Hi #SmartCommunity friends. Welcome back to this very special series here on the Smart Community Podcast, all about data storytelling, As part of my PhD research, I’m speaking with experts from all over the world who are using data visualisations and storytelling in real world projects to support decision making and advocacy.

In this episode of the Smart Community podcast I have a fantastic chat with Dr Phillip Gough.

Phillip is a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney in the School of Architecture Design and Planning, specialising in human-centred design and interaction design. As a designer and researcher, he focuses on building and evaluating interactive systems, with particular expertise in biomaterials for a sustainable circular economy.

In this episode Phillip tells us about his work with clinicians at Westmead Hospital developing decision support tools for emergency department triage, and his collaboration with agricultural companies using satellite data to optimise cattle movement across Australia. Phillip and I discuss the importance of understanding user workflows, the difference between effective or functional and affective or emotional data visualisation, and the challenges of working within existing technical constraints such as the software or platforms available to a particular organisation or situation.

We talk about the way data visualisations can be both playful or creative, and purposeful and meaningful, plus the way data can be art, or the concept of data physicalisation. We finish our chat discussing Phillip's perspective on making invisible information visible through visualisation and his advice for exploring personal data through creative practice. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn and watch on YouTube

Podcast Production by Perk Digital

This podcast is recorded on  Yugarabul country and edited on Gaibal country.   I pay my respects to traditional owners of country and their elders past and present. I also extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today. Here on the Smart Community Podcast, we talk about data, technology, communities and the future. First Nations peoples have been sharing knowledge, caring for country, and telling stories for tens of thousands of years. I honour that deep connection of storytelling and community connection as we continue our conversation together here today.

Disclaimer

The views, opinions, and perspectives expressed by guests on The Smart Community Podcast are solely those of the individual speakers. They do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of the host, Zoe Eather, or of The Smart Community Podcast as a whole.

Any discussion of ideas, products, organisations, or services by podcast guests does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the host or the podcast. Listeners are encouraged to form their own opinions and seek professional advice where appropriate.

Hi #SmartCommunity friends. Welcome back to this very special series here on the Smart Community Podcast, all about data storytelling. As part of my PhD research, I've been speaking with experts from all over the world who are using data visualisations and storytelling in real world projects to support decision making and advocacy.

In today's episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I'm speaking with Rocio Rodriguez Almaraz. I actually met Rocio on the Homeward Bound leadership program, and we spent some time in Antarctica together. Rocio is a campaign strategist, documentary producer and project manager focused on climate change campaigns and projects, based in Argentina.

Rocio and I discuss the role and importance of data visualisation and storytelling in advocacy, strategies to use data to engage audiences and create impact, as well as the challenges faced by NGOs and small organisations in communicating effectively due to limited resources.

We talk about the need to tailor communication and data visualisations to different audiences and contexts, and the ways digital tools can be used in direct community engagement. Rocio shares some examples of impactful data visualisations and their influences on decision-making and public awareness, and reflects on the complexities of measuring impact and attributing change to specific communication efforts.

We finish our chat with Rocio's advice about using data visualisation to prioritise what's most important to communicate. As always, we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Connect with Rocio on LinkedIn

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

Podcast Production by Perk Digital
This podcast is recorded on  Yugarabul country and edited on Gaibal country.   I pay my respects to traditional owners of country and their elders past and present. I also extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today. Here on the Smart Community Podcast, we talk about data, technology, communities and the future. First Nations peoples have been sharing knowledge, caring for country, and telling stories for tens of thousands of years. I honour that deep connection of storytelling and community connection as we continue our conversation together here today.

Hi #SmartCommunity friends!  Welcome to a very special series here on the Smart Community Podcast, all about data storytelling. As part of my PhD research, I've been speaking with experts from all over the world who are using data visualizations and storytelling in real world projects to support decision making and advocacy.

This work is deeply aligned with the smart community ethos, bringing people on the journey as we use data to communicate ideas, share insights, and ultimately make better, more informed decisions together.

In this episode of the #SmartCommunity Podcast, we are kicking off the series with friend of the pod and repeat guest, Jonathan Reichental. He’s been on the show 3 times before, in Episodes 77, 251 and 275. I’ll pop links to those in the show notes if you want to go and listen. Jonathan is a technologist, educator, author and entrepreneur whose career spans media, city government, business and education, so he brings a wealth of insight and experience to this conversation.

Jonathan and I discuss the role of data visualisation in technology and business, the key components of effective data storytelling, and the importance of understanding and considering your audience. We explore some of the challenges and issues with data visualisation, such as lack of training and tools, incorrect or outdated data, information overload, and data misuse.

Jonathan tells us the elements that make data visualisations impactful and shares some examples to check out, too. We finish our chat discussing Jonathan’s advice and recommendations for effective data storytelling. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

Podcast Production by Perk Digital
This podcast is recorded on  Yugarabul country and edited on Gaibal country.   I pay my respects to their elders past and present. I also extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today. Here on the Smart Community Podcast, we talk about data, technology, communities and the future. First Nations peoples have been sharing knowledge, caring for country, and telling stories for tens of thousands of years. I honour that deep connection of storytelling and community connection as we continue our conversation together here today.

Hi #SmartCommunity friends! I sat down with my podcast producer Ellen to record another update episode. This time we chatted about my Antarctic adventure through the Homeward Bound leadership program, what I learned about myself and community building in the process, and what's next for the Smart Community Podcast as I embark upon my Ph.D this year.

As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Talk to you soon!

Find the full show notes at ⁠https://zoeeather.com/podcast/ ⁠

Connect with me via email: ⁠hello@mysmart.community⁠

Connect with My Smart Community via ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or ⁠Twitter⁠ and watch on ⁠YouTube⁠

Podcast Production by ⁠Perk Digital

Hi #SmartCommunity friends! I sat down with my podcast producer Ellen to record another update episode. 2024 was a very big year personally and professionally, so we chat about that and what’s coming up in the next 12 months.

Talk to you soon!

Find the full show notes at https://zoeeather.com/podcast/

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

Podcast Production by Perk Digital

Hi #SmartCommunity friends! I sat down with my podcast producer Ellen to record a little update episode, there is a little bit of Smart Community Podcast news and we want to keep you in the loop! 

We are planning to take an extended break from the podcast because unfortunately my Mum is very unwell. So I'm going to take some time to be with her and just scale things back a little bit for a while. I will still be doing my consulting work for My Smart Community, working with my amazing clients that I have contracts with at the moment and into the future.
But we're pressing pause on the podcast for a time while I spend time with my Mum and family, and while Ellen goes off on her second maternity leave. So your podcast feed won’t be updating for a while, but we will be back in some form or another later down the track. 

In the meantime, connect with me on LinkedIn or email. I’m not going anywhere, just taking some time to pause and prioritise the people who are important to me. 

Talk to you soon!

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

Podcast Production by Perk Digital

Hi #SmartCommunity friends! Welcome to the Summer Series here on the Smart Community Podcast. As you know, we’re taking a little break from new content over the Australian summer holidays, and instead we are sharing the replays of a few of our all time favourite episodes. This week we’re sharing my interview with Samuel Austin from Episode 340, which was published in May 2023.

Sam is an Urban Planner, Community Engagement Specialist and Placemaker, and also the NSW Young Planner of the Year 2022. In this episode, Sam tells us about his background in urban city planning, and his interest and passion for the relationship between people and place. We talk about the role data plays in planning and analysis of how people are using spaces, and Sam tells us about his work on the neon grid and nighttime economy strategy for Sydney.

Sam and I discuss the importance of breaking down barriers and silos within cities and communities to foster an integrated approach for a seamless experience for customers, as well as what the nightime economy and neon grid looks like in semi urban and regional or rural settings. Sam tells us about community engagement projects he’s worked on in Sydney and we finish our chat discussing the emerging trend of live data allowing for appropriate and timely responses to community requirements. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Connect with Sam on LinkedIn 

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

Podcast Production by Perk Digital

Hi #smartcommunity friends! Welcome to the Summer Series here on the Smart Community Podcast. As you know, we’re taking a little break from new content over the Australian summer holidays, and instead we are sharing the replays of a few of our all time favourite episodes. This week we’re sharing my interview with Michael Wanyama from Episode 335, which was released in March 2023 as part of our annual Mobility March series.

Michael and I met at Smart City World Expo in Barcelona in November 2022 where his company Auto Safety Uganda won the Innovation Category of the World Smart City Award. In this episode Michael and I discuss his background in IT and automatic technology and why he’s so passionate about happy, healthy and inclusive communities. Michael tells us about the context in Kampala, Uganda, why it’s the best tourist destination in Africa and also about some of the challenges Uganda faces with traffic safety, vehicle reliability and air pollution due to lack of systems, skills, infrastructure and regulation. We talk about the many different areas of the community that transport impacts and the importance of supporting the community in the process of transitions to new and cleaner mobility options. 

Michael tells us about the projects they are working on, including upskilling mechanics, promoting gender inclusivity in the automotive industry and collecting data to support policy change in Uganda. We also discuss the problem of African nations having to ‘copy and paste’ solutions from other countries but finding they don’t work in the African context. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trend of great ideas and policies being stymied by the lack of resources and skillsets to implement the changes, as well as the need for community engagement, leadership and education to work together to solve these problems. As always, we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!

Connect with Michael on Twitter or LinkedIn

Follow AutoSafety Uganda on Twitter, LinkedIn or their website www.autosafety-ug.org  

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community 

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.