Smarter Cities Challenge Christchurch New Zealand

Broadcasting live from Christchurch New Zealand, join Caleb Barlow, Luciana Camargo, John Fennell, Drew Clark, Stephen Dill and Erick Brethenoux on a special assignment as part of the Smarter Cities Challenge.  The city of Christchurch recently suffered a series of earthquakes which caused massive damage in the central city and some suburban areas along with the death of 185 people.   Most of the central city area is unusable as nearly 70% of commercial buildings are scheduled to be demolished.  In the next 10 years, an estimated $40 billion will be invested in rebuilding and renewing Christchurch.  This team of 6 IBM executives are on the ground in Christchurch working with city leaders, investors, students and innovators to provide recommendations on how to make the city smarter and more effective.  The opportunity here is simply amazing – a high quality of life, easy access to the outdoors, a well educated English speaking workforce and a growth in GDP that already rivals China and they are just getting started.  In this episode we put the regular IT dialog aside and talk about the incredible opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators and investors in the coming years in Christchurch as it rebuilds.

To see a video of what we are discussing go to YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/calebbarlow

You can also follow our progress on the #smartercities challenge blog:

http://smartercitieschallenge.wordpress.com/category/christchurch-new-zealand/

An overview of the rebuild plan can be found in this video:

http://vimeo.com/46589834

#eqnz

#chch

#rebuildchch