Technology changes cities, technology changes

Not only have cities around the world rushed to transition to remote working as a result of the pandemic, requiring significant technological change, but the speed at which generative artificial intelligence has emerged has taken many by surprise (including some of its creators). It is safe to say we have barely scratched the surface on the potential impact that AI can have on our everyday lives.

As we navigate this new, and increasingly complex world, it gives an even greater need for a compass. Data will be of paramount importance in the running of our future digital cities, but also to provide economic opportunity for its inhabitants. But as David Gan noted, some important questions will need to be addressed. Who owns the data, and who is responsible and liable? How are data and critical systems secured against known and unknown risks? What are the safeguards and how are management frameworks developed? And finally, how is privacy protected while empowering innovation?

Those are not small questions, nor ones that have simple or generic answers. And they do not even cover the entire spectrum of issues that need to be addressed. As we have discovered in our previous reports, context really is key. Citizens define their needs and cities cannot simply copy solutions from elsewhere around the world. To a degree, digital cities really are bespoke. And that requires a lot of extra thinking.

The right kind of thinking and processes will unlock so many possibilities and positive change for citizens. Traditionally, technology has been more invisible than visible in every-day city life. An enabler to better outcomes if you will. For example, a better planned transit network as Tim Wark and Jordan Maultby discussed, or even the promise of better and more transparent city infrastructure financing as Simon Booker and Albert Wong laid out, both delivered tthrough thebackground use of technology. Jeff Walter and Jinting Lee go one step further and describe the bleeding edge of digital city possibility — the cognitive city. A world in which the city knows you and your preferences, interacts directly with you, and works to make your life better. And one in which technology is far more obvious in a citizen’s day-to-day interactions.

While more complex technologies have the potential to deliver far more beneficial outcomes, the juxtaposition is that it also increases the risk for things to go wrong and open the door to a dystopian future. For example, multiple countries are already in discussions about placing national and international controls on AI development to avoid perceived catastrophes.

But this is where governance comes in. Perhaps to the everyday citizen, ‘governance’ sounds irrelevant to their daily lives. However, it is the compass and map required to navigate dynamic and ever-changing digital cities and avoid dystopia. In fact, a citizen should perhaps view it as offering ‘comfort’; that all potential hazards have been thought through and addressed in the background. Or if they haven’t, that there is a process in place to manage these and mitigate future risks.

As Tim Wark and Jordan Maultby noted, all this technological change is upping the ante on balancing innovation and safeguarding citizen rights — and governance is central to that difficult equation. There are many approaches and topics covered in this report, but as we have seen, any digital technology governance setup should at least consider the following key areas:

1. Stakeholder engagement and collaboration: − Actively involve citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders in planning, implementation, and evaluation through public forums, co-creation workshops, and citizen panels. − Establish dedicated change management teams to guide the transition and manage stakeholder engagement.

2. Transparency and accountability: − Ensure clear communication strategies to keep citizens informed and address concerns throughout the deployment process. − Implement mechanisms for transparency and accountability, such as community oversight boards and data privacy regulations.

3. Phased approach and piloting: − Adopt a phased approach with small-scale pilots to test technologies, gather feedback, and refine approaches before wider implementation. − Continuously evaluate pilots and adapt strategies based on learnings and emerging challenges.

4. Ethical considerations and responsible use: − Proactively address ethical concerns surrounding data privacy, algorithmic bias, and potential job displacement. − Develop and implement frameworks and guidelines for ethical use of technology in city environments.

5. Flexible and adaptive governance: − Establish flexible and adaptive governance frameworks that can evolve with changing technologies and urban needs, and which have carefully defined roles and responsibilities.
   − Utilize ongoing evaluation, feedback mechanisms, and the ability to adjust strategies based on new information and opportunities.

6. Emerging technology: − Develop approaches to handle emerging technology, which is not fully defined or mature.
   − Focus on specific areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data and scope (ownership) in all technologies — in an integrated fashion not in silos.

While the future may seem to already be here, especially as we are still being wowed by new generative AI tools, it is worth remembering that generative AI is mostly about creating new content or analyzing data, but with limited understanding and context. It can produce outputs that mimic human styles and patterns but cannot ‘think’ for itself.

While still mostly hypothetical, the next potential wave of AI, known as General AI, promises to give the true raw ability to understand and learn any intellectual task that a human can do. If this technology does become a reality, it will accelerate the pace of change, requiring cities to adapt faster than anytime we have seen before. And that is just one technology — imagine a future where General AI is just a foundation to a myriad of new solutions built on top of it.

So as the old adage goes, technology changes cities, technology changes. And it really is changing faster and faster. Let us sort out the governance now to ensure we are all in control of that change, and make sure that it is change for the better and for all.