Filter bubbles, datafication of society, lack of access to policy making: digitalised ‘smart’ cities come with many threats. Therefore, think tank Post-X Society and the Centre for BOLD Cities teamed up with other experts to figure out which questions are essential to ask for any policymaker.
About the workshop
The workshop took place last April in Utrecht during a work conference of the Dutch police force. It focused on the impact of virtualisation of the public domain on safety, autonomy and democracy. The workshop was lead by Jiska Engelbert (academic director for the Centre of BOLD Cities) and Pieter van Boheemen (director of Post-X Society). They encouraged a diverse range of experts from the field to critically re-evaluate the use of digital tools in the public domain. The result is a practical list of ‘smart’ questions each policymaker should ask themselves when facing new developments.
Time for action
As demonstrated in the report ‘how increasing virtualisation and dependency shape our behaviour and thoughts’, published by Post-X Society at the conference, the physical public domain becomes progressively infiltrated with digital technology. Virtualisation of our living environment entails not only technical aspects, much more it requires strong political awareness.
Both citizens and administrators should be aware of the commercial objectives behind technological innovations that threaten democratic values. In reality, humans are guided by technology without being aware of this development. This affects both daily life interactions as well as political decision-making processes.
Values, threats and safeguards
During the workshop, participants reverse this order of operation. Instead of making decisions guided by technological developments, participants discuss which shared values can function as a guideline when deciding what technologies should be implemented and how. Values such as autonomy, democracy, and transparency are emphasised in this debate.
Two threats
In addition, the participants identify threats to society that will amplify when our approach to virtualisation and datafication of the public domain does not change.
The first threat is the increasing datafication of society, which causes citizens to become more separated as they enter their own bubble of a personalised algorithm. If this development is not tackled, citizens will struggle progressively to connect when meeting in the physical public domain
The second threat is the lack of access citizens have to the political decision-making process about technology. This creates a situation where policy inadequately caters for the needs of residents. Therefore, the participants advocate for safeguarding the transparency of the technology and algorithms behind the services that are offered to citizens. New structures should be implemented that allow citizens to regain autonomy over how they interact with digital tools.
For example, citizens should have greater access to track what personal data the government possesses. In addition, citizens should retain the autonomy to interact with governments offline when desired, instead of being directed towards online communication for bureaucratic procedures.
This holds three benefits. It serves citizens who principally desire to withdraw from digitalisation, it caters towards the inclusion of digitally illiterate citizens, and it strengthens trust between citizens and governments through physical interactions
Only by critically analysing the pitfalls and weaknesses of technology in our direct environment can contestability be achieved.
A BOLD approach
In line with the position of the participants, the Centre for BOLD Cities advocates for contestability. This means that in each phase of technology (from development, testing, to implementation), all stakeholders, including citizens, should have the opportunity to contest policy designs that do not serve public needs.
Jiska Engelbert advises the participants to shrink the scale in which they are discussing these values, threats and safeguards. It is tempting to engage in broad ideological debates about the course of digitalisation.
But to achieve actual improvements, it is more productive to operate on a smaller scale: who do I depend on in my city to initiate political change, what companies profit from virtualisation of the public domain, and what do citizens need in their day-to-day life to become actively engaged in the design and control of these technological implementations? Only by critically analysing the pitfalls and weaknesses of technology in our direct environment can contestability be achieved.
Smart questions
Finally, participants pair up to create the definitive list of smart questions each policymaker should ask when designing a smart city. All teams try to incorporate the issue of contestability. The final list consists of 3 larger topics: civil autonomy, the balance between private and public, and societal polarisation.
Civil autonomy
- How do we ensure citizens retain autonomy in their choices to interact with governments digitally or physically?
- How do we ensure that decisions about digital tools in the smart city remain contestable for citizens?
How do we foster a climate in which public administrators are encouraged to exercise critical analysis and control over technological implementations in the smart cities?
The balance between private and public
- How do we recognise increasing privatisation of the public domain?
- How should municipalities protect citizens from digital infiltration by private companies and thus ensure consumer sovereignty?
- How do we re-ignite the political debate on what technological service (currently often offered by private companies) should be considered as a public good?
- What modes of financing are there for the public domain in a climate of increasing privatisation?
How can municipalities actively engage with hybrid spaces, those places in which the public and private sectors meet?
Societal polarisation
- How should public administration embrace technological tools and innovations to counter the process of digital polarisation?
- How do we implement safeguards for collective action and communal experience by developing a public layer in the technological stack?
