Hi everyone! Sinsi, Mariya and I have created website on smart communities. Please take a look at it and feel free to take part in the discussion in the comments below. Thank you for taking the time to take a look
https://sites.google.com/view/smart-communities?usp=sharing
Discussion Questions
- Considering the pros and cons of smart communities outlined in the resource, how do you think the benefits of enhanced connectivity and efficiency weigh against the potential challenges, such as privacy concerns and digital divide? In what ways can these challenges be mitigated to ensure the inclusive development of smart communities?
- In the case studies provided, what were the key factors that contributed to the successful implementation of smart community initiatives? How can these success stories be used as models for other communities looking to adopt similar technologies? Additionally, what lessons can be learned from any challenges or setbacks faced by these communities in the process of becoming ‘smart’?
Thank you for the thought provoking website. Smart communities are a fascinating topic although I agree that there are many positives and negatives. The most prominent downside, that I noticed you discussed, is technological dependance. In many ways, I think we are already too dependent on technology. It has gotten to the point that schools are now responsible for making sure students are getting enough physical activity and outside time. Whereas many students only spend time outside during the school day. In an increasingly smart community, would there be mitigations to ensure people gain enough physical activity and stay connected to nature?
I also want to point out a prediction for the smart city, which is self-driving car networks. I cannot wait for a world without traffic, and AI technologies, in combination with self-driving cars, would be able to make city transportation nearly flawless. However, with anything new technology-wise comes an increase in energy, I that energy needs to be used and maintained in more intelligent ways. I think the importance of sustainability cannot be understated. The new technology needs to focus on eco-friendly goals, which your case studies demonstrate, but AI tools also use exorbitant amounts of energy, and even if they reduce another aspect of societies’ energy use, that which was required for the computation needs to be taken into account.
I believe the key factor that contributed to the successful implementation of smart community initiatives is the importance given to citizens’ well being. In both cases, for every aspect of the smart community, is it clear that the goal is always to make things more efficient and more effective so citizens can have a better life. Therefore, like you mentioned in the Governance section of Sejong, having a platform that collects feedback and allows citizens to participate in decision making is absolutely necessary for a seamless adoption of these new technologies.
Yes! coming back to the people and making choices on technology implementation not around the technology but what it will do for the people
Thanks so much for your reply
Hi Meagan, Sinsi, and Mariya,
Thank you for creating this wonderful website. I learnt a lot from your site, and your case studies are very interesting. I think your site, as well as our classmates have already pointed out many benefits of smart cities and how to mitigate the challenges of smart city. I think economics growth of countries can really be improved by tech innovations. Attracting businesses and creating new opportunities, technology generally make cities a better place. Though challenges remain, more development could benefit citizens more. I do believe connectivity can greatly improve public safety. When I was visiting China last year, they have cameras everywhere in major cities. Though this posed a lot of questionable practices around privacy, I can’t help but understand why the cameras were there. It is much harder to commit a crime now vs. before camera connections.
I think one thing that might be able to help mitigate challenges would be to include communities in the planning, designing and decision-making of smart city developments. By involving more community engagement, we can ensure better and more diverse perspectives are included in the design of city development. This might provide a more inclusive plan and ensure the benefits are shared more equally amongest communities.
Thanks Jennie for the reply
Working in law enforcement I have seen first hand the help that cameras provide in help solve and prevent crime. i think you bring up a great point in allowing the community to be part of the process or to educate them on the types of technology being used so that they don’t think the city is trying to hide what they are doing.
In answer to your first question – I chose privacy as my A3 topic because I’m interested in how increasing connectivity and mobility will affect our approaches to privacy – what it means and how we manage it. I foresee two rival camps – those for whom giving up their private data is a worthwhile trade-off for the benefits of smart community life, and those for whom personal data privacy is paramount. I do think that the benefits of smart communities will initially, as with most things, accrue mostly to those who already have enough (the global north, the middle classes). These people will have the necessary means (tools, education etc) to make use of what smart communities will offer. A challenge for smart community builders will be to ensure that connectivity benefits everyone in the longer run.
If we decide to follow a purely market-driven approach to smart communities, the gaps will persist. So for me a mitigation strategy would be to encourage governments to invest in the technologies, rather than leaving everything to the private sector.
Andrew,
You point out a really important disparity. Smart communities will most likely implement in urban centers and those of higher socioeconomic status will most likely benefit first and most. However, I think there is potential in smart communities (if implemented properly) to try and balance some of the equations, but that goal is near impossible to achieve. In addition, I appreciate how you point out the ‘already have enough.’ Sometimes I think about the things I, and people I know, complain about, and then reflect on how those problems are usually extremely minor. In my other post, I discuss my want for a world without traffic, but I can travel anywhere in the world in less than two days, and that, for most of history, was seen as impossible. So in terms of implementation, I think smart communities should be about equalizing society and improving sustainability, becuase in terms of convenience, I think our lives are already too convenient in many ways (at least those that already have enough).
Hello Mariya, Sinsi, and Meagan,
You put together a well-researched presentation of smart communities with excellent design.
I’ll answer your first question. From what I’ve noticed on larger projects to make a community innovative or more efficient, I think the benefits and challenges are weighed by the amount of available funding and how quickly the public adopts it over other communities. I believe that the funding can be mitigated using various funding sources, whether from the private or public sector. I think the quickness of the adoption of other communities and the competitiveness can be mitigated by working with partners in the community to provide smart services and spreading news of these services to get the word out.
Hi Daniel
Thanks for taking a look at our site. I think you bring up a great point when it comes to adoption when you day work with partners in the community. A lot of our research showed it is not so much about the technology but the people using the technology. If you can bring the community together and use the members for input and insight then adoption as well as growth can happen. If not, as we saw by that one video on cameras and surveillance in our site, the community can feel unheard and even feel the technology is working against them.
Thanks for your thoughts this week
Hi Meagan, Sinsi, and Mariya,
You created a great site. It’s packed with information and is visually appealing.
My response is a mishmash from the two discussion questions you provided. From both the case studies, they help ease the common pain points that people experience in their day to day lives. When something is useful, people will for sure support new initiatives. Another factor of successful implementation is the organization shown in the videos. For example, the self-driving bus initiative in South Korea had a slow roll out and was forecasted to be fully operational this year.
On a grand scale, if implemented correctly, smart cities can definitely alleviate a lot of the problems we experience. However, this is an experimental concept at this point in time. I see access and the ability to build infrastructure is one of the biggest hurdles to implement smart cities. I like the 2 case studies you provided because one shows a strong government initiative and the other shows a more private endeavour. This made me wonder about the countries where infrastructure isn’t as developed and how they could start building smart cities. Their version of a smart city may not be the same scale as the one in South Korea from the start. Maybe they’ll start with basic digitization of records or improving access to the internet and WiFi in public areas and then scale up from there.
Hi Bianca
Thanks for your thoughts this week you bring up great points mentioning access and infrastructure as barriers to implementation. I think the case studies do a good job of looking at those two points and seeing how implementation may look different and may take different amounts of time.
Really interesting you noticed the different drivers of each case study (government or social group) I think this can change the focus on what and when different aspects of implementation happen based on things like finances and mandate
Thanks for the highly detailed resource Meagan, Sinsi, and Mariya! It was very comprehensive looking at many different aspects of what it takes to create a Smart City. The two different case studies highlighted how many cities can be Smart Cities, but they might be in different stages of integration. I also enjoyed the timeline you created on Shorthand, I had never seen that program before.
On a slight offshoot to question 1, I wonder how much savings will actually be realized by the development of Smart Cities? There will no doubt be cost-savings from more efficient use of city services and energy usage. However, the initial cost to purchase this technology will be huge, and cities may go deep into debt with the hopes that this technology will be more economical in the long run. In 2016, CNBC highlighted there were few reports supporting the claim that costs will actually be cheaper in the long run. With all that being said, cost is only one aspect regarding Smart Cities, albeit a big one if it is not carefully thought out in the initial development stages.
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/25/spending-on-smart-cities-around-the-world-could-reach-41-trillion.html
Hi John
Thanks for taking a look at our site. I think you bring up a great point that cost is a huge barrier especially when looking at converting and modernizing infrastructure already in place. I think there is a lot of planning for the now and not looking at how things may develop and allowing for flexible and adaptable changes. When I was researching for this week I also came across some of the same information you did about it not being cost effective in the long run but my question is will that matter. Do you think that communities can continue to not implement some of these technologies or is it going to be the inevitable regardless of cost because the advancements and integration of digital technology into our world. What are your thoughts?
Great question, Meagan. As we’ve seen already from other countries and cities, I think it will be a case-by-case situation. Municipal, provincial/state, and federal regulations and forethought can vary widely. Some government processes may move quite slowly, while others will race ahead without as much forethought. It will interesting to see what happens in the future!