Smart Cities, Inclusive Technology, and Public Service

Over two years ago when I began my fellowship with Benton, I recognized how our cities are changing at an incredible pace. The technology being deployed on our sidewalks and streetlights has the potential to improve mobility, sustainability, connectivity, and city services. Of course, technology can be divisive as well as progressive. Does the potential of the 21^st Century data-collecting, responsive, hyperconnected city benefit us all equally? Is it built with resident understanding, feedback, and consent? As my work on Toward Inclusive Urban Technology was nearing completion in late February, I envisioned that the report would act as a guide for any local worker—inside or outside of government—who is helping to plan or implement technological change in their community. The people that inspire me most have always been those peer workers across the country who can speak both tech and civic engagement; they grapple with planning for and implementing new technology in their communities while championing inclusiveness and equity. Many local technology and data projects can and should happen at the speed of consensus. Toward Inclusive Urban Technology catalogs cases of communities doing just that.

[Mayor Pete Buttigieg named Denise Linn Riedl the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of South Bend (IN) at the end of January 2019. Previously, Denise was in charge of Ecosystem Development at Chicago’s City Tech Collaborative.]