Speech, speech, speech…

So it’s the Queen’s Speech later today, the one in which the queen will be wearing a hat rather than a crown, and Angela Kelly rather than ceremonial robes. And as the UK doesn’t have a proper government right now, both the Labour and Liberal parties are proposing to present alternative versions. Who knows, maybe Donald Trump will pitch in and give A Great Queen’s Speech! It’s all up for grabs. Sadly.

However, the speech that has caught my attention was the one given by Prof. Stephen Hawking at the Starmus Festival over in Norway very recemntly. Humans, he surmises need to find a new home in space in the next 200 to 500 years for the survival of the species. Suddenly Brexit negotiations seem somewhat of a distraction.

Prof. Hawking has called for leading nations to come together to send astronauts to the moon by 2020, build a lunar base by 2025 and then send people to Mars by 2030. This new colonisation programme, he says, will give humanity a new sense of purpose, and unite it in the face of the common challenge.

Great challenges are all around us, and the smart city movement has come about because of these. The characteristics of a smart city -- collaboration, interoperability, pre-emptive problem solving, sustainability -- these are vital virtues in addressing this new era in human history. Leaders everywhere need to look at the bigger picture, stop squabbling in the gutter, seriously reach beyond, and put some starlight into their thinking.

Melony Rocque

Editor