The Center for Urban Innovation is an interdisciplinary center that combines research in urban studies; geography and geo-informatics; statistics and data science; quantitative sociology, economics, computer science, and various quantitative related fields of social science. We envisage a center of excellence grappling with big ideas, promoting cross-disciplinary research of cities and technology, training and educating the next generation of Israel's top urbanists. We visualize the research center as a knowledge source for cities and local community planning organizations, promoting technology-driven initiatives that bolster Jerusalem as a Smart City.
The Center operates in one of the most fascinating and challenging urban environments in the world – the city of Jerusalem. The city, a global center for culture, community and innovation, serves as our laboratory for research, teaching and experimentation, ensuring a unique program in a unique setting. [something about the importance of the city worldwide and its long history]
The Center for Urban Innovation hosts a range of public and academic courses, workshops and international conferences devoted to innovative agenda-setting topics, and aims to bring together students, scientists, alumni and urban practitioners. The Center also supports, strengthens and expands the graduate degree in Smart Cities and Geoinformatics, enabling students to participate in an internship program in which they are offered the opportunity to work alongside private and public sector agencies, gaining first-hand practical experience.
The Center for Urban Innovation promotes the use of cutting-edge technologies for creating more livable and equitable urban environments. Judicious use of technology will encourage disadvantaged and marginalized population groups in the city to engage bottom-up with issues affecting their urban environments (such as safety and livability). Additionally, the Center serves as an incubator for geoinformatics-based initiatives for improving urban well-being: it acts as a city hub for academia-public sector-private sector-society cooperation.