News Story

Engage in the Future City debate @ MK Gallery on 21 May

Kate Dungate, Wednesday 21 May 2014

On Thursday 21 May Geoff Snelson, a member of the MK:Smart Project Executive Board, and Director of Strategy at Milton Keynes Council, will be speaking at MK Gallery. Geoff will be discussing how MK prepares for future growth, evidencing MK:Smart as a key initiative in supporting the growth of Milton Keynes.

‘Priming the local economy’ is the third set of talks in the ‘Future City Debate’ series, promoted by the Fred Roche Foundation.

The evening will address how we prepare for growth in the future, in a diverse and prosperous economy that embraces enterprise and forward thinking ideas. One question that will be raised is – Is the key to economic growth a state of the art data acquisition and management infrastructure?

The focus of Geoff’s talk is about Milton Keynes being ready and prepared for economic growth, and the changes that might be necessary to ensure we have a sound economic base.

Geoff is following on from other MK:Smart partners who have addressed similar issues at recent events in this series. John Miles of Cambridge University considered the issues of transport growth and Prof Gerd Kortuem of The Open University engaged the audience in what the future of Milton Keynes looks like.

The Fred Roche Foundation celebrates the life of Fred Roche (1931-1992), who led the team in the 1970s who built the new city of Milton Keynes. The foundation endeavours to keep his spirit of creative exploration, innovation and vision alive. It is hosting talks at MK Gallery to stimulate creative discussion and debate around subjects that are vital to the growth and vitality of Milton Keynes.

MK:Smart, the £16M smart city, big data project, is happy to support this series of events and will provide a number of guest speakers in the domain of Future Cities.

‘Priming the local economy’, 7pm, 21 May 2014: MK Gallery, 900 Midsummer Blvd, Milton Keynes, MK9 3QA

Book your free ticket here.