{"id":11147,"date":"2017-05-03T07:38:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T11:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/industry\/blog\/?p=11147"},"modified":"2023-05-31T16:35:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T23:35:45","slug":"digital-leadership-empowerment-by-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/government\/2017\/05\/03\/digital-leadership-empowerment-by-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Leadership: Empowerment by Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m thrilled to be speaking today at\u00a0Smart Cities NYC \u201917<\/a>, the first conference in the U.S. that explores the intersection of technology and urban life.<\/p>\n

The world is undergoing an urban renaissance as more people move to cities to build better lives. For the first time in history, more than 50 percent of the world\u2019s population live in urban areas, and by 2050, nearly 70 percent of the global population\u2014more than 6 billion people\u2014will live in cities. This confluence of diverse people with diverse needs, meeting limited city resources and infrastructure, is creating new opportunities for government and business to address challenges with technology innovation and drive meaningful\u00a0societal change<\/a>. Digital technology can help us do both.<\/p>\n

In my keynote, \u201cDigital Leadership: Empowerment by Design,\u201d I\u2019ll talk more about our opportunity for business and government leaders to embrace the transformative power of the cloud to remove barriers and create new experiences, so everyone shares in the benefits brought by our digital economy. Through digital leadership, we have the opportunity and obligation to create empowered cities with technology solutions that are trusted, responsible, innovative and inclusive.<\/p>\n

Inclusive by Design<\/h2>\n

There are more than 1 billion people in the world who have a disability, whether permanent or temporary, including visual, mobility, hearing, cognitive, speech and neural. We believe our focus on accessibility helps us achieve Microsoft\u2019s mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We\u2019re helping cities create more inclusive digital environments by building accessibility features in Microsoft technologies such as including\u00a0Windows 10<\/a>,\u00a0Office 365<\/a>,\u00a0Edge<\/a>\u00a0and more.<\/p>\n

And while at the event, I\u2019m excited to announce our involvement in cross-industry collaborative efforts such as the\u00a0Smart Cities for All Initiative<\/a><\/strong>. These are first-of-their-kind resources developed by the\u00a0Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict)<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0World ENABLED<\/a>\u00a0to help cities be inclusive\u2014and therefore smarter. The toolkit will provide city leaders with a strategic and actionable guide to align technology initiatives and smart cities programs in a way that empowers people with disabilities or people needing particular accommodations.<\/p>\n

The Smart Cities for All Toolkit provides:<\/p>\n