Have you ever been to a smart city? This urban area is known to leverage digital technology, especially Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data, to improve city operations, manage resources more efficiently, and make cities more livable.
Pioneering an interconnected environment, real-time monitoring and management of urban infrastructure are at the core of smart cities, with security and privacy requiring careful attention and foresight. During the last decade, the Middle East has been the home of the most forward-thinking smart city projects and programs.
One such region is the UAE, which is steadily paving the way for a digital-first future, driven by artificial intelligence and automation. Other prominent examples include Lusail in Qatar as well as NEOM and Al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia.
By leveraging the power of innovation while maintaining the principles of privacy and individual freedom, urban environments are intended to not only be safe and secure, but also respectful of the fundamental rights of all citizens.
The traditional models of urban development are no longer adept at addressing challenges effectively, forcing governments and other stakeholders to actively find and implement new ways to shift towards more innovative and sustainable solutions.
The evolution of smart cities has been catalyzed by technology, particularly ICT, which acts as the backbone that supports a complex network of services and systems within the urban area.
As the number of installed smart systems increases, security and privacy have become a top priority and an important feature that should not be overlooked.
Building Trust, Ensuring Privacy
Developing smart cities are predicted to enhance citizens’ standard of living, encourage sustainable growth, and bolster the efficiency of city functions. Smart cities depend upon stakeholder trust to function. Without stakeholder trust, or with loss of trust, stakeholders will not support smart services and smart cities lose value.
When citizens don’t trust the technology or the organizations behind it, several negative consequences occur, such as lower utilization rate, increased costs, reputational damage, and social inequality. Thus, promoting trust is vital and can be achieved through transparent decision-making, open communication, and active public engagement in rollout.
In a detailed paper, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) highlighted that to achieve broad trust in a smart city system, key characteristics such as security, reliability, resilience, privacy, compliance, and well-being, must be adhered to.
Security is commonly defined by three essential components: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. In the IT world, this triad is known as CIA. Conversely, in Operational Technology (OT), it is referred to as AIC, highlighting the greater emphasis on availability in OT compared to the confidentiality focus in IT.
In a smart city context, reliability will reduce unexpected downtime and diminish the impact of planned downtime. In anticipation of potential failure, a smart city should have an early detection mechanism, and to mitigate the damage, response and recovery mechanisms should also be on standby.
Smart city systems must meet various compliance requirements, which can differ based on the acquiring, funding, or operating entity. Even within a single city government, departments may have distinct requirements.
Beyond this, wellbeing is the characteristic most directly related to trust in the system as a whole. If citizens’ wellbeing is addressed and supported, then citizens are given the impression that the system and its stakeholders are aware of, and considering, their interests. This, in turn, can help improve trust in other elements of the system, including faith in, and support of, further implementation.
There are key principles that can help address privacy concerns associated with smart cities, which include human-centric approaches to smart city design and implementation; transparency for city residents; privacy by design; anonymization and deidentification; data minimization and purpose specification; trusted data sharing; and cybersecurity resilience.
Research indicates that individuals are more trusting and likely to engage with systems that implement robust data protection measures. Hence, trust among citizens can be fostered by ensuring secure storage, ethical usage, and adherence to the intended purposes for collected data.
Additionally, empowering residents to control their data is vital for privacy. They should know what data is being collected, how it's being used, and have the option to opt out.
Can Citizen Data be Secured?
A report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) explored how smart city leaders can balance societal benefits with privacy concerns. It emphasized that proper data security in smart cities begins with securing IoT devices, which function as the 'nervous system' of the smart city.
Ranging from home automation systems to traffic sensors, these devices collect, share, and analyze data in real time. Maintaining privacy involves not only safeguarding the collected sensitive data but also controlling who has access to it and ensuring its secure transmission and storage.
Moreover, a zero-trust security model, enhanced by AI, can greatly improve a smart city's cybersecurity profile. AI will continuously monitor network and user behavior to detect anomalies, limiting potential cyberattack damage by restricting attackers' access to only a small portion of the network.
Even GCC countries recorded high costs from cyber incidents, averaging almost USD 7 million. With this in mind, GCC countries have significantly increased their investments to strengthen their cyber-resilience as most of the smart city objectives that stem from national programs require a cyber-secured technology infrastructure and platform to function effectively.
The constant stream of information, while instrumental in advancing urban efficiency, results in a detailed digital footprint of each resident's life, thereby containing vast amounts of confidential information that should be protected at all costs.
As the new urban model becomes more prevalent, it’s necessary to strike a balance between leveraging data for operational efficiency and safeguarding the city's inhabitants. There is a need for thoughtful policy-making, robust data governance and forward-thinking design in smart city projects to ensure that citizen data is not unethically exposed.
According to Kearney, data protection regulations in the Middle East rely on broad legal principles instead of data-specific legislation. This approach fails to address the complexities of the vast data collected by smart city systems, making it difficult for organizations to use this data effectively and securely, thereby hindering the development of data-driven smart city services.
Moving forward, smart cities can redefine urban systems by unleashing the power of the data they generate and integrating AI applications within smart-city services. However, it is crucial to address the security concerns associated with these promising technologies, including but not limited to, manipulated training data and deepfake techniques.
A converged security approach dismantles silos and fosters collaboration among various business teams, all working toward a unified goal: ensuring a secure cyber and physical environment for citizens.
Digitalizing Urban Environments
Urbanization drives innovation through the digital enhancement of critical infrastructure and urban assets. This is evident in the advanced network and data technologies that provide cities with transformative operational insights.
A big factor affecting this transformation is the adoption of artificial intelligence and big data. These technologies are revolutionizing urban management by analyzing data from city sensors through which AI optimizes traffic flow, predicts utility demands, and enhances public safety by identifying high-risk areas.
In May 2024, in an effort to facilitate smart city development and enable easy access for network providers, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) released the third edition of the Telecommunications Network Box Specification Manual. This guide supports the design of infrastructure for urban projects, focusing on fiber-optic networks, and ensuring that new buildings and areas are equipped for high-speed connectivity.
Another key contributor to digitalizating urban environments is cloud computing. This provides robust data processing and storage for smart cities, efficiently managing data from IoT devices and AI applications.
For example, AWS partners utilize AWS Cloud to create innovative solutions for challenges such as energy use, traffic management, and sustainability. In this way, AWS supports public sector innovations and enhances citizen services through its qualified partners.
World Cities Day
On October 31, 2024, World Cities Day focused on the theme “Youth Leading Climate and Local Action for Cities,” highlighting how young people are advocating for bold climate actions and turning ambitious ideas into tangible achievements.
Given that urban areas are projected to house 70% of the global population by 2050, with a significant portion being youth, engaging young people in urban decision-making is crucial. Their creativity and commitment can drive sustainable development and help cities address environment-focused challenges effectively.
Explore More:
Beyond Bits and Bytes: Data Laws in the Digital Age
Next-Gen Government: How Generative AI is Changing the Citizen Experience
Cybersecurity and Cloud Computing: Overcoming Risks to Usher In a Revolution
