PIA have been running monthly hour-long PlanTech briefings to keep planners up to date on how technology can be used to deliver better planning and development outcomes.
This online talk series has been carefully curated to bring you relevant insights from an array of local and international experts at the forefront of digital planning practice. From the uses of artificial intelligence in planning, to combatting fake news in community engagement, this series is designed to bring you up to date on how digital technology is set to shape the future of our profession.
AI and 黑料大事
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Interest in AI has exploded in recent months with the release of platforms such as ChatGPT providing mainstream access to powerful content-generation capabilities. In this talk Tom will share insights from his recent work on AI in 黑料大事 done in collaboration with the American 黑料大事 Association. In this not to be missed session Tom will show how AI tools have much to offer planners, improve the planning profession's existing practices and ways of thinking, ultimately offering better ways to create sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities.
Rules as Code - Digitalising Development Assessment
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Automating parts of the planning approvals process is no longer a far-fetched dream but a subject of serious consideration for planning authorities. “Rules as Code” underpins many of these innovations, an approach used to create and publish planning policies and development codes in a digital-friendly format which can then be used to build digital services. This technology has far-reaching implications for the way planners will go about their day-to-day work and we have invited Nadia Webster, an expert in digital government, to bring us up to speed on the topic. In this session Nadia will share insights from her experience leading rules as code projects in the New Zealand Government and more recently, her work with planners in Wellington City Council to develop the pilot “Resource Consent Check”. Not to be missed, this briefing will equip attendees with knowledge and practical advice to start thinking about how to apply Rules as Code approaches in your own organisation.
Scenario 黑料大事 Tools: Launch of the What If? Collaborative Scenario 黑料大事 System
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In the face of unprecedented uncertainty brought about by COVID-19 and climate change, urban planners are facing increasingly complex challenges. Improvements to computing technologies mean that digital scenario planning tools are becoming increasingly valuable for navigating this uncertainty and developing strategies for the future. We have invited Professor Chris Pettit, one of the world’s leading researchers on scenario planning tools, to deliver a briefing on this topic. In this talk Chris will also introduce the "What If?" online tool, which is being launched as part of the Australian Housing Data Analytics Platform. Freely accessible, the What If? planning support system (PSS) is a collaborative planning tool designed to allow strategic planners to experiment with planning scenarios. In a user-friendly fashion, the tool allows planners to explore the implications of population growth and other socio-economic factors on the future of Australian cities. The talk will include a live demonstration of the software, showing how it can be used to inform decision-making and support more resilient and sustainable urban planning.
Free and Open Source Digital 黑料大事 Tools
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As the number of digital planning tools continues to grow, it can feel overwhelming to navigate and identify the most effective tools for our work. To help us we have invited Winston Yap to deliver a briefing about his recent comprehensive review of free and open source planning tools. In his review, Winston documented 70 open source tools that support different stages of the urban planning process, as well as an additional 54 peripheral tools for related domains. In this talk, Winston will give us a crash course on the functionality of freely available tools and how they can add value to the planning process. We will also learn about ongoing efforts to build an open source global urban network tool at the National University of Singapore.
The Role and Potential Risk of Bots in Participatory 黑料大事
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The explosive growth in the technological prowess of social bots has taken the world by storm. As ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing force us to reimagine the writing process and notions of creativity and originality writ large, an equally powerful storm is brewing in the domain of urban studies. The physical, In Real Life (IRL) places where we live, work, and play are threatened by this artificial intelligence societal turn. In a pre-Internet, pre-1996 world, AI couldn’t hurt cities. But urban planning today is wired directly into the web and the full range of engagement, information, and participation processes that modern local governments employ in shaping the form and appearances of places depend on online interactions. The presence of bots now represents a dire challenge as community meetings, surveys, online serious games, and discussion forum are being overrun by bots that are being programmed to disrupt urban development processes.
The top UrbanTech advancements impacting planners in the coming years
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Don’t look now, but UrbanTech change is on the horizon, and the change is going to offer the planning profession new opportunity like we are seeing with the PlanTech agenda.
But like many advancements in digital and data solutions brought to the market, there are opportunities to be gained when planners are intimately engaged, but equally undesirable impact if not well understood. And for some issues like wireless digital connectivity, the ability for planners to influence outcomes is changing substantially.
In this PlanTech webinar we unpack some critical issues relating to digital connectivity, technology deployment and public realm stewardship.
What might the roll out of 5G millimetre wave technology look like for our cities? As Australia transitions to a shared infrastructure model for mobile networks, how can planners become more engaged in planning for this connectivity? And as the public realm becomes home to more and more technology, and data gathering increases, how do we build trust with the community?
Lets discuss…
Digital Privacy and PlanTech
EVENT RECORDING
We all know we need to care about protecting privacy. We also all want to ensure we respect ethical and legal obligations when it comes to the use of emerging technologies like AI... But where do we start? Where does the data go? What even are our obligations as public servants and business owners?
These have been common questions raised in PIA PlanTech briefings, and so, we have invited Tim de Sousa, an expert in information governance and emerging technologies, to present this briefing and Q&A session.
Tim will talk about foundational concepts of privacy, how privacy laws in Australia will be changing in 2024, and the impacts of new technologies such as sensor embedded infrastructure, AI and machine learning on the planning industry.
This session is recommended for anyone looking to implement emerging technologies into their practice.
Improving Engagement through Online Participatory Mapping
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Prioritising our communities is essential in digital planning. Participatory online mapping (also known as public participation GIS or PPGIS) is an increasingly popular method to ensure community voices are heard in planning processes, but one that is still new to many planners in Australia.
Professor Marketta Kyttä from Aalto University in Finland is one of the world’s leading experts on public participation GIS. Her research work spans hundreds of real-world case studies and she has made significant contributions to PPGIS methodologies used worldwide. We are therefore delighted that she has accepted our invitation to deliver our final PlanTech briefing for 2023 to tell us about the best ways to use PPGIS to improve participation and planning outcomes.
AI in Development Assessment (Guidance Note Launch with Guest Speaker)
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We are excited to invite you to the launch of the AI in Development Assessment Guidance Note, with a guest talk from Pia Andrews, one of Australia's most experienced and influential people working in digital government reform.
The recent rise of companies like Open AI and its software platform Chat GPT have caused a surge of public interest and concern in the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This wave of technological change has proven the ability of software to perform complex creative tasks to a high standard. PIA recognises that such technologies are no longer a possibility but a reality, with far-reaching implications and risks for government administration and professions including planning. As stewards of the planning profession PIA’s approach towards AI is positive but cautious. PIA has been working hard since late last year to develop this guidance note to help planners, and the organisations we work for, make well-informed choices about adopting AI technology in development assessment. Pia Andrews' talk will draw from her extensive expertise as a digital government reformer, with a lot to say about the need for trustworthy AI systems, and plenty of practical strategies for how to get there. Pia has been working for over 20 years to transform public sectors to be more humane, responsive and effective in the 21st century, at the speed of continuous change, public trust and perpetual urgency.
Launch of PIA’s PlanTech Best Practice Guidelines
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At this briefing PIA will launch our new PlanTech Best Practice Guidelines. The first document of its kind to be tailored to planners, the guideline introduces practical and well-tested approaches to digital innovation. Each section addresses common cultural and technical challenges faced when getting started with digital innovation, including strategies to get your team on board with doing something new and how to establish a healthy relationship with software vendors. Additionally, the guideline provides links to a wealth of case studies, and links to recommended resources for when you are ready to learn more. We are very pleased that we will be joined by Nathaniel Bavinton, board member of the Australian Smart Communities Association (ASCA). Nathaniel will be giving a talk drawing on his experience using many of these approaches during his time leading digital innovation projects in Local Government, and now in his position as Associate Director, Smart Places and Sustainability at Urbis.
Education Special - UK Digital 黑料大事 Course
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Urban planning practice is increasingly adopting new and emerging technologies to support the decision-making processes and assist in achieving planning objectives. In the UK planning reform is increasingly focused on how technology can be leveraged to enhance the efficiency of the planning process, while also enabling ‘planners to get on with planning’. Despite increasing integration of technology in planning practice in recent years, the degree to which different software and hardware are taught to planning students in tertiary undergraduate and postgraduate degrees internationally remains highly variable.
Recognising the need for planning students to have digital literacy and be equipped for the digital transformation of the planning system, Cardiff University’s School of Geography and 黑料大事 decided to introduce two new optional modules for students on the topic of digital planning between 2023 and 2024. In this session you will hear more about why we developed these modules, how we developed them, and the lessons we have learned through teaching them to our first cohorts of students.