London IoT in a Week Sprint

“How can boroughs use IoT-enabled smart street infrastructure for the benefit of all Londoners?”

Okay, I admit it’s not the snappiest of questions.

Yet it’s one of real importance to London. It will also form the basis of a week of activity that LOTI and the GLA's Smart London Team are organising for 2–6 March.

In this article I’d like to:

• Explain why we’re asking it
• Invite you to take part (register here — but please read this article first!)
• Ask for your thoughts on what specific questions we should ask (crowdsourcing a list here)

Why it matters

Across London, boroughs are looking at the potential benefits of installing internet of things (IoT) sensors in streets and other public spaces. Those sensors might collect data on things like congestion, air and noise pollution, parking space occupancy, the use of electric vehicle charging points and so on.

Deployed thoughtfully, such ‘smart street infrastructure’ has the potential to help boroughs and their communities better understand the key factors that affect people’s quality of life and respond positively.

Yet there are also risks. At best, of failing to realise the true potential of this technology and the data it creates. At worst, of producing some genuinely negative outcomes.

In the former category, I see risks on two fronts. First, the world is littered with examples of cities that have spent serious sums of money installing new urban tech in a quest to become a ‘smart city’ with little to show for it. This is public money. We want to spend it wisely.

Second, at LOTI we’re investing considerable energy in breaking down the barriers that hinder boroughs from collaborating with their existing data. Yet there’s a real risk that we sleepwalk into a future in which each London borough procures its own, closed IoT networks, collecting data according to inconsistent standards that can’t be shared, perpetuating those same barriers and creating 33 new data silos. That would be a massive missed opportunity, especially given that much of the data collected by smart street infrastructure relates to issues that require a pan-London response (air pollution, congestion etc). On this stuff, we really want to ensure we can get the whole-London picture by design.

As for negative outcomes, all boroughs recognise that the collection and use of some forms of data can be controversial. (It’s why we’ve been running sessions on how to innovate responsibly with data and AI). Most smart street infrastructure is likely to record only non-personal data. Yet when sensors are deployed in public spaces, with few meaningful ways to opt-out, might not some Londoners feel anxious, alienated or even angered if the details of what data is collected and why are not made transparent? This is not mere conjecture, as projects in cities like Toronto and Amsterdam have discovered the hard way.

IoT in a Week Sprint — What you need to know

All this has led us to believe that three core issues need to be tackled in London with some urgency. These will form the basis of our IoT in a Week Sprint 2–6 March:

1. Business Case & Effectiveness: How can boroughs make informed decisions about which (if any) IoT technologies can play a role in delivering their desired outcomes?
2. Data & Insights: Given that the data collected by smart street infrastructure often relates to issues that require a pan-London response, how can we ensure comparable data is available from across many boroughs to gain insights for the whole of London?
3. Ethics & Public Trust: How can we ensure that IoT data collection in public spaces is done for the benefit of citizens in a way that is transparent, ethical and engenders citizens’ trust and confidence?

If you’re interested in these issues, the main opportunity to get involved and contribute your expertise is to join us on Monday 2 March at Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre.

During a day-long conference, you’ll hear from London’s Chief Digital Officer, Theo Blackwell, borough CIOs and three expert panels about each of the topics above. The afternoon will then be dedicated to crowdsourcing and ranking a list of the biggest specific questions London boroughs need to answer. All participants will be invited to share what they know about those questions through group discussions, some high-octane post-it noting, and/or by volunteering to be called during the week as subject matter experts. This process should create a backlog of questions to answer under each of the three headings and provide lots of ideas on how to explore them.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (3–5 March), we’re seeking volunteers to form multi-disciplinary research teams who will start with the highest priority questions and aim to answer them. Little of this will be about starting from scratch. We know there’s an abundance of guidance, case studies and resources available. But much of it only gives a partial answer, and it needs curating, reviewing and adapting into something fit for London.

For our research teams we’re seeking:

• Colleagues from London boroughs, especially those who are working on, or have experience with designing, commissioning or deploying smart technologies, and/or have a specialism in public realm and highways issues.
• Academics, think-tankers and other researchers who have experience related to our three headings
• Other subject matter experts from industry, public and third sector organisations.

For all these roles, the ask is that you bring your experience, but also put your personal specialism and role to one side to think creatively as a team about the questions framed on the Monday.

If you’d like to volunteer for one or more full days, please sign up on Eventbrite. Research days are likely to run from 10am-3pm at City Hall (Tuesday-Wednesday) and at London Councils (Thursday).

On Friday 6 March, everyone is welcome to join us again for a public Show and Tell, at which members from the research groups will present their findings to London boroughs. The main event is expected to take place at Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre from 12pm-2pm.

Crowdsourcing the questions

There’s already been plenty of interest in this event from people all around the world. We warmly invite anyone to help us crowdsource a list of specific questions that we should pose under each of our three headings, or which speak to our main challenge: “How can boroughs use IoT-enabled smart street infrastructure for the benefit of all Londoners”.

Please add your suggestions to this Google Doc.

And if you have questions, feel free to comment below or ask me on Twitter.

Many thanks!