New information and communications technologies (ICTs) — including the internet of things (IoT) and advanced data analytics using artificial intelligence — have become essential tools for many city governments. Smart-city innovations are helping to boost efficiencies, improve infrastructure and confront urgent challenges — such as rapid population growth, social inequality and climate change.
Yet, along with their well-documented benefits, new technologies are ushering in new risks and unintended consequences. Increasingly, cybersecurity, privacy rights and the gap between those who have access to new technologies and those who don’t — aka the digital divide — are receiving greater scrutiny. Getting the risk-reward balance right is key for citizens’ wellbeing.