[Urbanstudy] Smart cities need open data

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.ukauthority.com/news/5580/smart-cities-need-open-data






Smart cities need open dataInterview: Ben Cave of the Open Data Institute
argues that openness has to be the core principle in the evolution of urban
services

Ben Cave is not a fan of intricate planning for smart cities; he believes
that they need a chance to evolve, and that making public data available
for re-use has to be one of the principles of the evolution.

[image: Ben_Cave]A common perception of the smart city is that using all
those digital technologies to make everything run more smoothly demands
detailed plans to ensure all the pieces fit together. But Cave, who is
taking a lead on the issue for the Open Data Institute (ODI), says the
plans can easily be undone by people behaving in ways that were not
expected.

“One of the challenges with smart cities over the past decade has been the
misconception that you can plan a smart city in advance,” he says.

“They are immensely large, complicated networks of interactions between
different things. When our city planners believe they have advance
knowledge of how things will work, that’s when we see a breakdown with
services not working properly with one another. People have imagined they
would be used one way but it turns out they are used in a completely
different way.
Adaptability

“What an open city with open data enables is a faster response to the
unpredictable nature of our cities. A really smart, open city is one that
uses all these technologies in an adaptable way.

“It doesn’t try to prescribe a certain plan. It says that whatever happens
we can build new solutions and ways of interacting that really complement
the way that people want to experience urban living.”

The ODI is exploring the link between smart cities and open data in a one
day course next month. It wants to share some of its own understandings,
but also to learn from others and clarify its policy position. Cave, who is
running the course, says the key idea is that “any smart city is an open
city”.

The underlying idea is that cities make their public data available for
businesses or community developers to re-use it in providing apps to
support the public in using services, and more sophisticated solutions to
align services at city-wide level.

Open data's big advantage is that it can reflect the unpredictable nature
of cities, opening the door for people to come up with a range of solutions
to problems, the best of which will be widely used. Cave says the evolution
of a smart city could be relatively fast.
Interoperability issue

But it also prompts thoughts about the dangers of a free-for-all, and
whether people will create a lot of parts that don’t fit together. Cave
acknowledges this, but is optimistic that an interoperability between the
new services can emerge.

“If you have the data, you enable everyone’s solutions, whether used by one
person or a million, to work with each other,” he says. “That data provides
a common denominator, a base layer for the interoperability of services.

“It’s not a bad thing for different people to design different services. A
truly smart city is one that takes the best services on offer. So you will
have some services not being used, but if you’re open and accepting of new
ideas you can accept that the best items on offer will almost certainly be
the ones taken up.”

He cites a couple of examples of apps that have been widely taken up while
competitors have fallen by the wayside: Uber and Halo for taxis, and City
Mapper in providing different options for public transport, cycling or
walking.

It amounts to unleashing the ideas among individuals and the private and
third sectors to make cities run more smoothly, but Cave says there is also
a need for “network thinking” in ensuring that the various strands come
together.
Resolving tension

Is there a tension between this and the free approach in using open data?
He suggests it is a question of degree – that network thinking does not
amount to highly predictive planning but pulling the best solutions
together – and says a city needs a dialogue to strike the right balance.
This can allow people and businesses to develop solutions while city
authorities take forward the best ones.

“Being an open city doesn’t mean there will be no more government; it means
the government’s role will be more responsive and agile and less of an
advanced planner,” he says.

As a route to achieving this, he points to three steps a city authority
needs to take.

One is to make sure it has a robust data infrastructure that can make the
open data accessible to anyone. He says that nothing can happen without
this and it is key enabler of the creativity.

Two is not to plan heavily in advance with major projects. He has an eye on
the construction of Crossrail in London, saying it will influence the way
people use public services around different points in the routes, but
believing it is not possible for planners to predict the details. Instead,
the smart solutions are going to emerge from people who can respond quickly
to what they see in the communities.

Three is to be open in bringing anyone into the process.

“The core of an open city is one that invites the widest possible range of
voices, be it business and community groups and individuals,” he says. “The
successful open cities are going to be those that bring in the widest range
of voices.”
UK leaders

It is new ground for cities around the world, and Cave says that as yet
there are no shining examples of how to make it all work. But he says some
UK cities are among the world leaders and points to examples such as Milton
Keynes and Glasgow in creating a data infrastructure for developers to use.

The ODI is aiming to establish a role in educating city authorities on the
options and providing training on the practicalities. It is also working
with companies such as engineering and planning consultancy Arup to clarify
ideas for specific areas, and with government bodies such as the Smart
Cities Forum and Future Cities Catapult on opens data's role in the broad
strategy.

Cave says the alignment between the two is inevitable: “Open data is really
central to where the smart city is heading.”

The ODI course on Open Data for Smart Cities takes place at its
headquarters in London on 15 September. More details here.
<http://theodi.org/courses/open-data-for-smart-cities>
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