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1. Smart Cities and the Challenges of Cross Domain Risk Management: Considering Interdependencies Between ICT-Security and Natural Hazards Disruptions

   https://doi.org/10.2478/jec-2019-0026  

   Uwe, Busbach-Richard ; Gerber, Brian J. ( December 2019 , Economics and Culture)

   Abstract Research purpose. Smart City technologies offer great promise for a higher quality of life, including improved public services, in an era of rapid and intense global urbanization. The use of intelligent or smart information and communication technologies to produce more efficient systems of services in those urban areas, captured under the broad rubric of “smart cities,” also create new vectors of risk and vulnerability. The aim of this article is to raise consideration of an integrated cross-domain approach for risk reduction based on the risks smart cities are exposed to, on the one hand, from natural disasters and, on the other, from cyber-attacks. Design / Methodology / Approach. This contribution describes and explains the risk profile for which smart cities are exposed to both natural disasters and cyber-attacks. The vulnerability of smart city technologies to natural hazards and cyber-attacks will first be summarized briefly from each domain, outlining those respective domain characteristics. Subsequently, methods and approaches for risk reduction in the areas of natural hazards and ICT security will be examined in order to create the basis for an integrated cross-domain approach to risk reduction. Differences are also clearly identified if an adaptation of a risk reduction pattern appearsmore »unsuitable. Finally, the results are summarized into an initial, preliminary integrated cross-domain approach to risk reduction. Findings. Risk management in the two domains of ICT security and natural hazards is basically similar. Both domains use a multilayer approach in risk reduction, both have reasonably well-defined regimes and established risk management protocols. At the same time, both domains share a policymaking and policy implementation challenge of the difficulty of appropriately forecasting future risk and making corresponding resource commitments to address future risk. Despite similarities, different concepts like the CIA Triad, community resilience, absorption capacity and so on exist too. Future research of these concepts could lead to improve risk management. Originality / Value / Practical implications. Cyber-attacks on the ICT infrastructure of smart cities are a major vulnerability – but relatively little systematic evaluation exists on the topic. Likewise, ICT infrastructure is vulnerable to natural disasters too – and the risk of more severe natural disasters in the context of a global trend toward massive cities is increasing dramatically. Explicit consideration of the issues associated with cross-domain integration of reduction of interdependent risk is a necessary step in ensuring smart city technologies also serve to promote longer-term community sustainability and resilience.« less
2. When does data collection and use become a matter of concern? A cross cultural comparison of American and Dutch people’s privacy attitudes.

   Liao, Y. ( January 2020 , Annals of the International Communication Association)

   Around the world, people increasingly generate data through their everyday activities. Much of this also happens unwittingly, thanks to sensors, cameras, and other surveillance tools on the roads, in cities, and in businesses. However, the ways citizens and governments think about privacy vary significantly around the world. In this paper, we explore differences between citizens’ attitudes toward privacy and data collection practices in the U.S. and the Netherlands, an EU member nation. Using a factorial vignette survey methodology, we identify specific contextual factors associated with people’s level of concern about how their data is being used. We consider the role that five factors play in this assessment: actors (those using data), data type and amount, reported purpose for data use, and inferences drawn from the data. These indicate nationally bound differences but likewise point to potentially more globally shared concerns.
3. Considerations for Designing Private and Inexpensive Smart Cities

   DeHart, J. ; Baker, C.E. ; Grant, C. ( January 2021 , IARIA The Sixteenth International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Communications (ICWMC 2020))

   The expectation of people and futurists is that all respectable cities will become Smart Cities in the near future. Two main barriers stand in the way of the evolution of cities. First is cost, the transformation into a smart city is expensive (e.g., between $30 Million and $40 Billion) and only a few cities are able to obtain the resources required for upgrades. Second, many citizens equate the data collection and surveillance of smart city technology with aggressive infringements on privacy. In this paper, we describe how citizens, city planners, and companies can develop smart cities that do not require crippling loans and are respectful of privacy.
4. Perceptions of high-tech controlled environment agriculture among local food consumers: using interviews to explore sense-making and connections to good food

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10261-7  

   Broad, G.M. ( August 2021 , Agriculture and human values)

   In recent years, new forms of high-tech controlled environment agriculture (CEA) have received increased attention and investment. These systems integrate a suite of technologies – including automation, LED lighting, vertical plant stacking, and hydroponic fertilization – to allow for greater control of temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and light in an enclosed growing environment. Proponents insist that CEA can produce sustainable, nutritious, and tasty local food, particularly for the cities of the future. At the same time, a variety of critics raise concerns about its environmental impacts and energy use, high startup costs, and consumer accessibility challenges, among other issues. At this stage, however, relatively little research has explored actual consumer knowledge and attitudes related to CEA processes and products. Guided by theories of sense-making, this article draws from structured interviews with local food consumers in New York City to examine what people know and think about high-tech CEA. From there, it explores the extent to which CEA fits into consumer conceptualizations of what makes for “good food.” Key findings emphasize that significant gaps in public understanding of CEA remain, that CEA products’ success will depend on the ability of the industry to deliver on its environmental promises, and thatmore »concerns about “unnatural” aspects of CEA will need to be allayed. Given the price premium at which high-tech CEA products are currently sold, the industry’s expansion will depend in large part on its ability to convince value-oriented food consumers that the products meet the triple-bottom-line of economic, social, and environmental sustainability goals.« less
5. A stochastic optimization framework for planning of waste collection and value recovery operations in smart and sustainable cities

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.05.019  

   Jatinkumar Shah, Parth ; Anagnostopoulos, Theodoros ; Zaslavsky, Arkady ; Behdad, Sara ( August 2018 , Waste management)

   The concept of City 2.0 or smart city is offering new opportunities for handling waste management practices. The existing studies have started addressing waste management problems in smart cities mainly by focusing on the design of new sensor-based Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and optimizing the routes for waste collection trucks with the aim of minimizing operational costs, energy consumption and transportation pollution emissions. In this study, the importance of value recovery from trash bins is highlighted. A stochastic optimization model based on chance-constrained programming is developed to optimize the planning of waste collection operations. The objective of the proposed optimization model is to minimize the total transportation cost while maximizing the recovery of value still embedded in waste bins. The value of collected waste is modeled as an uncertain parameter to reflect the uncertain value that can be recovered from each trash bin due to the uncertain condition and quality of waste. The application of the proposed model is shown by using a numerical example. The study opens new venues for incorporating the value recovery aspect into waste collection planning and development of new data acquisition technologies that enable municipalities to monitor the mix of recyclables embedded in individualmore »trash bins.« less