Smart cities represent a leap forward in urban living, seamlessly integrating technology to enhance life in numerous ways. In this CES 2024 Event Coverage podcast, Marco and Sean dive into the transformative world of smart cities, guided by Gaurica Chacko as she sheds light on how technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), data centers, and edge computing interconnect to create smarter urban ecosystems.
Guest: Gaurica Chacko, Vice President and Global Head, Life Sciences Consulting, Wipro Limited [@Wipro]
On Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurica/
At CES | https://www.ces.tech/sessions-events/speaker-directory/gaurica-chacko.aspx
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Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast [@RedefiningCyber]
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/sean-martin
Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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Episode Notes
In this CES 2024 Event Coverage podcast, Marco and Sean dive into the transformative world of smart cities, guided by Gaurica Chacko, a renowned leader in global life sciences consulting at Wipro. Smart cities represent a leap forward in urban living, seamlessly integrating technology to enhance life in numerous ways. Gaurica sheds light on how technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), data centers, and edge computing interconnect to create smarter urban ecosystems. This interplay is vital for real-time monitoring of critical elements like air and water quality, and even health-related issues, ensuring cities operate more efficiently and sustainably.
The discussion also explores how smart cities are revolutionizing healthcare and wellness. Gaurica emphasizes the role of technology in delivering personalized, proactive care, highlighting advancements in telemedicine and digital health solutions. These innovations are not just about convenience; they are crucial for bridging healthcare gaps and fostering healthier communities. By integrating healthcare into the daily lives of residents, smart cities empower individuals to take charge of their well-being, making healthcare more accessible and effective.
However, the journey towards smart urban living isn't without its challenges. The conversation delves into the complexities surrounding data sharing, privacy, and the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI). Gaurica points out the importance of collaboration among governments, technology firms, and citizens to navigate these issues. Establishing robust regulations, prioritizing data security, and focusing on responsible AI practices are key to unlocking the full potential of smart cities while protecting individual rights.
Concluding the discussion, it’s clear that smart cities are more than a futuristic idea; they're a rapidly unfolding reality. The fusion of technology, healthcare, and human-focused design holds immense promise for reshaping our urban landscapes. By fostering innovation and collaboration, we can build smarter, healthier, and more sustainable cities and communities.
This podcast invites us to envision and contribute to a future where smart cities enhance the lives of their residents, making urban environments more inclusive, sustainable, and vibrant. What does the future of your city look like? Get involved and help to shape the future.
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Resources
Connective Tissue for Smart Cities: https://www.ces.tech/sessions-events/scr/scr04.aspx
Learn more about CES 2024: https://www.ces.tech/
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Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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[00:00:00] Sean Martin: Marco.
[00:00:01] Marco Ciappelli: Sean.
[00:00:02] Sean Martin: We're on our way to, uh, Las Vegas.
[00:00:05] Marco Ciappelli: We are. Again?
[00:00:06] Sean Martin: I think so. Do you feel smart?
[00:00:08] Marco Ciappelli: Back and forth. Do I feel smart? I don't know. Lately I'm questioning what even smart means. I've been questioning what intelligence means because, you know, with artificial intelligence and, uh, and human intelligence now smart, like we have this tendency to give human treats to Uh, machines.
So, uh, I'm, I'm, I started to have in doubt about the way that we call our own, uh, our own skills and, uh, and all of that. So I don't know. Define smart.
[00:00:44] Sean Martin: I can't because I'm not smart enough, but it does make me think. I was thinking that perhaps Las Vegas is one of the first smart cities before smart cities was a thing.
I mean, you just think about all the technology running around that place. I don't know. Interesting thought, maybe. But, uh, we're not here to talk about Las Vegas. We're here to talk about The Computer Consumer Electronics Show, CES, uh, 2024, which is in Las Vegas. And there's a lot of cool stuff being presented there, of course.
And a lot of topics, uh, all oriented and rooted in advanced technology. And smart cities is one of those areas that they cover deeply. And our guest is on a panel called Connected Tissue for Smart Cities. And, uh, Guarica, I believe, hopefully I pronounced it correctly
gorica has joined us, uh, to enlighten us on, uh, what is, what is a smart city? Um, and again, maybe bringing the human element to technology, connective tissue. There's that word tissue there. Um, I think of a smart city is operating properly. It probably does have. A pulse and a feeling of humanness about it.
I mean, that's our objective with a lot of these technologies. So, um, I'm going to stop talking. I'd love to hear from Gaurika, uh, a bit of background from you, please. Uh, what have you been up to your current role? And then we'll get into this topic a little more.
[00:02:30] Gaurica Chacko: Sure. So again, thank you for the opportunity.
Um, so my name is Gorka Chako. Um, from a work front, uh, I am the vice president at Wipro leading our global life sciences consulting practice. Um, And from a passion front, um, health equity has been a passion of mine since I can remember. And I think, uh, what COVID did was it brought to bear the disparities.
Um, but the positive of what COVID did was also, um, showcased the power of technology. And so fast forward to now, um, you know, I would say that. For example, telemedicine is not something new that was, um, you know, introduced, I would say a decade ago. Uh, and yet it's only post COVID that there was more adoption.
And so combining my work, which is in the play of technology with health, um, you know, it brings passion. front and center to what I do in smart cities plays a huge role, um, especially when you're trying to make cities healthier. Um, so I'll leave it at that.
[00:03:55] Marco Ciappelli: okay, so You unpack a lot there already, and it kind of brings it back to the idea of, uh, giving human qualities to the technology because it's easier to understand.
We mentioned intelligence. We mentioned being smart. Now we're talking about tissues. And I always ask myself the question, being a political science, uh, having that background, if cities were not smart, before technology, right? That was still running a smart way, hopefully, by humans. But this interconnectivity has definitely upped the game quite a bit.
And I don't know if people understand that all the things that are possible now is because of the technology that connects everything. So 5G and, and all of that. Can you talk about the convergence of different technology, maybe that are allowing The city to be not only run in a smart way, but like Sean said, feeling the pulse of what's going on in real time.
[00:04:54] Gaurica Chacko: Absolutely. I mean, say, you know, you think about, um, and again, I will center this around health, right? Because cities are again, uh, for who, for the human in the middle, right? So the human in the loop, so to speak. Um, and, um, You know, with all the digital, uh, personal, you know, whether it's a watch or whether it's a sensor to enable, um, not just personalized care, but also to enable better care.
So proactive health, right? When you marry that with access such as broadband access so that you can get more real time personalized care, right? And then you marry that with Um, you know, having the ability to have better parks and within those parks, better digital access. Now you're adding what you're adding the social element as well, because not everybody has a digital access within their household, but now they can come to a library or a park.
Or even a place of worship, um, and get that connective tissue. And, uh, you know, so, so there's technology from, uh, big players like, um, the hyperscalers or the Googles of the world or Apple that are providing the smartwatches, there is then the broadband access that is coming from. The telco sector, you marry that with the, you know, the hospital network that is now coming more into the retail settings, right?
So they're coming again, closer to the, the consumer, um, and, uh, in a more proactive fashion, then you marry that with what the cities are trying to do. Right, with parks, et cetera, and bringing digital health there. Right now, you truly have an ecosystem that is keeping that human within that city in the loop on ensuring that, again, Um, they're connected end to end, keeping what in mind health in mind.
Right. And similarly, you can do that for education. You can do that for safety and so on. And so hopefully I answered your question.
[00:07:24] Sean Martin: Yeah, I love this. And, um, I'm going to stay here for a moment because I think what I've seen, I'm a developer, I trade back in the day and it's easy to get caught up in what.
Technology can do and what, what's possible with it. And oftentimes hard to really grasp the big picture story. And I think even today at a lot of, if you look at conferences and talks and posts on social media, even just the idea that you would talk about a smart city. Doesn't really describe what you just described, right?
It's not, it's still an end result. It's an outcome of multiple technologies and data coming together to do something to make the things, the things smart. But the real outcome we're trying to achieve is better healthcare, better education, better, uh, better experience, uh, with family and friends. Uh, All those things.
And it's, so I love that you described it that way. And the question I have then is clearly you are looking at it from a healthcare perspective and a wellness perspective, um, through your role, but are there any entities or is there somebody responsible for looking at things like, like this from that view, is it, is it the mayors of the cities or is it.
Technology companies, or is it the citizens starting groups that say, Hey, we want this. And we, we see that the technology is there. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:09:03] Gaurica Chacko: Yeah, I think it's a great question. And I think, you know, uh, answering like a true consultant, it depends. Um, and the reason I say that is because, um.
You need all the players involved and however, somebody has to take that proactive step, um, and then bring in, build that momentum and bring in the other players. So, for example, I can tell you because we're working with New York City, New York City has this mandate of being and they want to be the beacon for the rest of United States on being a healthy city, right?
And for them to be a healthy city. They need the connective tissue again of other players coming into the mix. And that's where partners, um, will come in to help enable their vision. So it's not a vision started by somebody else. It started by New York City, but to inform it and to make it successful, they will need partners, right?
Um, and similarly, you know, I can say that other big companies also as a part of their ESG mandates. Have, you know, impacting, uh, public health, um, uh, as a part of the mandate, right? So then converging that with, um, something bigger becomes huge. Now for, for, for Wipro, and I don't know if you know this, but, and frankly, that was one of the reasons I joined the company.
Um, 67 cents to every dollar that we earn. Goes back into our foundation. So although we're a publicly traded company, our core is about giving back. And so with, when you're thinking about giving back, and there are three areas that we focus on, right. It's education, health, and finance. Right. Um, and so when you're thinking about giving back, we're always looking at how can we then enable something that's broader, bigger.
Um, and that is actually how we've partnered on this, uh, initiative called AI for Healthy Cities, um, with Novartis Foundation on cardiovascular health, which, again, has the same mantra. So to quickly summarize the answer to your question, I would say that, uh, different players based on their own initiatives might have Take the first step, uh, whether it is a city, whether it is an enterprise, um, and then bring in the other players because you cannot do it without.
[00:11:45] Marco Ciappelli: And you certainly cannot do it without the citizens, um, people that live and people that actually then elect the official in the city and then make that decision. So I have a few conversation about this in the past and how this is a cycle that takes. Time. You can't just transform something in the city in one day.
But as you're promising and you're acting on that promise, you need to show that things are happening to to the citizen. So, you know, whatever happened in the backstage, they need to see the results. And how is there a strategy? Maybe that that companies and city government can use to say, we're keeping you updated.
We're giving you already Responsibility. Something as we build the big thing. Here's an appetizer , maybe.
[00:12:36] Gaurica Chacko: Um, so, you know, when you're talking about, for example, health, right? Um, and I had started the conversation by talking about COVID. We all saw, and people who've been in the healthcare system have been aware of it, but the spotlight was fascinating, right, on the disparities within healthcare.
So, for example, in New York City itself, right, based on the zip code you belong to, your health outcomes are very different. And, and so when it When you're talking about what that caret is for your citizens, right? You focus on individuals or cohorts who are underrepresented. Who need more of that connective, um, you know, uh, play with regards to access.
And then you provide them with that particular, um, you know, whether it is care, whether it is, uh, education, whatever the case might be, and then that becomes your use case to then take to a broader, uh, population to get them engaged because. Everybody wants to be healthier and everybody now is becoming more and more and I'm generalizing but more and more people want to be, um, you know, responsible and accountable for their care as opposed to leaving it to a physician.
to tell them about their care, right? So they want to be the driver. And when you are truly trying to be the driver of your health care, you want to be healthier, right? That's how it just works more upstream, you know, as opposed to sick care, to, you know, staying healthier and out of the hospital. And that's where I think, your government officials can truly help.
[00:14:36] Sean Martin: I don't want to have sick care. Let's get rid of that. I want to Talk to you about, um, the, the panel. Cause there, well, let's look at the smart city. There's their buildings, their transportation, there are. Businesses, and presumably somehow, some way, a lot of those things come together. We have, uh, IOT, so sensors looking at air quality and water quality and COVID samples in water and waste and things like that.
Right. To give us a sense of what's going on and then all that comes together and one or more data centers and. And different entities look at different parts of that world to accomplish their piece of, of that puzzle. So in that, so I touched on a lot of pieces there. Um, and you have a good panel on, in your session that cover a lot of those.
I'm just wondering the specifically to the data piece, um, how that gets generated, how that gets stored, how that's accessed, I don't know if you have any thoughts on that, both from a, are we at a point where. We can get the data to establish a city in a smart way and then maintain it in a smart way. I can always go to the privacy and security part, but I don't necessarily want to there.
But just from a feasibility perspective, are we in a place where we can actually get our hands on the data and use it, use it in a smart way to make things happen?
[00:16:19] Gaurica Chacko: Um, look, we've got a lot of data in the system and it is extremely siloed. Um, and I will say that one of the hardest things to do right now, because we're facing this in some of the, um, initiatives that I already mentioned, um, is to gain that alignment across the board amongst the different stakeholders to share the data, given the context of two things.
Generative AI in the background and not having enough regulations around it being responsible. Um, you know, we all talk about responsible AI, but, you know, we're still a little behind the ball from a regular regulations perspective. And then the 2nd is around privacy. Um, and so, you know, um, I think that.
Somebody needs to go first and create that, um, you know, uh, proof of concept or prototype of look from an ecosystem perspective, this can work and we are doing right by. Our consumers, um, and, uh, till we have such an example at scale, I think we will end up with a lot of POCs. Um, and so the, the reality, and I'm just being very real, uh, the reality is.
People have their heart in the right place. They want to do right, um, by our consumer, but there's still fear in the system. And with technology working at the pace that it is, which is extremely fast, um, you know, we're, we're still trying to figure out what that right equation would look like. So, unfortunately, I don't have a perfect answer for you.
[00:18:23] Sean Martin: Wow. Come on. It is. It is a perfect answer. It's a reality.
[00:18:28] Marco Ciappelli: Well, it is really putting things together. I remember a while back I was listening to a podcast. It was all about the convergence of different technology that allows the big. Leap, right? So it's like you got something great, but it's missing that piece that come maybe from another company that or another area of science and research and development.
And then all of a sudden, magically, it happens. But in the case of the smart cities, which is not just commercial decision and market, you've got the politics and all of that. And so I feel like we finally got there, but now, okay, stay in the office waiting in the waiting list because we have to decide if we can really do it.
While you do that, someone, something else happened. And, and you're kind of bottleneck all of this, though, I think personally, we need to find a better way to trust technology. I'm not a fan of throwing the blinking light in. And the funny noise is just because they are like that.
But if we have some solid basic guardrails around AI or around anything on privacy, I feel the same. It can resolve a lot of problems. I want to be very optimistic about this. I will love your, your, your vision on it. And then maybe we can wrap with the panel, when it's going to happen.
[00:19:53] Gaurica Chacko: Sure. Look, I'm a half glassful kind of person.
So, the fact that we're talking about it, um, the fact that this has been now in more than one conference as a topic, um, The fact that there is convergence of in a CES bringing in healthcare, um, you know, I was at mobile world Congress talking about healthcare, right. Uh, on smart city. So that to me is we're moving in the right direction.
So the focus is there. It's not a question of if anymore, it's a question of when. Um, so I truly believe it's going to happen. Um, and. I will do everything I can in my power to push it in that direction.
[00:20:42] Sean Martin: Good. I love it. And your session is Connected Tissue for Smart Cities Wednesday, January 10th, obviously at CES 2024 in Las Vegas.
Is the entire panel focused on smart cities and healthcare or does it go broader? Who's going to, who's going to attend that? Why should they attend it?
[00:21:09] Gaurica Chacko: Um, I think, for the audience listening to this, um, I would say just to get different point of views and perspectives. Um, because frankly if I was in the audience myself, what you're looking from conferences and sessions is nuggets, right? Um, and nuggets that you can then, possibly you hadn't thought about something, or it fills a gap in your thinking. And I think if you attend the session, you will get that from a diversified perspective of a panelist who will talk about Different areas of smart cities, um, but how it's all interconnected.
[00:21:50] Sean Martin: Perfect. I touched on some of them, some of them earlier. There's, uh, somebody representing IOT, uh, data center and edge, uh, somebody in a smart city helping to, uh, see some of this. And then clearly your role is to bring, bring it all together, right. To kind of look at all the pieces, parts with a focus on health, but a very clear outcome.
Which I think is important for all of these conversations. So I would encourage everybody to join you there. Listen to this, connect with you. Um, the whole point of these conversations and the reason we cover conferences like CES is to bring awareness to these topics and to get people to think about them and hopefully continue to learn about them and have conversations about them amongst them, their, their friends and family and peers and coworkers and, and, uh, Government entities and whatnot.
So we're not going to achieve what we want to achieve. We just, just talk about it, but we have to start by thinking about it first. So I appreciate, uh, you joining us, Gaurika, and, uh, wish you the best with that panel and hope, hope you, uh, fill the room spilling out the doors. Uh, if you're interested in, uh, the connective tissue of a smart suit.
[00:23:13] Gaurica Chacko: Thank you so much for the opportunity. I had a great time, uh, and you know, on this podcast, so good luck for the rest of the panelists as well, uh, that you cover and hopefully we'll talk again.
[00:23:25] Marco Ciappelli: Of course. And for everybody listening, there's many more conversation coming to you pre, uh, CES 2024. Stay tuned.
Subscribe and we'll see you very soon again. Take care everybody.