Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: The City, the Baba Podcast where we bring together top actors in the smart city arena, sparking dialogues and interactions around the stakeholders and themes most prevalent for today's citizens and tomorrow's generations.
I am your host Tamlin Shimizu and I hope you will enjoy this episode and gain knowledge and connections to accelerate the change for a better urban life.
Smart in the City is brought to you by Babel Smart Cities. We enable processes from research and strategy development to co creation and implementation. To learn more about us, please visit the Babel platform @Babel SmartCities EU.
[00:00:46] Speaker C: Welcome to another episode of Smart in the City. And today we're traveling to the Baltic Sea, I think to a new country. Unless I'm very mistaken, we are traveling to Liepaja, Latvia, a city that is exploring how digital services can benefit its citizens. And with us today to speak about this topic is the IT Project Manager, Linda Al.
Welcome. Linda.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: Hi. Thank you for inviting me.
[00:01:14] Speaker C: Yeah, really great to have you. We got to connect in, in Lithuania a couple months ago and I thought you're a really interesting person to talk to. I want to get to know you more and learn about what you're, the what work you're doing. So thank you so much for coming on.
I like to start us off with a little bit of a teaser question and that question for you today that I have is if your city were an animal, which animal would it be and why?
[00:01:44] Speaker A: Well, I think it's.
It's a very interesting question because usually in Liepi, as we are like thinking it's a bird, not an animal.
So I would go by seagull.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: Yeah, a seagull. Yeah. Very nice.
Cool.
And now I want to get to know you as a person a little bit better.
Can you tell me a little bit about your background, what you're doing, how. What led you into your role today?
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Well, my background is like all in it and I have a master's degree in Telecommunications and a PhD in engineering sciences.
But when I studied in Riga Technical University and it was during my time there that I started working in IT department, also in the university.
And then I realized something important, like I am good at new technologies, new applications, and not only for administration, but also to work with users.
And I started to work in IT support unit and then I was a manager of the unit.
But then I moved to Liepaya, get married and had two children.
And then I started to work in the municipality, also in IT department, at first in supporting users.
But then then yeah, I started to work with IT projects And now I'm here.
[00:03:47] Speaker C: Now you're here. I really love your focus on the user.
So also probably a lot of people don't know Liepaya so well.
Maybe you can tell us a little bit about the city, tell us the lay of the land, what does it look like and what makes up its unique DNA.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: I would say it's really a hidden gem.
On the western coast of Latvia, right by the Baltic Sea, we have a beach 8km long and it's just a few minutes away from the historic city center.
City center is full of flowers, architecture, old warehouses and a lot of street art as well.
I would say liepa is a 15 minute city and it's really convenient for families with kids to live here.
[00:04:41] Speaker C: Yeah. And you have personal experience with that. I think you remember. I remember you was telling me in Vilnius too that you live really close to the beach. Is that true?
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Yeah, it's 900 meters.
[00:04:51] Speaker C: Ah, lucky.
I'm really jealous because it's really hot right now.
So that sounds really lovely.
So now a little bit more about your work. Right. So you're focused on.
You told me that kind of your passion is helping citizens interact better with local government.
Can you talk a little bit about the projects and how you're transforming how citizens are interacting with the city?
[00:05:19] Speaker A: Yeah, in our work we are really focused on making the connection between citizens and the local government more direct, more digital and more responsive.
And one of the key ways we have done is by creating a mobile app that serves as a communication channel and it allows people to report issues, receive updates and stay connected with what's happening in the city right from their phones.
And we are also engaging citizens through e service portal and that some thing I'm also responsible for.
And we are.
And in the portal, citizens can not only access municipal services, but also vote or express their opinions or on different important topics.
And it's about giving people more options and more control and how they interact with, with their local government.
[00:06:26] Speaker C: Yeah. So when you're developing these apps or the digital portal, what features or services do you really. How. How do you deem these as. Oh, these are the essential services.
And how do you make sure that it's really about the user, that it's really user friendly?
[00:06:45] Speaker A: When developing the digital portal for LIFY citizens, we focus on on making it really practical and relevant to everyday needs.
Some of the essential features include online registration and booking with municipal specialists so people can skip the lines so they have.
So they don't have to wait in line. Also when they are Calling so they can book the time online and it's very convenient.
Citizens can also apply for events or seminars organized by municipality.
And as you know, Liepa is also capital of culture in 2027, so there's a lot of cultural seminars, conferences, events happening. So they use also the portal not only for applying for events, but also searching for the helpers in different events.
Another key element is the full management of co financed project funding, from submitting applications to tracking the progress and also evaluating. And of course residents can access a wide range of municipal services and as we say, it's all in one place. And to make sure that portal is truly user friendly, we actually organized a workshop at municipality where citizens could actively first participate in shaping the design. We had the Miro workshop and we gave them chance to create their own version of the homepage and suggest how to structure categories for different applications.
So yeah, the feedback directly influenced the final result.
And we also have integrated E Signature mobile so they can.
That's the most easiest way how to put your E Signature on the application with your phone.
[00:08:56] Speaker C: And what has the feedback been like? Have people been satisfied with it?
Yeah. How do you do this kind of feedback loop?
[00:09:08] Speaker A: We have a tool where citizens can vote if the application is formed.
Well and yeah, but we don't get many like feedback. I think they are really, they are really happy that they can apply for these services online.
That's the main goal.
[00:09:41] Speaker C: Yeah, it is a really important aspect that's often kind of pushed away, I think in like as just kind of a simple basic solution. But so many cities are still not doing it very well, let's say at least because I know I've had issues in my cities that I've lived in previously with some of these services not working well or not having it at all.
So it is so important, I think that we really see how we can save our citizens time and make everything easier for them so that they can spend more time with their families so they can have a better quality of life. So it really contributes so directly to that. So I really do think it's a valuable service to talk about.
I also.
You also been working on other projects so too. And you mentioned a project with Valencia that you wrapped up recently. Recently that includes pilots like deposit glass returns, smart bins on the beach.
What did you learn from testing these kind of smaller scale pilot solutions?
[00:10:46] Speaker A: The project really was exciting and this collaboration with such smart city as Valencia is. Was like huge for us. And it was a short project, but we have done really amazing things and what we learned is even small interventions can have a big impact.
And especially when they are visible, they are easy to use and directly involve citizens. And these pilots gave us valuable insights into user behavior as well.
But even more importantly, this project gave us much deeper understanding of the value of data.
Because like, we assume we know how things work.
But once you start monitoring and measuring, you realize that reality can be very different and data reveals patterns and challenges that would otherwise go unnoticed.
[00:11:51] Speaker C: Are you able to give me an example of that? Because I think that would be really interesting to talk about.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: Yes, it was about these bins, because we installed these sensors in the bins on the beach and we thought that these waste bins are always full.
But when we installed the sensors, we understood that approximately they are like 40% full when they are collected.
But as municipality we are paying like for a full bin each time.
So of course now we have to think how to use the data. And we will monitor the bins also this season because we now have like a procurement and contract for a longer period. But when we will open the new procurement, we will have the data and we can think how to collect smarter these. These ways.
[00:13:03] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a really smart way of piloting. Right. Is really looking at the data and looking at how you can put that into the next process. Right. And I think many cities do it well. But yeah, yeah, absolutely. Speaking about data, you're also now involved in an Interact Europe project, I believe, on open data.
So can you talk a little bit about your perspective around open data, how it supports smarter municipal services and what are you seeing as the current challenges in your city?
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Well, it's another interesting project and it's especially because of the diversity of the partners involved.
We are nine partners from eight different countries and all at very different stages in our open data journey.
That verity brings so much value. We get to learn from each other's successes and also challenges and we have very strong lead partners from Maneto region and they are like example for us.
But one of the main challenges we faced that.
But it was not we. But for, for me it was like the first big project with Interact Europe and the administration stuff was really challenging.
[00:14:35] Speaker C: Oh yeah.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: But then also to change the mindset of employees in municipality because they don't like get the idea why we have to share the data.
But we are, we have these stakeholder meetings and we are telling about the others experience.
And now we will also start to use more RGIs and publish information also in the E service portal, we will develop it so there will be a very good results I think. But yeah, also the challenge is that we have outsourced systems and it's difficult to get data from the systems and automatically publish into the open data portal. But we have published more data sets as we had before the project.
[00:15:43] Speaker C: Okay, good. So good progress so far and that that project still goes on for a little while longer. Right.
You're also, you also told me when we met that you're planning to do a digital twin project that you have that on the horizon.
So how do you imagine digital twin supporting city decision maker making and also importantly citizen engagement in the future?
[00:16:10] Speaker A: So in the first phase we are starting with a very focused tool, energy consumption data from the municipal buildings.
It's a small but important step.
By starting with real measurable data we are creating the foundation for something bigger. I truly believe that once we have these basis in place it will be much easier to expand adding new layers, tools, functionalities over time. So yeah, it could maybe include mobility data, infrastructure planning, environmental monitoring and more as one of the climate mission cities. It's very important also to with this digital twin to get the data that is needed for the climate mission journey as well.
[00:17:08] Speaker C: Oh yeah, I totally forgot to actually mention that that your city is one of the mission cities. So you obviously have very big goals moving forward and these tools are really important for you to meet those goals.
So I, I also want to mention to ask you because oftentimes when we're implementing digital services for citizens, that's great for the younger generations, for tech savvy citizens. How are you addressing.
Yeah, not leaving the elderly, the people who aren't so tech savvy, who maybe don't trust digital platforms. How are you not leaving them behind when you're implementing these?
[00:17:48] Speaker A: Well, during the COVID time it was the first like like surprise for us that not only elderly people don't use digital tools but also like younger generations.
And yeah, but what we do, we still continue to offer traditional channels.
Citizens can still come to the municipality in person, they can call, we have a computer and employees from client service center help help them to work with computer if needed.
And yeah, it's option that we will not take away but at the same time we are really actively working to support those who want to learn and we organize trainings and workshops to help citizen citizens, especially seniors to get familiar with the digital tools and platforms.
Yeah, so it's not just like about teaching them how to use the technology but also building confidence and showing them the benefits.
[00:19:12] Speaker C: I think that's a really important point on the building the confidence because I think a lot of people who aren't so tech savvy or come from older generations, or I guess even younger generations, from your experience, that a lot of it really is more about confidence than about actually their inability to use technology, rather that they just don't want to feel stupid when they're using it. And so building that confidence is really important when we're looking at this, that almost everybody can use digital tools.
They just need to really build confidence. So I like perspective of it.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: We have also an interesting project. We are calling it Paperless Municipality.
First first was small Erasmus project and we applied there as a central administration, just one institution of the municipality.
And it was together with partners from Portugal and Poland. And we really increased paper usage per 70% and toners and inks.
We paid 40% less than when started the project and prices are going up. But this year we applied and also won and get the facilitator. And we have designed more design thinking workshops with a facilitator.
And we now want this idea spread to all the institutions in the municipality.
So we are creating different tools how to engage employees so they can.
So they want to change their behavior and so they understand the common goal of the municipality.
[00:21:16] Speaker C: That is the hardest part there, getting people to want to change their behavior. Not actually the changing of the behavior, but the want behind it.
What do you think is still, you've been making a lot of progress, right, On a lot of these initiatives. It sounds like you've had good outcomes. But what do you think is remaining as one of your core challenges for your city? And what tools do you think are kind of missing from your toolbox to really accelerate the change that you're trying to make?
[00:21:46] Speaker A: Well, there are some challenges, I think.
The budget, of course, is the main challenge, because for the innovations we have to attract funding.
So there is like not so much budget for innovations in the municipality because there are other priorities like health, education and so on. Yeah, and so that's a project because that's. Sorry. So that's the challenge, because there's a competition and you need to plan also in the right way, because when you apply for some funding, you have to wait like sometimes even six months to know the results.
So at the same time you don't know to apply to another project with funding, to the same. With the same idea, or to wait for like six months. So it's challenging. And also, of course, human resources, because in the municipality, the number of the staff Positions is like fixed and limited and so we can't just keep hiring more and more people and without strong justification. So this means we have to carefully prioritize tasks, projects and.
But, but in the same time we are not experts in all fields.
[00:23:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:23:31] Speaker A: Like we want to start create like data storage, but maybe there is not an expert in such field.
Yes. And finally the licensing costs. Yes, that's also the challenge because not only for the newest tools, but like for Microsoft licensing licenses, artificial intelligence tools, you have to pay for the. For using them. But you want to be like modern and you want to be productive and. But still it's very, very expensive for a small municipality. So we are using like something open sourced or for free. What's available.
Yeah, yeah.
[00:24:27] Speaker C: Which is not always the best solution or the most. It gives you the most accurate results. Right.
So yeah, lots of challenges, but I think also moving in the right direction with that. I have to ask you. We covered a fair number of topics, different projects that you're involved in, but there might be some things that we missed.
There may be things that you think are really important to let the listeners know about. Do you have anything in mind for our open floor?
[00:24:55] Speaker A: Well, I would like to tell more about my city.
I think as I told it's a hidden gem, but in the same time it's a very modern city with a global outlook. And so welcome to Liepaja and also if you are interested in collaboration with different smart city projects or climate mission projects.
Yes, we have some human resource challenges, but still we are trying to be active and supportive. So.
And thank you for inviting me to your podcast.
[00:25:35] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:25:36] Speaker A: My.
[00:25:37] Speaker C: Yeah, our pleasure.
And I really want to come visit you at some point too.
Yeah, yeah, I will. I was planning to go to Lumbia and Yeah. And then my plans unfortunately had to change. So next time I promise with that we come to our segment.
For our segment, the segment I have for you today is called Shout Out.
Shout out.
[00:26:06] Speaker B: Mention a person, an organization or a city you think deserves more recognition in the field.
[00:26:14] Speaker C: Do you have someone you want to shout out today?
[00:26:18] Speaker A: Yes, actually I think I want to mention a small city in Lithuania.
The name is Silhouette and they are partners for they are our partners in open data project.
[00:26:37] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:26:38] Speaker A: And we visited SHIELD and they are small city but they are like so super active in projects. They have done amazing projects and so many in the same time.
So we were really impressed.
[00:26:54] Speaker C: Okay. Just don't ask me to pronounce the name of the city, but definitely check it out to everyone listening.
With that, I get to ask you the final question for you. And the question is what I ask every single guest that comes onto the show. And it is to you, what is a smart city?
[00:27:14] Speaker A: For me, Smart city isn't just about the technology.
It's a city where the quality of life for its citizens is the highest and it's about using digital tools and data in a meaningful way.
That's for me.
[00:27:34] Speaker C: Well said. Yeah, well said. I love it. Well, thank you so much, Linda. It's really been a pleasure to have you on to learn a little bit more about your work. So thanks so much for taking the time.
[00:27:45] Speaker A: Thank you. And I will wait for you here in Leopard.
[00:27:49] Speaker C: Yeah, I'll be soon, hopefully. Let's see.
And also I want to give a big thank you to our listeners if you made it this far. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget you can always create a free account on Babel SmartCities EU. You can find more use cases, solutions, implementations there. Thank you very much.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Thank you all for listening. I'll see you at the next stop on the journey to a better urban city life.
