Humans are moving to cities at an unprecedented rate. Today 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas with that number expected to grow to 68% by 2050. The trend of urbanization is dramatic enough, but when it is layered with the ubiquitous trend towards technological integration the question that surfaces is, ‘What kind of cities will people be living in by 2050?’ How will they reflect the cyber-physical world taking shape around us, and how will we ensure that they remain safe places to live? How will smart cities protect privacy of its citizens?
The concept of the...
In a world where the population is increasing and resources are finite, we need to find smarter ways of living together. Smart technologies hold the key to making this happen but we need to proceed with caution and build a layer of respectful trust and privacy in our smart places.
It is inevitable and important that human society moves towards a smarter way of living. We must use intelligent ways to improve our infrastructure and its dependencies. To do this we have to share our personal information, from direct to indirect identifiers. At some point, in a not too distant future, it is likely our every moment, both awake and asleep, will be recorded. Does this matter? Do we really care?
How important privacy is for building smart cities and embracing the IoT
In the 60s cartoon The Jetsons, the family lived in a futuristic city with flying cars, a robotic housekeeper, and even a watch that let you do video calling. The Jetsons city of the future is with us in the here and now as we have the technology to build smart cities, and in doing so, we can create amazing places to live and work.
This idea of making our cities smart is engaging clever minds all over the world and we are witnessing the emergence of smart places...