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San Francisco recently became the first city in the US to ban the use of facial recognition software by city agencies. (There's a second vote next week, but it is considered just a formality.) A similar ban is also making its way through the system in Boston.
I thought the following quote by Aaron Peskin in the New York Times was an interesting one, because it speaks to some of the growing tensions between tech, policy, and city building:
“I think part of San Francisco being the real and perceived headquarters for all things tech also comes with a responsibility for its local legislators,” Mr. Peskin said. “We have an outsize responsibility to regulate the excesses of technology precisely because they are headquartered here.”
I can appreciate both sides of this argument.
For those concerned about crime and safety, facial recognition promises more effective policing. That's why this technology is already used at many airports, including SFO. (Because it's under federal jurisdiction, it won't be impacted by this ban.)
At the same time, there are legitimate concerns related to the large-scale collection of personally identifiable data. And it is this same concern that is fueling the debates here in Toronto around what Sidewalk Labs is up to along the waterfront.
I am not an expert on this particular topic (or many topics for that matter). But if you're a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I believe in innovation and I believe in progress.
However, I also believe that it is important and healthy for us to be having these debates. Because what I do know is that I wouldn't want Toronto to become Shenzhen. I wouldn't want to jaywalk across the street and have facial recognition software automatically send a ticket to my phone and post my photo to a "wall of shame."
That doesn't sound like a very fun city.
Photo by Chris Leipelt on Unsplash
This morning I was at 55 St. Clair Avenue West for IBI Group’s annual general meeting. And at this meeting their CEO, Scott Stewart, officially launched a new accelerator called the Smart City Sandbox.
Here is a description of what that is taken from a press release that was also published this morning:
The Sandbox is a smart city-themed accelerator, focused on bringing innovative new products and systems to urban environments that improve the quality of life for residents. A technology hub that supports small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as entrepreneurs and start-ups, the Smart City Sandbox will operate out of a designated space at IBI Group’s Toronto headquarters, be open to global applications, and officially open doors with its first smart city-themed cohort in September 2018.
And here is a photo from this morning:
There’s a lot of buzz around the idea of a “smart city.” IBM is involved. Cisco is involved. And so are many others. But what exactly is a smart city?
In the Electric City talk below, Adam Greenfield provides his definition, while at the same time being critical of the ones we currently use today, such as this one: It’s the missing link – the connective tissue – between the real estate and technology sectors. (Personally, I find this definition really interesting.)
He also goes on to argue that the way we’re largely thinking about smart cities today is incorrect. We’re far too centralized and administrative in our thinking. Instead, we should be focused on leveraging the crowds of people in our cities that are now virtually all networked.
He then goes on to list 5 technological preconditions to any smart city:
Broadband connectivity
Low-cost smartphones or personal devices
Commitment to open municipal data
Cheap public interfaces
Cloud computing infrastructure
If you’re interested in this topic, I suggest you watch his talk. It’s only about 10 minutes long. Click here if you can’t see it below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9keDwTBmZ3o?rel=0]
Update: This post was revised to reflect the fact that Adam Greenfield is “sharply critical” of the real estate + technology definition of a smart city.
San Francisco recently became the first city in the US to ban the use of facial recognition software by city agencies. (There's a second vote next week, but it is considered just a formality.) A similar ban is also making its way through the system in Boston.
I thought the following quote by Aaron Peskin in the New York Times was an interesting one, because it speaks to some of the growing tensions between tech, policy, and city building:
“I think part of San Francisco being the real and perceived headquarters for all things tech also comes with a responsibility for its local legislators,” Mr. Peskin said. “We have an outsize responsibility to regulate the excesses of technology precisely because they are headquartered here.”
I can appreciate both sides of this argument.
For those concerned about crime and safety, facial recognition promises more effective policing. That's why this technology is already used at many airports, including SFO. (Because it's under federal jurisdiction, it won't be impacted by this ban.)
At the same time, there are legitimate concerns related to the large-scale collection of personally identifiable data. And it is this same concern that is fueling the debates here in Toronto around what Sidewalk Labs is up to along the waterfront.
I am not an expert on this particular topic (or many topics for that matter). But if you're a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I believe in innovation and I believe in progress.
However, I also believe that it is important and healthy for us to be having these debates. Because what I do know is that I wouldn't want Toronto to become Shenzhen. I wouldn't want to jaywalk across the street and have facial recognition software automatically send a ticket to my phone and post my photo to a "wall of shame."
That doesn't sound like a very fun city.
Photo by Chris Leipelt on Unsplash
This morning I was at 55 St. Clair Avenue West for IBI Group’s annual general meeting. And at this meeting their CEO, Scott Stewart, officially launched a new accelerator called the Smart City Sandbox.
Here is a description of what that is taken from a press release that was also published this morning:
The Sandbox is a smart city-themed accelerator, focused on bringing innovative new products and systems to urban environments that improve the quality of life for residents. A technology hub that supports small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as entrepreneurs and start-ups, the Smart City Sandbox will operate out of a designated space at IBI Group’s Toronto headquarters, be open to global applications, and officially open doors with its first smart city-themed cohort in September 2018.
And here is a photo from this morning:
There’s a lot of buzz around the idea of a “smart city.” IBM is involved. Cisco is involved. And so are many others. But what exactly is a smart city?
In the Electric City talk below, Adam Greenfield provides his definition, while at the same time being critical of the ones we currently use today, such as this one: It’s the missing link – the connective tissue – between the real estate and technology sectors. (Personally, I find this definition really interesting.)
He also goes on to argue that the way we’re largely thinking about smart cities today is incorrect. We’re far too centralized and administrative in our thinking. Instead, we should be focused on leveraging the crowds of people in our cities that are now virtually all networked.
He then goes on to list 5 technological preconditions to any smart city:
Broadband connectivity
Low-cost smartphones or personal devices
Commitment to open municipal data
Cheap public interfaces
Cloud computing infrastructure
If you’re interested in this topic, I suggest you watch his talk. It’s only about 10 minutes long. Click here if you can’t see it below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9keDwTBmZ3o?rel=0]
Update: This post was revised to reflect the fact that Adam Greenfield is “sharply critical” of the real estate + technology definition of a smart city.
Slate Asset Management is proud to be a founding partner of the Smart City Sandbox and we’re thrilled that it will live at Yonge + St. Clair in midtown Toronto.
Our role is to provide our domain expertise as asset managers and developers, and to offer participants in the program access to real-world building systems and data from our holdings in the area.
For more info, go here.
And if you were at (or listening to) the meeting this morning, I’m sure you noticed something that we talk a lot about on this blog. To thrive today, virtually every company now has to think and act like a technology company. IBI Group is doing precisely that.
Slate Asset Management is proud to be a founding partner of the Smart City Sandbox and we’re thrilled that it will live at Yonge + St. Clair in midtown Toronto.
Our role is to provide our domain expertise as asset managers and developers, and to offer participants in the program access to real-world building systems and data from our holdings in the area.
For more info, go here.
And if you were at (or listening to) the meeting this morning, I’m sure you noticed something that we talk a lot about on this blog. To thrive today, virtually every company now has to think and act like a technology company. IBI Group is doing precisely that.
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