Presentation on smart cities and international publication experience.

In her first presentation, titled “Smart Cities: The Case of Cork and Social Science Research,” Dr. Pham Thanh Long introduced her project in Cork, called CorkCitiEngage. Cork, located in Munster, is Ireland's second-largest city with a modern and advanced infrastructure. However, according to Dr. Pham Thanh Long, studies on Cork have so far focused only on hard infrastructure such as transportation, construction, water treatment, and energy; neglecting economic and social infrastructure aspects such as finance, education, healthcare, etc. Therefore, through the CorkCitiEngage project, she aims to contribute to understanding the social environment of Cork by clarifying public perception of smart city projects, providing a foundation for initiatives to develop Cork as a Smart City, and setting indicators for policy planning.

Dr. Pham Thanh Long gave a presentation on smart cities.

Through surveying community participation, digital skills, and access to and use of public infrastructure among five different citizen groups in Cork, CorkCitiEngage has yielded several encouraging results, such as raising public awareness of the project itself and smart cities in general; creating a reliable database for planning and implementing city projects; improving the investigative and information processing skills of students involved in the project, etc. CorkCitiEngage also presented many new research findings and recommendations to help Cork citizens participate more actively in public activities. For example, the project results showed that those with higher levels of education are more motivated to collaborate. Based on these results, Dr. Pham Thanh Long aims to develop a model to improve citizen engagement with smart cities. At the same time, she also suggested research topics related to smart cities, emphasizing technological factors such as the use of digital means to help the elderly alleviate loneliness and isolation, the use of digital technology by young people (aged 18-24), etc.

View of the auditorium

Following the presentation, Dr. Pham Thanh Long shared her experiences in international publication, including issues such as research resources, research methods, and key publication platforms like conferences, seminars, journals, books, etc. Based on her own experience, Dr. Pham Thanh Long encouraged researchers to create diversity and interdisciplinary approaches in their research topics. Having worked at IBM Vietnam, she applied her technological expertise to social research and delved into the intermediary points between technology and human life. Above all, to have an internationally published paper, the author must constantly strive, not be afraid of failure, and know how to leverage relationships within the research community. Dr. Pham Thanh Long herself had to revise one paper up to 20 times before it was published in a prestigious journal. Through these efforts, she has published numerous articles and presented papers at international conferences, such as a conference on Design of Interactive Systems (DIS) in Brisbane, Australia on June 4, 2016.

Following the presentation, Dr. Pham Thanh Long received questions and comments from faculty and staff of the university on issues such as: solutions for urban planning projects in Vietnam; how to find information about conferences to support research; distinguishing between primary and secondary documents; the social aspects of using information technology, etc.

Professor Pham Quang Minh presents a commemorative gift to Dr. Pham Thanh Long.

Dr. Pham Thanh Long has been a research fellow at the Centre for International Energy Research, University College Cork, UCC since 2014, following five years working at IBM in Vietnam. Her main research focus is on citizen participation in smart city programs, local policy development, and technology adoption management. She is currently running a program in partnership with Cork Smart Gateway, aiming to build a database for smart city projects in Cork in collaboration with citizens, businesses, academics, and local authorities. Additionally, Dr. Pham Thanh Long has been supporting the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in developing the "International Development" specialization within the Faculty of International Studies, under a cooperation framework between the University and University College Cork.