“Disrupting Mobility” at the MIT Media Lab

Last month, I was privileged to be master of ceremonies for “Disrupting Mobility,” the first in what will hopefully be an annual series of conferences devoted to connected transportation. Organized by the City Science Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California at Berkeley, LSE Cities at the London School of Economics, and the Berlin-based Innovation Centre for Mobility and Social Change (Innoz), it was the best convening yet of the private companies, public sector officials, and academics grappling with how real-time information and coordination is changing how we move through cities. From the conference site:

The rise of the shared-economy has completely disrupted existing products and services in the urban mobility space. Peer-to-peer mobility services like Uber and Lyft have challenged the taxi, livery, car share, and mass-transit establishment. Disruptive innovations like this have the power to not only redefine industries, it can bankrupt companies as well. The shift from analog to digital cameras eventually led to the demise of Polaroid. The mass adoption of personal computing saw the end of industrial manufacturers like Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Technologies like VHS tapes, landlines, and even encyclopedias all have been uprooted with the introduction of new technologies. More recently, Airbnb has disrupted the travel and hotel industry by increasing the supply of options for people to stay and providing matching services. The Disruptive Mobility Summit brings together leaders from academia, industry, and government to discuss the role of disruptive innovations within the mobility networks.

As MC, I had the pleasure of hosting several panels, including an Ed Glaeser-Adam Greenfield-Janette Sadik-Khan-Anthony Townsend-Philipp Rode battle royale – the video is embedded at the top of the page. Here are two more:

• (Below) The opening session, featuring welcoming remarks from the MIT Media Lab’s Ryan Chin, Cal’s Susan Shaheen, LSE Cities’ Philipp Rode, and Innoz’ Florian Lennart, followed by keynotes and a panel discussion with Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of Transportation Victor Mendez, Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff, and the Media Lab’s own Kent Larson.

• (Bottom) “Technology Disrupting Mobility,” with brief keynotes by AutonomousStuff’s Guy Fraker, Walmart’s Donald High, MIT’s Sertac Karaman, Fontinalis Partners’ Gabe Klein, and Bandwagon’s David Mahfouda.