NIST working group to tackle smart cities’ ethical quandaries
Source: Smart Cities Dive, Cailin Crowe
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Global City Teams Challenge announced a new working group on diversity, equity, integrity and technology.
Smart cities could learn a thing or two from the Italian slow food movement, according to Ball State University Associate Professor Rebecca Hammons.
“Good, clean and fair” are principles that lie at the heart of that movement, according to Hammons, and those could be a model for smart cities to follow in their efforts to uphold ethics, integrity and trust.
To help address some of those very issues, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Global City Teams Challenge announced a new working group on diversity, equity, integrity and technology during an April Smart Cities Connect conference panel in Columbus, Ohio.
At the onset of smart city initiatives, leaders often focus on how they can apply technologies to solve city problems. But what really makes a city smart and determines how it functions are the decision-makers and how residents perceive the decisions they make, said Michael Dunaway, associate director for innovation of smart and connected systems at NIST.
To aid those decision-makers and help build community trust, the effort will work on developing relevant key performance indicators and best practices for city leaders, particularly around community engagement.