ETSI publishes draft report on citizens’ smart cities standardisation

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) published a draft report about smart cities’ standardisation for citizens and consumers. The report evaluates different citizen-related issues that smart city standardisation needs to tackle. These include aspects such as accessibility, usability, interoperability, personal data protection and security, and how services to citizens are to be designed to maximise benefits to the community. The report concludes with the following recommendations: (a) Ensuring physical presence in management of city services; (b) Drawing up guidance material for smart cities to help implement proposed service design and delivery standards (c) Preparing a local digital economy and society index (DESI) for smart cities to develop an outcome-based approach to city services, (d) Providing guidance for cities on cybersecurity measures oriented towards protecting citizens; (e) Providing guidance to city personnel to protect citizen cybersecurity; including staff training, and creating a code of good practice for management; (f) Reviewing physical security arrangements to prevent vulnerabilities in city services; (g) Drawing up dedicated standardised guidance for cities concerning service complaint and redress procedures, in line with the EU’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) rules; (h) Providing standardised codes of conduct to help smart cities ensure correct design and delivery of citizen services, including a transparent declaration of the ethical approach taken; (i) Studying security challenges for citizens arising from future over-dependency on 5G transmissions; (j) Exploring a standardised approach to citizen uses for and requirements from the data spectrum; (k) Standardising basic elements of citizen-oriented service design; to provide easy-to-use electronic interfaces, ensure humans are always there as backup, and avoid digital divide issues, (l) Exploring a standardised approach to citizen participation without privacy and security concerns. The deadline for public comments is 31 January 2020.