Session “Datafied Macau: Seeing the city with algorithms” held at the United Nations World Data Forum satellite event in Macao
Session "Datafied Macau: Seeing the city with algorithms" held at the United Nations World Data Forum satellite event in Macao
28
Apr
28/04/2023
The Research Laboratory of Cultural Sustainability of FAH/USJ held a fruitful session at United Nations World Data Forum satellite event – a conference titled “Dealing with Data dilemmas: Towards a human-centric approach systems approach to sustainable data and digital technology development” on the April 25.
Research Laboratory of Cultural Sustainability of Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FAH) held a fruitful session at United Nations World Data Forum satellite event – a conference titled “Dealing with Data dilemmas: Towards a human-centric approach systems approach to sustainable data and digital technology development”, that was held on the 25th of April in Grand Hyatt, Macao.
The forum was organized by United Nations University in Macau with partnerships with University of Macau, Macau University of Science and Technology and University of Saint Joseph Macao. (USJ). There were 12 thematic sessions focusing on diverse aspects of dealing with data: cross-border data transfer regulation, AI governance, digital humanism, datafication of urban environment, trust and ethics, emerging trends in digital entrepreneurial ecosystem etc.
The session Datafied Macau: Seeing the city with algorithms (organized by prof. Denis Zuev) had guest participant – prof. Derrick Ho from University of Hong Kong, Department of Urban Planning and Design and speakers from Macao (USJ): prof. Gerald Estadieu, lecturer Sandra Olga Ng, director of sustaincia.org, Terence Lee, managing director of Doppelmayer, Macau Limitada Dalibor Vodeniciarski and Robert Ruggles, an expert in the field of security systems.
The presentations touched upon different topics such as collection of data on diversity of urban forms in dense urban environment and sonification of urban environment and analysis of urban sounds. Speakers presented various applications related to multiple facets of urban environment in Macao: practical issues with surveillance data governance, the application of blockchain and smart contracts in maintenance of aerial cableways, the use of virtual reality settings for achieving mindfulness and finally, the smart property management applications.
While each presentation presented insights in a specific aspect of urban life in Macao, the key takeaway from the session was the importance of digital literacy in the accelerated digitalization of the urban environment. At the same time, it is crucial for social scientists and computer scientist to strive for more collaboration in understanding of complex urban sensorium. Finally, Macao is a fruitful experimental place for exploring the impacts of datafication, however the data generated should be treated by government authorities and commercial entities respectfully and responsibly.
