Guided by the North Star

Digital systems need to be designed with users in mind. This may be obvious but tends to get overlooked when governments provide systems for citizens that become user-unfriendly, inaccessible, isolated and obsolete in a short space of time.

So who decides what is right? We have not touched on governance in this report but there are certain codes of ethics to guide us. Privacy must be respected; social values must be upheld; and sustainable outcomes to protect society and the natural environment must be sought.

Data should therefore be used for good purpose. Integration of systems (interoperability) and accessibility (open sourcing) should both consider who the correct users are. Data standards are important for consistency.

Meanwhile, digital twins unleash the potential of technology. Machines are getting smarter and are starting to dominate our lives. However, we must exercise choice at a citizen level to get the best implementation decisions in our digital-led lives.

Technology for good is a common theme throughout this report. But it is not just about technology for good in terms of current use cases — perhaps more important is to consider what could be the extension of that technology. Could the initial vision turn dystopian if protections aren’t in place?

For example, social media “like” buttons were invented to spread joy and positivity, but the creators could never have imagined it would be the cause of many social ills from childhood anxiety and lack of self-esteem to even being blamed for suicides.

We are all aiming for digital cities that have technology for good — that is technology used for its intended purpose and which elevates the sense of place for its citizens. But as digital practitioners we tend to only dream of the positive outcomes.

So perhaps if we spent a small amount of time imagining how the technology we introduce could have the opposite effects, how it could become the accidental city equivalent of the “like” button, we might be able to design some mitigation strategies to ensure our technology remains solely for good.

There are some specific areas, typically focused on the possible risks, that can be considered when evaluating the future potential of technology:

Digital strategy: Is a clear strategy in place that covers both the immediate use cases and benefits, along with future direction? Something that acts as an anchor point for how the technology will evolve?

Data: How much data is too much data? Have parameters been defined around the future uses of that data, and do those parameters both respect privacy and focus on security?

Collaborative governance: With so many players interwoven in a digital ecosystem, who has what power? Are all voices represented? And how will disagreements be resolved?

Digital equity: Will access be equal? Could the technology greaten the inequality gap? How can the technology contribute to economic security, particularly if it is automating jobs that were previously carried out by humans?

Disinformation: How could the technology — or the insight it may generate — be used by bad actors or to subvert the truth? Could this ultimately undermine trust in legitimate organizations and/or create social unrest?

Humane technology: In other words, ethics for machines and algorithms. What biases might there be in the data and/or algorithms being used? Does the technology magnify existing biases? What measures can be put in place should people feel unfairly impacted by the technology and AI? Can the issues be reversed engineered?

Big Brother: What would happen if the technology fell into the wrong hands? Is the technology immutable (i.e., the impacts could follow a person irreversibly in their life)? Who would it be absolutely critical to protect against accessing the technology?

Imagining how these things might happen with digital city solutions is a critical step towards preventing them from happening. Thinking through these various questions with respect to a solution being developed, will leave us well positioned to imagine the risks, and to put measures in place to counteract them, ensuring that all parts of the digital city ecosystem maintain technology for good, both now and into our not so distant digital futures.