The Digital City project &the psychology of Jobs of the future

Marc CanterDigital City Mechanics

Cog Sci colloquium seriesCWRU Nov. 10th, 2010

Jobs of the future

• Not what they are today• P-t, not 40 hours a week, project based• Virtual – work at home or tele-commute• Status quo world of jobs is not counting these

new kind of jobs in their #’s• Transparency, trust, accountability and loyalty

take on new meanings• Workers are “on their own”

Jobs as an issue

• Workforce growth, not development• Educational system not doing a good enough job• Do what you like to do, not what you HAVE to do!• Encourage entrepreneurism

Free Agent Nation- is now International

• Global economy + 24/7/365• Partnering across time zones• Outsourced expertise• Independent workers• Companies take on a new role

Jobs won’t be full-time, they’ll be project oriented

New kinds of Jobs

• Flex hours, fit into your lifestyle, not work driven• Independent – not associated with a company• Hi-tech, on-line skills, real-time digital technology• Basic usage patterns via computer tools: – Backups– Project mngt – Scheduling– Book keeping– Organizing, planning– Design

Intangibles become increasingly valuable

• Self motivation and management• Creative and Innovative thinking• Accountability to tasks and schedule• Loyalty to people, not entities• Ability to organize themselves

Techniques to employ• Reward systems, points• Self guided projects, learn by doing• Real-time video help• No pieces of paper allowed• Encourage responsibility through volunteer tasks• Help others by teaching what you just learned• Work with media – “imagine yourself getting paid to……”– Play with YouTube and Facebook all day long– Make your own video or song– Take your photos, make a book out of them

New methodology• Train for these new kinds of jobs– implement principles of “21st century skills” (p21.org)

• Reward with internships• Use points and contributions by the trainee to

progress through the system• Utilize wide range of projects:– Multimedia production work– Live local events– Multimedia business directory– Live video help operators

Digital Jobs• Event planners and producers• Writing, editing, ad management• Video editors, logging, scripts, production• Music production, sound EFX, recording• Photography, retouching, data management• Viral social marketing, promotions, campaigns• Book keeping, project management• Web site master, PC repair, support• Interactive designer, User Experience &

Interfaces

Will not be true for 100%

• Not everyone gets the great job• Many left behind, stuck in old models• Takes a generation to leave old patterns behind• Opposite of LNCB – vets out the best and

brightest – regardless of background or demographic

• Builds leaders, entrepreneurs and risk takers

Digital Citizens need

Digital Jobs in a

Digital City

Many definitions of Digital City

Varying factors to what constitutes a Digital City

• Economic• Technological infrastructure• Educational• Sociological• Human services:– Health– Safety– Energy– Entrepreneurial

Cities are still analog

Infrastructure today is a mess

Closed vs Open

HTML5

Digital City ‘market’

• Songo, Korea – $35B city from scratch– Cisco telepresence in every home

• IBM will give away $500m in free consulting to municipalities (Smarter Planet)

• Going beyond just hardware infrastructure

Software Infrastructure

• In the 1990’s = Internet access, wifi• In the 00’s = email, social media, Facebook acct• In the next decade = shared servers w/Open APIs– Federated IDs shared throughout the city/region– Historical timelines– Location pages– Activity Streams– Citizen dashboards– Multimedia business directory

Open Source, Open StandardsOpen Data

• All code available for free• All the ideas and processes given away – as well• Support all current standards, support new ones• Two-way APIs on all content• Build an open platform

Digital City stackSolutions: community programs, sports, games, meetups, location services, training, contests, directories, local events, digital citizenship, workforce growth, volunteerism

Applications and Services: on-line tools, web sites, ecommerce, utilities, content = all available from dashboards

Middleware: Cloud storage, computing, back-end processes, rendering, Open APIs, ID and Geo services, servers

Connectivity: DSL, mobile, Wifi, Wimax, Cable modem

Hardware: PCs, laptop, pads, mobile devices, OLPC, kiosks

Everyone working together will make a Digital City

• Government• Proprietary solutions, brands, business• Open standards, Open Web, Open Data• Education, Non-profits, Foundations• Citizens of all kinds

What is the role of government?

• Provide level playing field• Open Data = relevant info, for each citizen• Support for entrepreneurism• Job growth• Public safety• Municipal infrastructure

Citizen Dashboards

• Government would provide citizens dashboards• Municipal, small biz, regulations, fines, taxes• Local events, resources, schools, health• An open standard to “mesh” vendors together

Haves helping the Have nots

• Volunteer to mentor and train others in your own area of expertise and knowledge

• Volunteer to operate live video help• Even trainees and interns volunteer, to help with local community tasks

Help, support, mentoring, internships

Help those below you

Compelling experiences for Citizens!

• Jobs• Education• Health• Safety• Entertainment• Engaged Democracy• Public service• Efficient Energy

Collaborative Platform to helpEntrepreneurial activities

On-line world connects to the real world• Getting people comfortable with computers• All jobs in the future will require tech skills• Human facilitation = “secret sauce”

3:1 sustainable model• To create Digital Jobs– Producing large-scale multimedia projects– Which train others in those same job skills– And places the content onto shared public servers

• Games, simulations• Charts, diagrams• Visualize info and ideas with on-line multimedia

Digital Bureaus and Jobs

• 20 machines, 20 employees (8 f-t, 12 interns)• Virtuous circle of training and volunteerism• Regional nodes, all hyper-local• Tie in local biz and independents• Real-time video support• Stage local events

Upgrading the Wikipedia• Over 3.4m items• Most just text + one photo• Centralized, single vendor• $1T worth of multimedia

Multimedia Projects

• On-Line Interactive Content• Compelling interactive games, simulations and

visualizations• Multimedia encyclopedia• Training, tutorials• How to videos….• On open shared servers

Polymer multimedia encyclopedia

• Polymer Valley Alliance• Visualization, simulations, games, learning tools• Case Western Reserve University & U Akron• Polymers earn $89B in Ohio, #2 industry• Sponsor driven ->non-profit (tax writeoff)• 3:1 model:– Build MM content– Train workers in those job skills– Place content onto open servers with APIs

return

Webcams and Location pages• See top 16 webcams, editorially selected– Rotate throughout the day

• Click on webcam, go to a location page• Location pages:– Who lives by– Photos, videos– Other webcams– Leave comments,Reviews, Media, Links

• On shared servers

A Community Activity Stream

return

Citizen Dashboards are “Digital Lifestyle Aggregators”

• Integrated environment• Aggregate:– Social Media– Content– Services

• Highly customizable:– What content , groups or social graph (friends)– What modules, apps and services

Virtuous Circle

• Training methodology designed to get workers using hi-tech, on-line jobs skills in a wide range of job categories

• Brings Volunteerism and Social Media to education

• Utilizes Points for incentives and rewards• Integrated program management features• Utilizes live Video Help to intern and train

Customize Digital City

• Timeline of the City and Region’s People• Cultural guide, music, cuisine, dance, art• Populace: the kind of people, where they

came from• Industry: local to the region, large employers• Political and Cultural History: war, growth

Study - Research - Stats

• 5k jobs in 5 years• Research grants• Government grants• Private Foundation grants• Equity investment in for-profit entity• Results PROVE the ability to create jobs• Turn it into a Phd.

Grants to apply for…..

• Education:• Cognitive Science:• Business:• Economic growth:• Computer Science:• Multimedia visualizations:• Community history and engagement for jobs:

Build - Entrepreneurism

• My second $1B+ company• Family based, organically grown• Virtual – International• Cleveland & NEO are the pilot

New kind of system Integrator

• Produce local events• Get deals, biz dev, viral marketing• Produce large scale multimedia projects• Training, internships, mentoring• Manage digital bureaus• Produce custom software, portals, social nets• Promote, grow entrepreneurial efforts• Create and evolve software platform• Customize Digital Cities around the world