Presentation on smart cities and international publication experience

In the first presentation with the topic “Smart City: The Case of Cork and Social Science Research”, Dr. Pham Thanh Long introduced the project she led in Cork called CorkCitiEngage. Cork City, located in Munster Province, is the second largest city in Ireland with a modern and advanced infrastructure system. However, according to Dr. Pham Thanh Long, up to now, studies on Cork urban areas have only focused on hard infrastructure such as transportation, construction, water treatment and energy; but have not paid attention to economic and social infrastructure aspects such as finance, education, health, etc. Therefore, through the CorkCitiEngage project, she wants to contribute to understanding the social environment of Cork City, by clarifying people's awareness of smart urban projects, creating a basis for initiatives to develop Cork Smart City and setting indicators for policy making.

Dr. Pham Thanh Long presents on smart cities

By surveying the community participation, digital skills, access to and use of public infrastructure of 5 different groups of citizens in Cork, CorkCitiEngage has brought about some encouraging results such as raising people's awareness of the project itself in particular, as well as smart cities in general; creating a reliable database for planning and implementing projects in the city; improving the investigation and information processing skills of students participating in the project, etc. CorkCitiEngage also provides many new research results and recommendations to help Cork people participate more actively in public activities. For example, the project results show that people with higher education levels are more motivated to collaborate. From these results, Dr. Pham Thanh Long wants to build a model to improve people's engagement with smart cities. At the same time, she also suggested research topics related to smart cities, emphasizing technology factors, such as the use of digital media to help the elderly alleviate loneliness and isolation, the use of digital technology by young people (aged 18-24), etc.

Auditorium view

Following the presentation, Dr. Pham Thanh Long shared his international publication experiences, including issues such as research resources, research methods, main publication addresses such as seminars, talks, magazines, books, etc. From his own experience, Dr. Pham Thanh Long encouraged researchers to create diversity and interdisciplinary in their topics. Having worked at IBM-Vietnam, she applied technological knowledge to social research and delved into the middle point between technology and human life. Above all, to have an international publication, the writer must constantly strive, not be afraid of failure and know how to take advantage of relationships in the research community. Dr. Pham Thanh Long himself had to revise an article up to 20 times before it was published in a prestigious journal. With these efforts, she has published many articles and presentations at international conferences, such as a conference on Design of Interactive Systems (DIS) in Brisbane, Australia on June 4, 2016.

After the presentation, Dr. Pham Thanh Long received questions and comments from the staff and lecturers of the School on issues such as: solutions for urban planning projects in Vietnam; how to find information about conferences for research purposes; distinguish between primary and secondary documents; social aspects in the use of information technology, etc.

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh presents a souvenir to Dr. Pham Thanh Long

Dr. Pham Thanh Long has been a researcher at the International Energy Research Centre, University College Cork, UCC since 2014, after 5 years working at IBM in Vietnam. Her main research interests are citizen engagement in smart city programs, local policy development and technology adoption process management. She is running a joint program with Cork Smart Gateway, which aims to build a database for smart city projects in Cork city with citizens, businesses, academics and local authorities. In addition, Dr. Pham Thanh Long has been supporting the USSH to build a major in “International Development” at the Faculty of International Studies under the cooperation framework between the University and University College Cork.