Smart cities: We’ll share more with government and businesses, experts say

So our homes are getting smarter with every new connected device or appliance that we acquire, but what about our cities?

Well, according to market research firm Gartner, in just a couple of years smart city programs and open data initiatives are going to significantly influence the lives of half the people living in large urban areas, ReadWrite.com reports.

“As citizens increasingly use personal technology and social networks to organize their lives, governments and businesses are growing their investments in technology infrastructure and governance,” said Anthony Mullen, research director at Gartner, cited by ReadWrite.

In other words, we are going to share more information with local authorities and businesses, and in exchange we’ll get better services. And that’s how a city becomes smart, according to Bettina Tratz-Ryan, research vice president at Gartner.

As a result of people voluntarily sharing their data, Gartner predicts that 50 percent of those living in million-people cities will benefit from “smart city programs” by 2019.

It’s all linked to the growth of the Internet of Things, actually, according to the research firm. As the number of smart devices around us increases, so does the volume and diversity of the data that we share with authorities and businesses.

Trading privacy for “in the moment” value

This, of course, carries big privacy implications. It’s all a big transaction, and it involves our personal data. Gartner sees the positives, saying our cooperation (read data sharing) with government and businesses is going to bring us some benefits. At some point, people “will become more aware of the value of their ‘life data’ and will be willing to proactively exchange it for ‘in the moment’ value,” Gartner says.

This brings Big Brother to mind, but Anthony Mullen draws attention to the benefits: “This creates open platforms that enable citizens, communities and businesses to innovate and collaborate, and ultimately provide useful solutions that address civic needs.”

Smart city initiatives have already taken off in some places. Gartner gives the example of the Utah Department of Public Safety, which allows people to practice for their driver’s license via Amazon Echo, the internet-connected speaker and virtual personal assistant produced and sold by the online shopping giant. And Singapore works with Microsoft to develop chatbots around some of its public services.

Staying in control

It appears the more technology we have around us, the more information about ourselves we give away, sometimes without even realizing this happens. In this new hyperconnected world we need to be aware of the tradeoffs and of the threats we are exposing ourselves to. With smart devices being designed to collect information about our lives, security is more important than ever, so our private data doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.

Protecting people’s privacy in the smart city is a complex issue involving opt-out mechanisms and IoT security measures. Until we know more about how authorities plan to keep our data safe, we can protect our smart devices with a comprehensive security solution covering the entire household.