator
UT-NSF Ethical AI Program - UT Austin
-
Darran Anderson
Director of Strategy and Innovation
Texas Department of Transportation
-
David Atkinson
J.D & Operations
Allen AI
-
Bart Bohn
Interim CEO
Pecan Street
-
Chelsea Collier
Founder
Digi. City
-
Amit Dhurandhar
Principal Research Staff
IBM
-
Michael Goodchild
Emeritus Professor
Geography
University of California, Santa Barbara
-
Dan Jaffe
Vice President for Research
Office of the Vice President for
Research, Scholarship and Creative
Endeavors - UT Austin
-
Sam Krassenstein
Chief of Infrastructure
City of Detroit
-
Sean Lewis
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Urban Information Lab - UT Austin
-
Zoltan Nagy
Assistant Professor
Civil, Architectural and Environmental
Engineering - UT Austin
-
Dev Niyogi
Professor
Earth and Planetary Sciences, Center
for Space Research, Oden Institute
- UT Austin
-
Zhong-Ren Peng
Professor/Director
UF College of Design, Construction &
Planning
-
Thomas Sanchez
Professor, LAUP
Texas A&M University
-
Juan Sequeda
Principal Scientist & Head of AI Lab
data.world
-
Lonny Stern
Executive Director
Movability
-
Sharon Strover
Professor
School of Journalism, Media
Department of Radio-Television-Film
- UT Austin
-
Craig Watkins
Professor, Director
School of Journalism & Media,
Institute for Digital Media Innovation,
IC2 Institute - UT Austin
-
Heather Woofter
Dean
School of Architecture - UT Austin
-
Wente Xiong
Graphics Engineer Lead
Dell
-
Yiming Xu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Urban Information Lab - UT Austin
Moderators
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Marc Coudert
Climate Resilience & Adaptation Manager
Office of Resilience,
City of Austin
-
Dr. Junfeng Jiao
Associate Professor / Director
Texas Smart Cities
The University of Texas at Austin
-
Dr. Kijin Seong
Postdoctoral Fellow
Urban Information Lab
The University of Texas at Austin
-
Dr. Wei Zhai
Assistant Professor of Urban and
Regional Planning
University of Texas at San Antonio
-
Dr. Ming Zhang
Professor & Program Director of
Community and Regional Planning
The University of Texas at Austin
