Back with the Smart Cities

The subject continues to be talked about and there are already more than 100 “smart cities” developing throughout the world ahead. And although in general it can be something positive, like everything in life it can also have its dark side.

We have to recognize that in all the cities of the world are being introduced various sensors and measurement systems to favor the lives of their citizens, so they are somehow getting a little smarter.

But when the expression “smart city” is applied to a city, it means that many new technologies are implemented (high-speed communications networks, sensors, cameras, applications for public services, etc …) and with all of them try to improve the energy efficiency, citizen communications, public services offered, etc …

In short, make the life of its citizens easier.

These cities generate a huge multitude of data on everything that happens in them, and of course also on their citizens. And then it appears the problem of people’s privacy.

Facial recognition systems have been installed in many cities, and the Chinese are at the forefront of this technology. In some of its cities, reckless pedestrians who cross the sidewalk are identified when they should not and receive an automatic warning of sanction.

In China there are the most guarded cities in the world, and their companies export their surveillance systems around the world.

As I say so many times, technology is neither good nor bad, it depends on how we use it.

I believe that a smart city is a good thing if it is done with due control and transparency, so that its citizens feel comfortable and safe.

These cities increase the efficiency of what happens in them and improve the competitiveness of the activities carried out in them. We would all be interested in living in such an environment, but keeping it safe.

According to some estimates, by the year 2025 there will be 75 billion interconnected devices in the world, and many of them without the most basic information security processes.

Hyper-connected cities without robust security systems can be relatively easily collapsed.

Smart cities yes, but safe and in which their inhabitants have freedom and privacy.