At eGovlab, we have turned our research focus on smart governance, cities, communities and infrastructures. Moving beyond connectivity to the smart grid, we critically examine the role of citizen inputs within this context, in shaping as well as co-creating smart solutions to environmental and societal challenges.

The objective here is to explore the living experimental space we inhabit and evaluate the impacts of this “smart” transition on all stakeholders concerned. We propose to employ a range of tools in our reach (from GIS, satellite, UAVs and other sensor data, to advanced analytical tools, open maps and crowdsourced citizen inputs) towards the goal of researching: What are the critical impacts of the “smart” paradigm? What are the future trends and how best can we adapt to this as a society in order to be more resilient?

As we move forward from a post COP-21 landscape, our commitment to addressing challenges arising from a lack of socio-ecological resilience are reflected in the new projects and engagements we are successfully undertaking. We are strongly motivated to be a part of this movement in the field of water governance, citizen observatories or smart communities, connected via an environmental platform built on open data.

At eGovlab, we adopt a “life cycle analysis” or “systems thinking” perspective when focusing on the intersection between technology design and societal consumption. Towards this end we support and explore new solutions that are open, ethically sourced and conflict-free, with a low environmental footprint.