We are witnessing a turning point in history: the 3rd Industrial Revolution is changing everything.

After 30 years of the internet, more than 4 billion people are now connected through digital communication, and more than 20 billion devices (as of 2020) are linked to the internet – the Internet of Things (IoT).

Digital transformation is changing the environment we live in. Everything is becoming smart. Digital communication connects us in every place and at any time. The energy of the future is renewable and is distributed on demand via so-called smart grids – intelligent power networks. Autonomous driving within a digitalized road logistics system completes the 3rd Industrial Revolution. Our society manages, supplies, and moves itself in a new way. A reversal is no longer conceivable.

Many factors are driving the development toward seamless connectivity. Much of it has the potential to improve our lives or possibly even save them – think of climate change. Some of it must be discussed, questioned, and possibly regulated, so that our individual freedom is preserved and the digital revolution does, after all, serve the common good of everyone.

 

Convenience versus privacy

With digitalization, our lives are becoming more pleasant and more entertaining. Smart home solutions make our homes responsive, whether through programming or spontaneously – via voice control. Smart assistance software is integrated into all the devices and things that surround us. Google Home on the toilet, Alexa in the diaper. Whether it’s pee or poo that’s spoiling the baby’s mood is reported to us by the Amazon cloud. Sensors, microphones, and cameras – everywhere. The personal data that we generate nonstop, we hand over trustingly to the tech corporations as thanks for so much relaxation.

 

Health versus consumer protection

Digitally connected health products save lives every day. Our heartbeat, our breathing, our sleep – everything can be monitored and can give patients as safe and normal a life as possible. Once our health data reaches the cloud, however, it can also be exploited for commercial purposes. Manufacturers of health products, just like insurers, are interested in analyzing our bodies in order to make us tailored offers – which can also mean that the algorithms used calculate a risk in advance and cause an increase in the insurance premium.

 

Surveillance state and surveillance capitalism versus data as a protected common good

In the Chinese city of Hangzhou, citizens are subjected to total surveillance. A citizen app tracks every activity and assesses it according to a bonus/penalty system derived from the state’s code of values. Those who behave in line with the values are rewarded with bonus points, which can even be used for payment. In the negative case, access to social and professional life is gradually restricted.

Predictive policing, a data-based, predictive, AI-controlled technique, has significantly reduced crime in many American cities. From past and present data, algorithms calculate the probability of crimes – pinpointed to locations – and even time windows. Based on AI, police resources are distributed across city areas according to the digital calculations. A side effect of the measure is that certain social groups or nationalities are surveilled, monitored, or even arrested disproportionately. AI does learn from analyzing data, but it is not able to take ethical principles into account. Moreover, the method is not immune to manipulation – for example, to manipulate real estate prices.

The aspiring smart city of Barcelona has developed an entirely different model and set itself the goal of taking a leading role in innovations that put the well-being of citizens at the center. Data control by private corporations in public spaces is prevented as far as possible. The data collected by the city administration is subject to the highest degree of transparency and is made available to citizens. Data as a common good, like other protected public goods too – for example water, electricity, and infrastructure – that is the vision. Being a smart citizen in Barcelona means not only being part of the connectivity but generating a personal benefit from the data, being able to launch initiatives, for example to improve air quality or reduce traffic or noise pollution.

Barcelona has set itself the goal of achieving self-sufficient supply for the city by 2054 with the help of digital connectivity. Through so-called fab labs and international fab lab cooperations, the smart technologies born in Barcelona – the knowledge, not the physical products – are to be transported all over the world. “Moving knowledge, not material” is both a guiding principle and a paradigm shift at the same time. A vision that recalls the first published guiding principle of the internet when it went live more than 30 years ago:

World Wide Web – Let’s share what we know.

We recommend: Fab Lab Barcelona – https://fablabbcn.org/

Written by Bernhard Vogl, IoT Internet of Things GmbH. Source: ARTE