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Smart Cities as Knowledge Commons

This is a home page for events, collaborations, and publications related to studies of “smart city” governance via the Governing Knowledge Commons framework.

Speaker Series

With support from the Knight Foundation

[online; participation is by invitation]

Description: Emerging smart cities require trusted governance and engaged citizens. Integrating surveillance, data analytics, automation and smart tech within basic infrastructure and public administration as well as public and private services and spaces raises a complex set of ethical, economic, political, social, and technological questions that requires systematic study and careful deliberation. The goal of this series is to deepen understanding of smart city governance institutions, the social dilemmas communities face, and the dynamic relationships among data, technology, and human lives.

Speakers

Flyer for Smart Cities Speaker Series
Flyer for GKC Smart Cities Speaker Series

Publication

Governing Smart Cities as Knowledge Commons (Cambridge University Press, 2023) (Brett M. Frischmann, Michael J. Madison, and Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo, eds.).

Sponsored events

Smart Cities Workshop: Data, Tech, Institutions, and Trustworthy Governance

9-10 October 2020

Online, hosted by the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description: This Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) workshop, to be followed by a book collecting case studies focused on Smart Cities and knowledge commons, offers a strategic opportunity to advance knowledge on how cities should respond to the challenges presented by digital networked technologies. Emerging smart cities will require trusted governance and engaged citizens. Integrating surveillance, AI, automation and smart tech within basic infrastructure as well as public and private services and spaces raises a complex set of ethical, economic, political, social, and technological questions that requires systematic study and careful deliberation. Using the GKC framework to structure case studies that examine smart tech deployment and commons governance in different cities serves two fundamental purposes: First, it ignites interdisciplinary social science. Second, it provides important guidance for communities deploying smart tech. The workshop and book will deepen understanding of community governance institutions, the social dilemmas communities face, and the dynamic relationships between data, technology, and human lives.