Participatory Design For Building Smart Cities
By: Priya Sharma
Tags: Design Thinking, Smart Cities, IoT, Data, Participatory Design

Some cities around the world (e.g. Bristol), are taking this technology very seriously and trying to make full use of it. Everyday objects are equipped with micro-controllers, transceivers for digital communication, and suitable protocol stacks make them able to communicate with one another and with the users. However, some of it is yet at an experimental level, but the concept of achieving smart cities using IoT is something, which is constantly being explored. This not only includes creating a canopy of vast network over the cities but also real time analysis of the data. IoT will make Internet even more immersive. It will also allow access to multiple devices (household and otherwise) through a number of other devices generating enormous amount of data.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

- Arthur.C Clarke

In a lot of countries government encourages and promotes the usage of ICTs for various purposes. If this technology is implemented and put to proper use, it will not only make problem finding and decision making easy for the councils, but will also provide a convenient and hassle free life to the citizens.

If technologies are not deployed in a really respectful manner and in a sustainable way, they could end up being detrimental.

There are many benefits of IoT if implemented and used properly but many issues still need to be taken care of. Data Security and Data Privacy being the major problems. “Data is the new Oil.” We live in a community that has become highly data oriented. Companies pay huge amounts to government to reduce data security. When you connect everything to internet, getting an access to your information becomes very easy. For example, a hacker who is also a thief or a criminal, somehow hacks into one of the devices, xe can steal from you or even commit a crime using your identity. Identity Theft is one more example of how this technology has it’s repercussions. This increases the likeliness to identity theft. Data trafficking has also become one of the biggest revenue generating crime. Can we achieve Utopia using this technology or is it just a weapon of destruction? This technology is being adopted all over the world but are we ready for it yet in terms of infrastructure to be able to implement and use this technology?

Image Courtesy: EV (https://unsplash.com/photos/gpjvRZyavZc)

Major obstacle faced in the acceptance of these technologies to reach the goal of what is known as “Smart City”, is the allocation of the decision making power to the citizens. Here, Participatory Design can play a major role by including them in the processes before execution. Participatory design is an approach to design strategy that brings customers into the heart of the design process. To attain the so called “smart-city” concept, there are multiple projects that go hand in hand to make better use of public resources and enhance the quality of services offered. Co-creation along with the citizens through “design games” or “exercises” can help achieve it. Seeing and observing users in their everyday practices as a part of the project can help get a sense/idea about how much and what kind of power can be given to them. Not just this, it will also allow designers to understand how comfortable users are and what challenges they face, as opposed to when a service or a product is introduced and they struggle to get adjusted/used to it. This will also be helpful in a way that designers would have a better idea about what kind of products (things) will fit in the already existing environment.

Although dealing with such large amount of data and information is not easy. Not all the people react to the technology in the same way. Meta Design processes can help overcome this challenge. IoT for smart cities cannot work in the same way for different cities. Once the technology has been developed, the infrastructure that is needed to implement can be kept flexible by analyzing the patterns in that specific place. Flexibility can be useful to configure devices within the given space. One of the main characteristic of IoT infrastructure is how various technologies are integrated within the existing communication infrastructure. Keeping this flexible can also support the evolution of IoT. Standards and paradigms can be set in terms of data accessibility keeping existing infrastructure and ecology of devices in mind.

Though these methods are always helpful in making something a success, I wonder not only about the future of IoT as a part of our lives, but also about the participatory design methods and what kind of impact can it create? One more thing to ponder upon is, if these methods are not being used already, then how such big social network of people and things being created.

References:

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/30213/real-time-big-data-analytics

https://www.sisense.com/glossary/real-time-analytics/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AlcRoqS65E

https://www.ted.com/talks/rose_barker_internet_of_things_are_smart_devices_helping_or_harming

https://www.ted.com/watch/ted-institute/ted-ibm/internet-of-things-transforming-the-routine

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_munro_internet_of_things_security.

https://www.ted.com/talks/wei_xiang_internet_of_things_is_now_and_the_future

https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_price_how_do_we_build_trust_into_the_internet_of_things_iot https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6740844

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#48a24bd61d09

https://www.iotforall.com/what-is-iot-simple-explanation/