Wednesday Oct 8th

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Host: Björn Stockleben Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, RBB

Björn Stockleben was awarded his master’s degree in Media Sciences, Media Technology and Computer Sciences from Technical University of Brunswick and Brunswick School of Arts in 2003. As a student research assistant he worked on MHP applications for the CONFLUENT and Multimedia Car Platform (MCP) project. He wrote his master thesis on ergonomic and content-specific constraints of video on mobile devices. Since April 2004 Björn Stockleben has been employed by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg as project engineer for its Innovation Projects in several EC-funded research projects. Currently he is working on user generated content and citizen journalism for the news and youth radio departments of RBB.

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OUTI ROURU-KUIVALA City of Oulu

Ms. Rouru-Kuivala acts as a Project Manager in SmartTouch City of Oulu-project. The SmartTouch project (ITEA No 05024) is the largest effort on piloting Near Field Communication technology in the European Union. The project is running from 2006 to the end of 2008 and is examining the role of Near Field Communication Technology (NFC) for example in City Life, Home, Wellness and Health. The extraordinary combination of partners in SmartTouch, including technology and service producers, researchers, and City of Oulu as a public organization is pushing the NFC technology forward in many fronts. The City of Oulu pilots introduce an ecosystem of NFC-enabled services which are unique and first one in the world.

Additionally one of Ms. Rouru-Kuivala's main duties is to develop TestUserCommunity City of Oulu combining technical test beds and “Living Lab” concept.

"Smart Touch Oulu"

SmartTouch, the largest project in Europe to test NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, is seen and felt in many ways in Oulu. The city, businesses, and research institutions collaborate and technology developers, both those participating in the project and local technology companies have created something genuinely new and useful.

As the City vision is to have the most advanced public services in the world, Oulu acts as a provider of a genuine pilot environment. Citizens have the opportunity to test extensive commercial and public services made possible by NFC such as parking, theatre, and services for senior citizens. SmartTouch City of Oulu -project has also taken NFC into school environment to serve pedagogical purposes.

The three-year SmartTouch project is coordinated by VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) Oulu. It includes businesses and research institutions from eight European countries.
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JAZ HEE-JEONG CHOI Queensland University of Technology

"The City of Connections: Urban Social Networking in Seoul"

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MARCUS FOTH Queensland University of Technology

"Collective and Network Sociality in an Urban Village"

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