Guiding Principles
The foundation that supports and upholds the Ethical Smart City Framework along with the Elements.
The Ethical Smart City (ESC) Framework is underscored by a set of guiding principles that define “ethics” in Smart City development and are essential for creating a common definition. The ESC Framework ensures that community values are at the centre of the decision-making process, as a robust public engagement system drives the transformative process to becoming an Ethical Smart City. These guiding principles therefore ensure that ethical values are first and foremost in the design, planning and implementation of Smart City Projects.
Diverse and engaged communities are the focal point and the lens.
The Ethical Smart City Framework ensures that transformation begins by engaging their communities. This engagement uncovers the community’s values and is contingent upon their involvement and commitment to solving their systemic challenges. When the values of the community are prioritized, they can be purposefully involved and mobilized to respond to these challenges.
The efficiency of the solution is measured against the community goals.
The Ethical Smart City Framework ensures that Smart City solutions are efficient at addressing their challenges and are not creating new ones, in their wake. The Framework enables co-creation to maximize collaboration between stakeholders and to arrive at the most efficient, ethical, sustainable and holistic solutions. Participation and an active feedback loop affect not only the efficiency of the solution but its perception for the stakeholders.
The systemic impact of solutions should ensure economic, environmental, and social sustainability for all members of the community.
The Ethical Smart City Framework generates solutions that are assessed according to their success in ensuring the economic, environmental and social sustainability for the community. A Smart City Champion must use the framework to identify the systemic challenges of their community and prioritize the values of their members to understand which technology is appropriate in solving these challenges. The Champion must engage with the appropriate stakeholders at each stage to ensure that they are systemic solutions and not surface level.
Technology is used as an enabler and is selected based on the needs of the community and its values.
The Ethical Smart City Framework places community values at the forefront and technology is viewed solely as an enabler. It is chosen on the basis of its potential to address the community’s needs. The appropriate technology is one which upholds the values of the communities while solving their challenges.
