Thank you to everyone who joined Women in Planning London and Future Cities Catapult on the 17 May 2018 at our second event of the ‘When Women Plan London’ series. The theme for this breakfast event was ‘Digital Innovation and Technology’ and was well attended by students and professionals across the public and private sector. We are extremely grateful to Future Cities Catapult for hosting and sponsoring this event.
The theme aimed to explore the impact of data, digital innovation and technological advancements that have or will change the built environment sector. Our expert panel were asked to give a 7-minute presentation to showcase their work and what they’ve been involved in, whilst also providing an insight into where the future of the sector lies amidst the technological revolution.
Opened with an introduction to event by Women in Planning London Committee Member Nissa Shahid, followed by welcome address from Erin Walsh of Future Cities Catapult. Erin gave a presentation on how she moved from planning to Plantech and the journey that brought her here. She also gave an overview into the work the Future Cities Catapult have done. This was followed by our four panellists showcasing their work in planning and technology.
Michelle Warbis from Future Cities Catapult gave an overview of her journey from the Greater London Authority to the Future Cities Catapult, and how her work with digital planning notices has evolved into a working prototype while Fran Bennet from Mastadon C gave an overview of the work that her team have done in using data science to overcome and resolve civic problems.
Ekaterina Lichtenstein from Project Imagine relayed her journey from the Built Environment sector to fintech and gave us five lessons that she learnt from the move that could apply to using tech in the built environment. Kadine James from Hobs Studio gave us a case-study demo on how 3D could assist in consultation, demonstrating examples of augmented reality and virtual reality to the audience.
This was followed by a Q&A session where the importance of adopting technology was discussed.