The UK’s Connected Places Catapult (CPC) has announced its membership of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance alongside the World Economic Forum (WEF) and 15 of the world’s leading city networks and technology governance organizations.
The global partnership aims to advance the responsible and ethical use of smart city technologies by coming together to agree common principles and standards, helping to build sustainable solutions centered on human needs. Established in June 2019, the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance on Technology Governance unites municipal, regional and national governments, private-sector partners and city residents around a shared set of principles for the responsible and ethical use of smart city technologies. The WEF, which is the international organization for public-private cooperation, serves as secretariat for the Alliance.
Currently, there is no global framework or set of rules in place for how sensor data collected in public spaces, such as by traffic cameras or wifi hotspots, is used. The Alliance establishes and advances global policy standards to help accelerate best practices, mitigate potential risks, and foster greater openness and public trust.
The CPC joins the alliance as an institutional partner alongside the likes of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Smart City Mission, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Commonwealth Local Government Forum and Cities for All amongst others. Formerly the Future Cities and Transport Systems Catapults, the UK’s CPC operates at the intersection between public and private sectors and between local government and transport authorities. The Catapult aims to accelerate smarter living and travelling by focusing on growing businesses with innovations in mobility services and the built environment that enable new levels of physical, digital and social connectedness.
“Our message has always been that one city is not a market. If we want a scalable, global market for smart cities, this can only happen when people come together to agree common ways of working, to build scalable, interoperable solutions centered around human needs,” said Nicola Yates, CEO of the CPC. “That’s why the UK invested in leading the establishment of the first set of smart city standards in 2014 and we are pleased to be joining Global Smart Cities Alliance partnering with the G20 and World Economic Forum to further this mission and the opportunities this can provide to stimulate growth and improve the lives of citizens around the world.”
