A guest post from Tom Forth of ODI Leeds.

On 6^th September lots of people who play, think, and work with smart cities will be in Hebden Bridge. We want to hear what they do, but we’re also going to get them to work with us and answer our questions. Then we’re going to draw up and share our plans with the help of a great illustrator.

Let’s work together, suggest improvements, maybe even challenge each other a bit, and make sure that ‘smart’ extends beyond cities and helps people improve their lives.

The day is organised by Open Data Manchester, the Open Data Institute Leeds, ThingsManchester and many more. We think that open data and open software are important because they let people choose what smart services they receive. We think that we should be able to understand how our data is used in a smart city and then have an informed say in who uses it and how they provide us with services.

Bring along your ideas for what a smart city could be and help us start building it. Do you want a smart meter where you don’t lose your data if you switch supplier? Or a smart payment card for the bus and train that works everywhere in the North? Or a low-cost sensor network that warns of flooding and makes the case for prevention?

Maybe you’ve got an idea for something even better and you want to figure out how you can make it happen? We want to help you do that, and we’d love to be part of whatever you build. We’ve already built a free and open network for smart cities across the North of England but we know that there loads more great ideas out there. If smart cities and places are going to be open to everyone, everyone needs to feel comfortable getting involved.

We’re very friendly and the day will be what you make it. We’re looking forward to seeing you.

Tom