Chelsea McCullough, Smart Cities Connect
Recently I had the pleasure of talking with Laura Murphree at TechConnect on a podcast focused on smart cities and innovation. During our discussion, Laura posed a brilliant question, “So if I’m a resident, how do I know if my city is smart?” I appreciate this conceptualization because it goes to the heart of what government is supposed to be about – people.
My smart city colleagues often use the term human-centered smart cities to describe government programs and processes that are designed with constituents in mind. Designing systems to address the complexity of cities is daunting enough, but designing systems to meet the needs of a diverse resident population who each have different experiences and expectations of urban life is even more challenging.
So to address Laura’s question, we must first understand how a city envisions smart technology. Hopefully there is careful consideration if technology can address a well-defined, well-understood, well-vetted problem where there is a clear need for technical intervention. For example, if a city can place sensors to collect data on the condition of specific infrastructure (e.g., pavement condition, water pipes, etc.) then maintenance can be better prioritized and scheduled. However, these logical smart city applications are often invisible to the resident. The true benefit is to city administrators who are able to perform their jobs with greater efficiency and accuracy in order to be successful stewards of the public good. (Let me add that this is very important work that is often undercelebrated. So thank you, public works staff, for all that you do.)
The more visible applications of smart cities are also the most controversial (and for good reason.) Cameras mounted on city infrastructure such as light poles collect data on activity in the surrounding area. Perhaps that activity simply detects objects on a road or sideway (e.g., cars, bicycles, pedestrians) to better understand mobility trends. But perhaps data is being collected on individuals using facial recognition technology. This is a very different use case and could have different consequences (that can be quite dire) about how data is collected, managed, and manipulated.
This brings up important questions about data governance and data privacy and many of these questions do not yet have answers. Very few cities or states have clear, enforceable data privacy laws. Do residents know if smart city technology is being deployed in their city? If there is awareness, is there a way residents can learn more, make their voices heard, or influence decision making? These are all important questions and issues that deserve attention and a public forum for discussion.
Researchers, advocates, and city leaders are focusing efforts to address the questions about how smart city technology is considered at the local level including Being Watched, a research initiative led by Dr. Sharon Strover at The University of Texas at Austin. As a part of an ethical AI grand challenge called Good Systems, Dr. Strover and her team are reviewing cities’ adoption of smart technologies including public video cameras that collect data. Other cutting edge programs are taking place as part of a collaboration between the City of Long Beach, California State University, Long Beach and a mission-driven start-up, Helpful Places, in which partners work with local residents to better understand their perceptions about city-based technologies. This promising work will hopefully inspire more resident engagement programs in other municipalities.
So back to the original question of how can residents know if their city is smart? Will their commute times get shorter? Will their utility bills decrease? Will they have better access to public services? Who knows, honestly. It seems that we have asked a question that is impossible to answer at this point in time. But it is a question worth asking, and perhaps this query should guide all of us working in the smart city space. If we really aspire to create human-centered smart cities, shouldn’t we be able to demonstrate that these efforts make a tangible (and measureable) impact to residents’ lives?
I hope we have the chance to consider and discuss this point at the next Smart Cities Connect Conference & Expo this April in San Antonio. And also stay tuned for the TechConnect podcast that inspired this post!