Public sector, NGOs and private sector leaders to convene in Detroit

DETROIT - Aug. 18, 2014 - PRLog -- What:
Meeting of the Minds is an annual, global leadership summit focused on the development of smarter cities, next-gen infrastructure, and advanced urban development solutions. The conference is key to accelerating the emergence of successful cities with a connected future around the globe.

Meeting of the Minds brings together select leaders from the world’s most innovative organizations to explore strategic investments, smart policies and breakthrough technological innovations – all designed to enable cities and regions to better respond to increasingly complex urban planning, design, technology and development challenges. More than 375 global innovators including government officials, corporate executives, and foundation/NGO leaders will gather to discuss and launch new initiatives.

A sampling of some of the sites and projects highlighted in our workshop:

• First-time look at smart city demos developed for this Meeting by DTE Energy Co., Itron Corp., and Cisco Systems
• Exclusive access to Rock Ventures’ real-time monitoring of 40 downtown buildings
• Qualcomm’s next-gen connected vehicle
• Detroit’s brand new innovation district
• Shell’s EcoMarathon winning vehicles and youth teams
• Tech incubators + commercialization spaces
• Cleantech energy and mobility projects sponsored by the US Dept. of Defense and the US Dept. of Energy
• Southwest Detroit’s small-scale revitalization and urban interventions

When:
September 30-October 2, 2014

Where:
College for Creative Studies, Taubman Center for Design Education, 460 W. Baltimore Ave., Detroit, Michigan 28202 USA

Who:
The following sample of global leaders will present a “rethinking” of city systems including economic, social and technological developments that are reshaping our urban future:

• Mayor Duggan, City of Detroit
• Gordon Feller, Director, Urban Innovations, Cisco; Co-Founder and Convenor of Meeting of the Minds
• Jeremy Bentham, Vice President, Global Business Environment, Royal Dutch Shell
• David Estrada, VP of Government Relations, Lyft
• Mayor Rob van Gijzel, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
• Mayor Bill Peduto, City of Pittsburgh
• Leslie Lynn Smith, President and CEO, TechTown Detroit
• Pashon Murray, Founder, Detroit Dirt & MIT Media Lab Fellow
• Dawn Zimmer, Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey
• Jennifer Bradley, Fellow and Senior Advisor, Brookings Institution
• Ralph Menzano, Global Transportation Executive, Oracle
• Debra Lam, Chief Innovation and Performance Officer, City of Pittburgh Mayor’s Office
• Jerry Paffendorf, CEO, LOVELAND
• Sean O’Sullivan, Managing Director & Founder, SOSVentures and Carma
• Wim Elfrink (http://cityminded.org/speaker/wim-elfrink), EVP-Industry Solutions and Chief Globalisation Officer, Cisco Systems

And, more than 350 other leaders from more than a dozen countries, including China, Canada, Australia!

A sampling of sessions: Unleashing Open Data, Civic Hacking and Privacy for Livable Cities; Innovations in City Service Delivery: Quicker, Faster, Cheaper; Governance without Government: Funding + Implementing Smart City Policies Amid Fiscal Constraint; Retrofitting Legacy Infrastructure with Smart City Solutions; Transformative Urban Interventions – The Impacts of Small-Scale Revitalization Efforts in Southwest Detroit.

• The full Meeting schedule is outlined at: http://cityminded.org/events/detroit/agenda
• Confirmed speakers are listed at: http://cityminded.org/speakers
• Real-time access to the October 1 and 2 program is available via webcast:http://cityminded.org/webcast
• The 2014 Meeting will feature live on-site TelePresence videoconferencing to connect the Detroit event with locations around the globe.

Additional Background:
Each year, Toyota joins forces with key partners to present Meeting of the Minds and to encourage rich dialogues that link public sector, private sector and independent sectors. The program’s organizer is Urban Age Institute, a non-profit based in San Francisco. Urban Age Institute partners with renowned, high-impact non-profit institutions to develop the program such as NextEnergy, SMART University of Michigan, Detroit Future City, UIX Detroit, Tumml, Smart Cities Council, and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Global Sponsors are Cisco and Shell. Gold level sponsors are the Kresge Foundation and Oracle. Silver Level sponsors include IBM, Itron, The Ford Foundation, The Barr Foundation, Living Cities, Rock Ventures, EY, Qualcomm, and the Annie E Casey Foundation. Bronze Level sponsors include DTE Energy, MEDC, Blossman Gas, New Economy Initiative, and NRDC.

A full list of sponsors is available: http://cityminded.org/sponsors

Presenting and Global Sponsors:
Toyota: As the world’s largest automaker, Toyota operates under a global earth charter that promotes environmental responsibility throughout the entire company, and recognizes the need for comprehensive approaches to the effective use of resources and to the reduction of pollution and global warming. http://www.toyota.com/esq/

Cisco  is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found athttp://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Shell: Energy is vital to sustaining daily life and global progress. Shell is dedicated to serving those needs as the world’s most competitive and innovative energy company, meeting growing demands efficiently and responsibly. Shell puts safety, sustainability, the search for new energy sources and technology leadership at the heart of how we do business. http://www.shell.com/

Media Partners
Urban Innovation Exchange (http://www.uixdetroit.com/) (UIX) is an initiative to inform, engage and advance Detroit’s growing social innovation movement. Join the movement of innovators driving impact in Detroit.

Citiscope (http://citiscope.org/) is a web-based news service fed by a global network of journalists capturing stories of cities and their citizens trying new and different ways to address the challenges of this “Century of the City.” The service also includes CitiSignals, a curated roundup of major urban developments across the world each week.

GOVERNING (http://www.governing.com/) is the nation’s leading media platform covering politics, policy and management for state and local government leaders.