IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2014 - 63

aced with increasing pressure regarding resources
and urban infrastructure,
local governments implement strategic plans with
intentions of improving the quality of
life for their citizens. This work explores participatory sensing (PS) and
the issues associated with governance
in the light of new information-gathering capabilities and technologies.
These new technologies directly engage citizens in collecting data and
providing contextual insight. The
insight gathered has the potential to
greatly enhance City Council operations in efficient management. Key
hurdles affecting the viability and
uptake of PS from different stakeholder perspectives are examined.
The aim is to understand whether (or
under what conditions) there can be
a the mutually-beneficial communication link between citizens and the
government when using the emerging technologies. Participants' respective value propositions are considered. Simultaneously community
engagement is increased, and city
operations are enhanced through a
partnership with citizens. The challenges of PS, and associated privacy
impacts, are considered through the
application lens of noise monitoring
(framed by the particular insights
and needs of the City of Melbourne).
This provides insight on the social
impacts of emerging technologies,
particularly the issue of privacy infringement and other associated risks
and implications. These social impacts are examined not only in light
of the individual but also in light of
the shared environments. Accordingly, responsibilities and avenues
for mitigation are assigned to stakeholders, which includes user awareness factors, policy frameworks, and
design-level strategies.

Increased Complexity in
Urban Environments
Demands on the management of
urban environments are made more
complex with projected population
increases in cities and surrounding

regions. The City of Melbourne
has strategic planning initiatives
that seek to address these challenges in catering to the needs of its
ever-growing numbers of workers,
visitors, residents, and students,
while continuing to keep the city
an attractive destination for these
varied demographics. In-depth
sensing, analysis, and visualization of environmental data enable
the transition of collected data to
useful information and knowledge.
This new information offers significant value for city officials. If this
information transfer is reliant, not
only on newly emerging data-collection capabilities but also on the
willingness of citizens to contribute, then how is this exchange best
achieved? Citizens may find benefit
from directly accessing such information. In this way, such platforms
serving multiple stakeholders may
also provide a new mechanism for
exchange of information.
Citizen science is the practice
of engaging the public to actively
participate in research programs
through the collection or provision of related data [1]. Tasks may
include annotating data or providing contextual information that is
not present in the collected data.
Citizens are able to contribute, not
only to data collection services, but
also to essential insights in scenarios in which the participant also
becomes a subject of the research.
Relying on members of the public for data collection, rather than
trained personnel, inherently sacrifices some level of data quality.
Participatory sensing, as a dimension of citizen science, may provide some measure of data quality
assurance through the introduction
of emerging technologies that assist
in sensing, aggregation, and validation of data, as well as recruitment
and evaluation of participants.
Urban health analysis by the
City of Melbourne notes ongoing
challenges around social inclusion
with respect to citizen participation in engagement activities [2].

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

FALL 2014

The degree of desired public participation varies according to the
needs of government in addressing
a given issue [3], including:
■■ Direct involvement in the decision-making process
■■ Policy or engagement platform
design
■■ Consultation to gauge citizen
views or market test ideas
A technology platform that
implicitly involves citizens in local
government issues can improve citizen engagement, through increased
participation and meaningful interaction, if the right incentives and
protections are in place.
The rapid evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT), along with the sensing
and monitoring capabilities that
these technologies possess, is resulting in the expansion of ever-present sensing. There were 13 billion
connected devices in 2011, and an
expected 24 billion devices by 2020,
according to a study by GSMA
and Machina Research [43]. This
growth potential can be seen in the
broad adoption of Smartphones that
function as mobile-sensing platforms. For most users, Smartphones
are taken almost everywhere and
are nearly always on, with a variety of sensors active, presenting
unprecedented reach into everyday
environments.
While technology can assist in
filtering vast volumes of information such that it can be meaningfully interpreted by the user, it
can simultaneously function to
inform and educate [3]. However,
increased technological capability comes with risks. In the case
of participatory sensing technology, issues include how user privacy is protected and whether the
informed consent of the user is
obtained. The manner in which
such technological capabilities
are developed and deployed has a
significant bearing on determining the subsequent beneficiaries
and to what degree they are able to
draw any benefits.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2014