Summary In this white paper, seventeen scientists and practitioners present their vision on the smart city. In nine duo interviews they discuss how data and technology offer opportunities to make the city more liveable. They also show how to collaborate with citizens and administrators. Nonetheless, we urgently need to start talking to each other about what we do and do not wish to do in our society with data and technology. The 16 most important insights from the interviews The purpose technology serves 1. The question of the purpose of technology and how technology actually contributes to solving urban challenges is still too rarely asked. Policymakers often mistakenly present the use of technological innovations as inevitable. 2. Having a clear goal also makes it easier to choose a technology. For example, you can use AI to make different interests visible, but also to bring weaker voices to the fore. 3. Data and smart technology can help municipalities make optimal use of scarce people and resources. Data also help explain why the improvement of, for example, one intersection is more urgent than that of another. 4. The yield of technology should always be weighed against its impact. Here, it is important to look beyond privacy risks, but also to consider the equality of citizens, proportionality, and information symmetry between citizens and government. This can be done, for instance, with the Impact Assessment for Human Rights and Algorithms. 5. Street-level civil servants, that is, those civil servants with whom residents primarily deal, are already making creative adjustments at the micro level, so that technology is optimally used for greater safety and a liveability. 6. The temptation to make full use of technical possibilities remains strong. It takes guts to recognize that (better) technology is not always the solution. 8
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