‘Smart city’ sceptics must be won over
- Destruction of smart lamp posts by radicals reflects need to fully explain purpose of such installations and that they are not there to spy on public
The protests against the to be withdrawn extradition bill have claimed an unlikely victim – smart lamp posts to collect air quality and traffic flow data in Kowloon Bay. They were damaged and toppled last month by radicals who feared that they were being used to spy on the public.
This is without doubt a setback for Hong Kong as it seeks to become a smart city, but it somehow also underlines the distrust in the government in some quarters, which may hinder innovation and the development of technology.
While vandalism is unacceptable and must be condemned, officials would be wise to better explain the functions of such installations and the safeguards in place.
The extradition bill does not seem to have anything to do with lamp posts. Even though officials have repeatedly denied the installations are equipped with privacy-sensitive technology, such as facial recognition, this does not stop some radicals from damaging them.
The contractors involved were even doxxed, or targeted on the internet, and will only complete the first phase of the project.