Yesterday,
Alexey Parabuchev, CEO of the Moscow Agency of Innovation, took part in the
panel discussion “The Smart City: Utopia or Dystopia” at the World Congress on
Information Technologies (WCIT) in Yerevan.
The
panel addressed issues faced by modern cities trying to harness modern
technology to foster economic growth. One of the questions posed by the panel
was how to leverage technology to more efficiently and effectively provide
city-dwellers with comprehensive public services while striking the balance
between the technological promises of a brighter tomorrow and the freedom, privacy
and dignity of people.
According
to Alexey Parabuchev, Moscow is continuously seeking answers to such questions.
What technologies can be adopted by the city? Are they all effective and free
from drawbacks that need to be addressed?
“Mass
data collection is not the main thing in smart cities, but it is the foundation
that underlies the urban decision- and policy-making process,” says Alexey
Parabuchev. “In this case, no matter what you measure, in the end you will come
to the measurement of human behavior. Unfortunately, in many developing
economies, smart city technologies are already being used to control and manage
society rather than to stimulate economic growth. We must think about
restrictions that cities can impose to compensate for these risks and protect
civil society and human rights.”
The
World Congress on Information Technologies in Yerevan is running through 9
October.
