scholarly journals How Canadian Municipalities aren(n't) engaging the public in smart city initiatives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Toth
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Public

The smart city concept is innovation in urbanism. Innovation is transformative, demanding the involvement of the public based on a belief that those who will be impacted by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. But smart city initiatives raise complex technical, privacy, economic, and intellectual property issues unlike those the public has been presented with before. This paper explores how Canadian municipalities are approaching this challenge by coding and analyzing applications to Infrastructure Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge (SCC). The analysis reveals, among other findings, that municipalities engaged citizens directly as well as their representatives, leveraged previously-conducted engagement and conducted new engagement, and employed a range of engagement activities online and offline. Recommendations to Infrastructure Canada and municipal planners highlight the need for more public input on the technology solutions proposed, increased attention to the digital divide during engagement, and citizen involvement in all stages of open innovation. Key words: Smart Cities Challenge, public engagement, open innovation

scholarly journals How Canadian Municipalities aren(n't) engaging the public in smart city initiatives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Toth
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Public

The smart city concept is innovation in urbanism. Innovation is transformative, demanding the involvement of the public based on a belief that those who will be impacted by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. But smart city initiatives raise complex technical, privacy, economic, and intellectual property issues unlike those the public has been presented with before. This paper explores how Canadian municipalities are approaching this challenge by coding and analyzing applications to Infrastructure Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge (SCC). The analysis reveals, among other findings, that municipalities engaged citizens directly as well as their representatives, leveraged previously-conducted engagement and conducted new engagement, and employed a range of engagement activities online and offline. Recommendations to Infrastructure Canada and municipal planners highlight the need for more public input on the technology solutions proposed, increased attention to the digital divide during engagement, and citizen involvement in all stages of open innovation. Key words: Smart Cities Challenge, public engagement, open innovation

Smart Cities Governance

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 724-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Castelnovo ◽  
Gianluca Misuraca ◽  
Alberto Savoldelli
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Public Value ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Decision Making ◽  
Evaluation Approaches

Most of the definitions of a “smart city” make a direct or indirect reference to improving performance as one of the main objectives of initiatives to make cities “smarter”. Several evaluation approaches and models have been put forward in literature and practice to measure smart cities. However, they are often normative or limited to certain aspects of cities’ “smartness”, and a more comprehensive and holistic approach seems to be lacking. Thus, building on a review of the literature and practice in the field, this paper aims to discuss the importance of adopting a holistic approach to the assessment of smart city governance and policy decision making. It also proposes a performance assessment framework that overcomes the limitations of existing approaches and contributes to filling the current gap in the knowledge base in this domain. One of the innovative elements of the proposed framework is its holistic approach to policy evaluation. It is designed to address a smart city’s specificities and can benefit from the active participation of citizens in assessing the public value of policy decisions and their sustainability over time. We focus our attention on the performance measurement of codesign and coproduction by stakeholders and social innovation processes related to public value generation. More specifically, we are interested in the assessment of both the citizen centricity of smart city decision making and the processes by which public decisions are implemented, monitored, and evaluated as regards their capability to develop truly “blended” value services—that is, simultaneously socially inclusive, environmentally friendly, and economically sustainable.

scholarly journals Investigating the role of public participation in wind energy project development in Ontario

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anahita Asadolahniajami
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Knowledge Broker ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Project Development ◽  
The Public

the past several decades, the scope of decision-making in the public domain has changed from a focus on unilateral regulatory verdicts to a more comprehensive process that engages all stakeholders. Consequently, there has been a distinct increase in public participation in the environmental decision-making process. While the potential benefits of public engagement are substantial in terms of identifying synergies between public and industry stakeholders that encourage project development, this participation does not come without its challenges. To meet global energy demands and fulfill ambitious targets for greenhouse gas reduction, renewable energy has received increased attention as a feasible alternative to conventional sources of energy. However, current literature on renewable energy, particularly on wind power, highlights potential social barriers to renewable energy investment. This study investigates the role of public participation by reviewing two case studies of the Ontario wind power generation market to identify the facilitators and constrainers that affected public input into wind project development in Ontario and recommends a participatory framework in the hope of improving public engagement in the wind project development decision-making process. The recommended framework in this research requires all stakeholders to reconsider their current roles in the decision-making process. The public should engage in project planning and monitor the decision-making processes to ensure that their concerns have been addressed. Developers should address public concerns through a consensus building process initiated early in their planning process. Federal and provincial governments have to reclaim their role of ongoing leadership and provide better criteria for implementation and evaluation of the public participation processes. Finally, the process requires a third party who is not only an intermediary, but also plays the role of a knowledge-broker to connect with stakeholders, share and exchange knowledge, and work on overcoming barriers. The knowledge-broker helps to fulfill the main requirement of the collaborative decision-making, which is effective communication.

Deconstructing Smart Cities

Big Data ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 1957-1969
Author(s):  
Michael Batty
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Smart City ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
The Public ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
Urban Problems ◽  
The City

This chapter defines the smart city in terms of the process whereby computers and computation are being embedded into the very fabric of the city itself. In short, the smart city is the automated city where the goal is to improve the efficiency of how the city functions. These new technologies tend to improve the performance of cities in the short term with respect to how cities function over minutes, hours or days rather than over years or decades. After establishing definitions and context, the author then explores questions of big data. One important challenge is to synthesize or integrate different data about the city's functioning and this provides an enormous challenge which presents many obstacles to producing coherent solutions to diverse urban problems. The chapter augments this argument with ideas about how the emergence of widespread computation provides a new interface to the public realm through which citizens might participate in rather fuller and richer ways than hitherto, through interactions in various kinds of decision-making about the future city. The author concludes with some speculations as to how the emerging science of smart cities fits into the wider science of cities.

Deconstructing Smart Cities

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Batty
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Smart City ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
The Public ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
Urban Problems ◽  
The City

This chapter defines the smart city in terms of the process whereby computers and computation are being embedded into the very fabric of the city itself. In short, the smart city is the automated city where the goal is to improve the efficiency of how the city functions. These new technologies tend to improve the performance of cities in the short term with respect to how cities function over minutes, hours or days rather than over years or decades. After establishing definitions and context, the author then explores questions of big data. One important challenge is to synthesize or integrate different data about the city's functioning and this provides an enormous challenge which presents many obstacles to producing coherent solutions to diverse urban problems. The chapter augments this argument with ideas about how the emergence of widespread computation provides a new interface to the public realm through which citizens might participate in rather fuller and richer ways than hitherto, through interactions in various kinds of decision-making about the future city. The author concludes with some speculations as to how the emerging science of smart cities fits into the wider science of cities.

Community views and perspectives on public engagement in health technology assessment decision making

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Wortley ◽  
Allison Tong ◽  
Kirsten Howard
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Public

Objectives The aim of the present study was to describe community views and perspectives on public engagement processes in Australian health technology assessment (HTA) decision making. Methods Six focus groups were held in Sydney (NSW, Australia) as part of a broad program of work on public engagement and HTA. Eligible participants were aged ≥18 years and spoke English. Participants were asked about their views and perspectives of public engagement in the HTA decision-making process, with responses analysed using a public participation framework. Results Fifty-eight participants aged 19–71 years attended the focus groups. Responses from the public indicated that they wanted public engagement in HTA to include a diversity of individuals, be independent and transparent, involve individuals early in the process and ensure that public input is meaningful and useful to the process. This was consistent with the public participation framework. Perceived shortcomings of the current public engagement process were also identified, namely the lack of awareness of the HTA system in the general population and the need to acknowledge the role different groups of stakeholders or ‘publics’ can have in the process. Conclusions The public do see a role for themselves in the HTA decision-making process. This is distinct to the involvement of patients and carers. It is important that any future public engagement strategy in this field distinguishes between stakeholder groups and outline approaches that will involve members of the public in the decision-making process, especially if public expectations of involvement in healthcare decision-making continue to increase. What is known about this topic? The views and perspectives of patients and consumers are important in the HTA decision-making process. There is a move to involve the broader community, particularly as decisions become increasingly complex and resources more scarce. What does this paper add? It not been known to what extent, or at what points, the community would like to be engaged with the HTA decision-making process. The present study adds to the evidence base on this topic by identifying features of engagement that may be important in determining the extent of wider public involvement. It is clear that the community expects the system to be transparent, for patients to be involved early in specific processes and the wider community to be able to contribute to the broader vision of the healthcare system. What are the implications for practitioners? A formalised strategy is needed to include the public voice into health technology decisions. With the current level of reform in the healthcare sector and the focus on creating a sustainable healthcare system, there is a real opportunity to implement an approach that not only informs patients and the community of the challenges, but includes and incorporates their views into these decisions. This will assist in developing and adapting policy that is relevant and meets the needs of the population.

scholarly journals Investigating the role of public participation in wind energy project development in Ontario

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anahita Asadolahniajami
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Knowledge Broker ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Project Development ◽  
The Public

the past several decades, the scope of decision-making in the public domain has changed from a focus on unilateral regulatory verdicts to a more comprehensive process that engages all stakeholders. Consequently, there has been a distinct increase in public participation in the environmental decision-making process. While the potential benefits of public engagement are substantial in terms of identifying synergies between public and industry stakeholders that encourage project development, this participation does not come without its challenges. To meet global energy demands and fulfill ambitious targets for greenhouse gas reduction, renewable energy has received increased attention as a feasible alternative to conventional sources of energy. However, current literature on renewable energy, particularly on wind power, highlights potential social barriers to renewable energy investment. This study investigates the role of public participation by reviewing two case studies of the Ontario wind power generation market to identify the facilitators and constrainers that affected public input into wind project development in Ontario and recommends a participatory framework in the hope of improving public engagement in the wind project development decision-making process. The recommended framework in this research requires all stakeholders to reconsider their current roles in the decision-making process. The public should engage in project planning and monitor the decision-making processes to ensure that their concerns have been addressed. Developers should address public concerns through a consensus building process initiated early in their planning process. Federal and provincial governments have to reclaim their role of ongoing leadership and provide better criteria for implementation and evaluation of the public participation processes. Finally, the process requires a third party who is not only an intermediary, but also plays the role of a knowledge-broker to connect with stakeholders, share and exchange knowledge, and work on overcoming barriers. The knowledge-broker helps to fulfill the main requirement of the collaborative decision-making, which is effective communication.

scholarly journals Decision Making in Committees: Transparency, Reputation, and Voting Rules

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilat Levy
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Career Concerns ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Voting Rules ◽  
The Public ◽  
Voting Rule ◽  
The Right

In this paper I analyze the effect of transparency on decision making in committees. I focus on committees whose members are motivated by career concerns. The main result is that when the decision-making process is secretive (when individual votes are not revealed to the public), committee members comply with preexisting biases. For example, if the voting rule demands a supermajority to accept a reform, individuals vote more often against reforms. Transparent committees are therefore more likely to accept reforms. I also find that coupled with the right voting rule, a secretive procedure may induce better decisions than a transparent one. (JEL D71, D72)

scholarly journals Canadian smart cities: a case for the circular economy in the age of "smart" innovation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vickey Simovic
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Technology Innovation ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Digital Innovation ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
A Priority ◽  
Further Development

The Canadian Smart Cities Challenge enabled municipalities across the country to reflect on how smart city technology can be used to solve their unique community challenges, embrace the possibility of impactful projects, create collaborations, and create a suite of digital tools. This paper analyses whether governments can be catalysts in adopting circular economy thinking in the age of digital innovation. In reviewing the SCC applications, five proposal submissions were analysed in depth against a circular economy framework. Recommendations for further development in smart city thinking centre around future Smart Cities Challenges, and building circular assumptions into the challenge questions, whereby ensuring circular principles are a priority for municipalities as they continue to grow and adapt to smart city technological advances. Key words: Smart Cities Challenge, circular economy, smart city technology, innovation, sustainable,​ ​reuse, sharing, remanufacturing and repurposing

scholarly journals Wind Power Deployment: The Role of Public Participation in the Decision-Making Process in Ontario, Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anahita A. Jami ◽  
Philip R. Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Knowledge Broker ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Energy Investment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Opposition

A wider use of renewable energy is emerging as a viable solution to meet the increasing demand for global energy while contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, current literature on renewable energy, particularly on wind power, highlights the social barriers and public opposition to renewable energy investment. One solution to overcome the public opposition, which is recommended by scholars, is to deploy a collaborative approach. Relatively little research has specifically focused on the role of effective communication and the use of a knowledge-broker in collaborative decision-making. This study attempts to fill this gap through the proposition of a participatory framework that highlights the role of the knowledge-broker in a wind project decision-making process. In this paper, five illustrative wind projects in Ontario are used to highlight the current situation with public participation and to address how the proposed framework could have improved the process. Based on the recommended collaborative framework, perception must shift from the dominant view of the public as “a risk to be managed” towards “a resource that can be tapped”. The developers need to improve sharing what they know and foster co-learning around questions and concerns.

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