London Outlines Vision, Rules for Smart Cities

The city of London has outlined its vision for the future of smart cities through a series of charters. They outline innovation ideals and principles while also setting up boundaries to ensure all citizens remain protected.

The Emerging Technology Charter outlines the way London envisions innovation while minimizing risk. Emerging technologies like sensors can help the city make traffic safer, for example, but their use will require trust from the people.

London will also create a Data Protection Impact Assessment to ensure that high-risk data use remains transparent to citizens. It provides guidelines for companies and entities to explain data use, develop transparent data models, and ensure future impact remains clear.

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A charter from business groups also on the table

The business group London First also launched a data charter, providing guiding principles for data usage. It’s designed to help the private sector design data plans that offer the best of new technology for everyone while protecting privacy and security.

It also outlines ways companies can open up about their data, as fostering a culture of sharing provides collaborative approaches to solving current challenges. It ensures that the city can respond to these challenges quickly and efficiently.

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Pilot smart cities programs on the way

The new charters will help guide pilot smart city initiatives, such as the use of data to place electric vehicle chargers in optimum locations. The city also plans future initiatives such as creating a cross-sector board of governance and greater data-sharing resources, such as templates and data-sharing agreements.