More than a thousand people attended a three day conference on Smart cities and Smart Countries (S3C), last week, in Paris. This important event intended to get together public and private actors involved in smart technologies.
A need for a citizen centric approach
Anne-Marie CHAVANON "To be successful, a smart city must be citizen centric" This is one of the very first declarations supported by Anne-Marie Chavanon, Chair of the Committee on Democracy, at the S3C Conference where she was asked to see smart cities in the light of democracy and participation.
The real issue, today, in our countries, she said, is the return of confidence brought by citizens to politicians. Many stakeholders and many applications define users as "first sensor" : Is therefore the user, to be a subject or a connected object ? What guarantee do we offer to respect private life ? How far to go in protecting the personal data? What about, for instance, the profiling of users in order to anticipate their behaviour? She asked.
According to her, smart technologies are undoubtedly prominent and revolutionary simplification tools of daily life, offering new interaction possibilities with the governants, particularly mayors and municipal services. Yet, she pointed out three prerequisites:
The real issue, today, in our countries, she said, is the return of confidence brought by citizens to politicians. Many stakeholders and many applications define users as "first sensor" : Is therefore the user, to be a subject or a connected object ? What guarantee do we offer to respect private life ? How far to go in protecting the personal data? What about, for instance, the profiling of users in order to anticipate their behaviour? She asked.
According to her, smart technologies are undoubtedly prominent and revolutionary simplification tools of daily life, offering new interaction possibilities with the governants, particularly mayors and municipal services. Yet, she pointed out three prerequisites:
- a need for transparency about tools and content
- a deep concern for inclusiveness of those who do not want or cannot use digital tools, due to language, disability or age reasons.
- the need of a charter of ethics to help countries where freedom and Human rights can be at stake
We are approaching the COP 21, she concluded : undoubtedly smart technologies will usefully contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases yet they can only do so with the participation of citizens, not as "sensors" but as "actors". She stressed that in order to be sustainable "a smart governance requires first and foremost a shared governance"
The Governants involved in the Conference adopted a declaration quite relevant in the light of the Council of Europe high principles
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