Management Resources in the age of AI/IoT（2/2）Formation of Social Capital with Community-centric

This article is written by Mr. Motoyuki Matsunaga , Senior Fellow, Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies（NEC Group）

More intelligence by resource sharing
As community activities become more intelligent through the enhanced information space of Social Networking Service (SNS), it become possible that management resources of people, goods, money and information are effectively utilized to form social capital.
Social Capital is the concept to interpret the network or credible social relationship to activate people’s concerted actions as “capital”.

As management resources are shifted from “owned” to “shared” and are enhanced intelligently, the community itself will be evolved flexibly where people talk and discuss how to live or how the future would be in concerted manner, and the community is to realize such concept. 

Followings are two examples of USA towns with advanced sustainable development.

Ithaca is a scenic town of thirty-thousand residents located in the center of the state of New York. Ithaca has been gaining publicity as pioneering Eco Village, housing complex where people live independently or together.
The town is now still keeping it’s sustainable development, and, lively life there is introduced in details by the book “EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture” written by Liz Walker, co-founder of Ithaca Eco Village.

Priority on “Local”
In Ithaca their priorities are always on “Local” in such ways as follows:

“Think Local” where people think by themselves and repeat the discussions how their own social structure should be established.
“Buy Local” where people grow crops and buy them locally.
“Be Local” where “Local” is always prioritized even to the public opinion or public market of economic activities, while local media has been developed and local value has been established and created with utmost care. And such local value contributes to enhance community imagination or value.
“Being Local” where typical Ithaca development is being locally made.

Debate and discussion on future of the city
Even in the big city the activities initiated by local community are being evolved.
One example is the activities called AoT (Array of Things) involving residents of the city of Chicago.

The Array of Things (AoT) is an urban sensing project, a network of interactive, modular sensor boxes that will be installed around Chicago to collect real-time data on the city’s environment, infrastructure, and activity for research and public use. The data is all digitalized and processed by AI (Artificial Intelligence) and information on urban problems such as air pollution, traffic jam, flood are shared by the citizens and are utilized to challenge to find the solutions in multi-directional manner.
This initiative is aiming to develop next-generation IoT (internet of Things) applications. 

In this initiative Argonne National Laboratory invite citizens and scientists all together for debate and discussion how the future of Chicago should be.

In the communities regardless whether it is urban or provincial such self-motivated activities are evolving with the firm belief that concept of credibility, norm or behavior and network, essential as social capital, should be always in the core center.  Image of their own society will be clearly illustrated or planned if their view point is focused properly on “Local”.
Intelligence in AI and IoT is well designed to optimize the local point or issues. The imagination or views of local community will contribute to the creation of innovative and polymorphic value and of the structure or system to form new social capital.