The connection between smart cities can be used as a tool against neoliberalism, bringing people together and reviving the spirit of democracy, writes Paul Budde.
In recent years, I have written various articles about smart cities and I have reported on several of them during my international smart city expedition 2018. For the next three years, COVID-19 has had a positive and negative effect on the development of smart cities.
On the positive side, awareness of the urgent need for digital infrastructure to work and study from home, telehealth, online shopping and so on has been driven home to both companies and governments. Even the most conservative politician can no longer deny its national significance. Cities have benefited from this growing importance as many smart urban projects that had been shelved were suddenly dusted off and money became available for implementation.
On the negative side, the equally important element of deep civic engagement became problematic, in part due to a sudden urgency to get things done and, on the other hand, blockages that hindered proper civic engagement.
Telecommunications is the key to smart city success
Cities must work with telecoms in the development of 5G if they want to maximize ‘smart’ potential.
I also pondered these issues in connection with the rise of populism, autocratic decision-making processes, mass nationalist sentiments and scapegoats.
Democracy – in its basic form – flourishes in smaller societies where it is much easier for individuals to engage in the common good. This level of individual political engagement became more institutionalized in Greek police (city states). We also saw a revival of democracy in the early city-states of Italy (such as Florence and Sienna) and the lowlands (Bruges, Ghent).
But democracy died when empires (such as the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church, and the Holy Roman Empire) or states such as France, England, and Spain centralized their authority.
Political involvement decreases when power shifts from “police” to “empire”. Those who are politically engaged or want to be politically engaged at the democratic level are left behind. It was during the downturn of the Greek police that Stoicism began to develop, those with a passion for political engagement at the democratic level in principle switched to their own internal resources.
The philosophical school of stoicism can best be characterized by a mantra of “we can not control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to action” rather than “hoping for better things to happen”.
We now have new tools that allow us to expand stoicism – based on the individual’s inner strength – to inner strength that encompasses the whole of society. Citizens in networks can build a very strong democratic platform for their communities; Again, action is a key word here.
Artificial intelligence to better understand our world
In a globalizing society with highly professionalized political systems, we once again see a process of political alienation. Neoliberalism saw a huge shift away from collective identity and the common good towards the individual and individual gain. COVID-19 has taught us that this is not sustainable.
With lessons learned from the past and with the help of modern technology, we can revive the spirit of the police in our cities. Digital tools can be used to enable citizens to regain democratic control over the common good of their communities.
Cities interested in working with their citizens to create better living environments – socially, economically and ecologically – can use these tools. It requires both leadership and civic engagement. If cities support the structure to make this happen, citizens can be involved individually and as groups to build the environments they strive for.
This is the core of my smart city work. Give advice and citizens the opportunity to take control of their own affairs by using everyone’s inner strength. Provide them with the strategic tools and avenues to begin this journey. While on the one hand smart cities built together (councils and citizens) will give much better results, it will at the same time create a strong bastion to protect democracy.
Addition
NBN Co also enters this space with a new service called “smart connectionThe product aims to enable smart homes, buildings and facilities by providing connectivity to home applications such as health and safety alarms, intercom, smart meters and building management systems using the NBN infrastructure.
I really applaud these initiatives from the company; however, it is important that those who will use the services monitor them and not NBN Co. I call it a state-based system. Individual services and individual data should always remain under the control of the individual and it is up to him or her to decide who gets access to that information.
I’m worried that after 20 years of lobbying for this, this is still not happening and the commercial social media is abusing this to their advantage and collecting gigantic profits along the way.
Paul Budde is an Independent Australia columnist and CEO of Paul Budde Consulting, an independent telecommunications research and consulting organization. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PaulBudde.
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Source: sn.dk