Smart Cities, Data, Civic Tech, and the IoT

Data for Good.markdown

• Don't worry... I'll shrink it down. Got too excited about just researching, so I'll focus it more.

Purpose and Background

• I started thinking about this talk as a way for me to look into how technology is connected to other things I'm passionate about in my life. I was curious about places that are using data for the good of communities and the public, and I started to think about how it can guide the kind of work I hope to do eventually.
• I'll focus on some interesting points about smart cities and civic tech.

Look into some definitions:

Smart Cities:

• From NJIT: "A smart city is an urban center that harnesses technologies, such as IT, to improve the quality of life of residents, manage available resources such as roads and water in economically sustainable manner, and reduce environmental pollution": Share this infographic- http://graduatedegrees.online.njit.edu/mscs-resources/mscs-infographics/big-data-and-the-iot-the-future-of-the-smart-city/

• Connection to the internet of things

• White House Initiative: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/14/fact-sheet-administration-announces-new-smart-cities-initiative-help

Civic Tech

• Knight Foundation Slides: see clipped slides

• “Empower citizens or help make government more accessible, efficient and effective.”: https://medium.com/@grodeska/civictech-primer-what-is-civic-tech-7ea788e766d3

• Code for America's four main areas

• Four parts of civic power graphic: http://techpresident.com/news/25261/civic-tech-and-engagement-search-common-language

• “Any tool or process that people as individuals or groups may use to affect the public arena.”: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/civic-tech-in-2015-6-9-billion-to-connect-citizens-to-services-and-to-one-another/

• "Civic technology “cannot be neutral,” and only technology that is “used for public good and betters the lives of the many, not just the few” can be considered civic."-Micah Sifry of Personal Democracy Media quoted in the Medium article

What are some cool examples of things happening now?

• https://handup.org/
• http://en.seeclickfix.com/
• http://handbook.neighborland.com/about/
• Cycletracks
• Range: resources for kids in need
• Youth radio: https://www.newschallenge.org/challenge/data/evaluation/making-data-matter-an-open-source-data-journalism-toolkit-for-youth

What are some concerns or drawbacks?

• Security of data: http://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2015/07/30/the-internet-of-things-is-about-data-not-things/

• "The blurred lines between consumer tech, government tech, and civic tech can be confusing at best and, at worst, cynically exploited by vendors looking to piggyback upon the latest tech trends and politicians interested in rebranding existing e-government efforts as open government or civic engagement. It doesn't mean there isn't crossover or that such systems aren't critically important to improve.": http://www.techrepublic.com/article/civic-tech-in-2015-6-9-billion-to-connect-citizens-to-services-and-to-one-another/

• “[W]hat role will the citizen play? That of unpaid data-clerk, voluntarily contributing information to an urban database that is monetized by private companies? Is the city-dweller best visualized as a smoothly moving pixel, travelling to work, shops and home again, on a colorful 3D graphic display? Or is the citizen rightfully an unpredictable source of obstreperous demands and assertions of rights?”- British journalist Steven Poole quoted in: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/dec/17/truth-smart-city-destroy-democracy-urban-thinkers-buzzphrase

Takeaways... API's to check out, Local Meetups or opportunities?

http://sunlightfoundation.com/tools/ Code for Denver, Code for Colorado