Use Case: IoT for Citizen Engagement
Habiba Marei • 19 May 2022
We all know the story: the Internet of Things is about connecting devices to the internet so that they can communicate with each other. But that's only part of the story. IoT is also about making those connections useful and actionable so that people can make better decisions.
IoT has revolutionised the way we live and work by enabling us to collect, process, and analyse vast amounts of data quickly and with little effort. This has unlocked new capabilities for individuals and businesses—and it’s resulted in a more engaged community of citizens who are willing to take action on issues they care about by leveraging data to improve their lives. This is what we call Citizen Engagement: a world where people are empowered to make decisions based on real-time data from their own environments.
What is Citizen Engagement?
The idea of citizen engagement is, essentially, empowering people to use technology as a means of staying connected with government programs and agencies, like education campuses or healthcare facilities. Citizen engagement is all about enhancing opportunities for community members to express opinions, provide ideas, and become more involved in local decision-making.
The Role IoT plays in Citizen Engagement
The Internet of Things has transformed the way governments engage their citizens. Not only does it allow them to be more responsive to their citizens, but it can also improve overall transparency and accountability, as well as protect civil liberties. When you combine social media—the most common form of citizen engagement—with IoT devices that collect data from vehicles, buildings, homes, etc., you have an opportunity to make cities smarter than ever before. Because cities are built around activity hubs that generate huge amounts of data, civic leaders can use this data to better understand where resources are needed most.
In addition, IoT devices can be used to monitor and report on essential services such as water supply, public transit, road quality, power grid performance, and more. This helps government officials ensure that these systems are performing at optimal levels while also giving them the real-time data they need to make critical decisions that improve infrastructure reliability and people’s quality of life.
Furthermore, IoT isn’t just about connecting citizens and their representatives; it's also about connecting them to one another and fostering healthy communities. By providing a platform for people to share ideas and thoughts, IoT enables a community-wide dialogue that encourages action and innovation. By leveraging the Internet of Things, governments can collect information and garner feedback from citizens in real-time about current events and issues of importance to them.
Benefits of Citizen Engagement For Citizens:
Higher Satisfaction
Citizen engagement makes cities more efficient. When citizens are included in a city’s decision-making processes, they become more engaged with their community, which leads to higher citizen satisfaction as a result of better communication and transparency. Citizens also feel more invested in their community and have greater incentives to make it a better place to live because they can see themselves reflected in its policies.
Real-time Updates
By leveraging IoT, cities and local governments can provide citizens with real-time information about their respective municipalities, including city alerts and updates about issues such as public safety, crime rates, weather conditions, and more. In fact, since IoT provides greater access to granular data from many different sources at once, citizens can better tailor their decision-making processes based on a robust set of facts. For example, connected light bulbs could alert officials when a streetlight goes out, or a broken fire hydrant is detected on a residential street in real-time. The same technology could also help individuals identify where specific issues are occurring within their community so they can react accordingly and adjust their daily routines if necessary.
Quick Issue Resolution
When residents can report problems directly from their smartphones, quick issue resolution results. This keeps citizens happy and makes local governments more efficient. Implementing IoT technology in your city will allow you to keep tabs on where and when repairs are needed so that you can eliminate wasting time and money.
For Government Officials:
Actionable Insights for Better Decision-Making
Most communities have a lot of valuable insights to share, which can help local governments make better decisions. But how do you efficiently extract that data? IoT sensors and devices can track a variety of key metrics, from traffic flow to water consumption, in real-time. A single network of these sensors across a city allows all stakeholders—from government officials to citizens—to understand exactly what's happening at any given time in their community. This information is valuable for improving productivity and citizen satisfaction while making better-informed decisions about future planning.
Elimination of Duplicate Work
In addition to making cities more efficient, increased citizen engagement saves time and money by eliminating redundant work. For example, when citizens report potholes or other issues directly to government agencies instead of through third parties, city workers don’t waste time gathering information that has already been reported by someone else. As a result, they can spend their resources on tasks that require immediate attention—such as cleaning up after an emergency—instead of repeating routine work.
Monetisation Opportunities
Government officials who use citizen engagement platforms are able to profit from it in a number of different ways. For example, they could offer services such as gardening or car washing and charge citizens for these services. They could also charge for access to the platform—a fee for each submission. This type of monetisation is beneficial because it encourages citizens to engage with their government and provides a way for government officials to make money from that engagement. Not only does this allow them to retain their power, but it also encourages more people to participate in civic life.
How Citizen Engagement Can Help Build a Smart, Sustainable World
IoT adoption in citizen engagement must be done thoughtfully and carefully so that it contributes to building a sustainable world rather than creates new sustainability challenges. IoT can facilitate, enable, and fuel such transitions by helping citizens make informed decisions about their activities to help build a sustainable world.
As new technologies emerge to help connect citizens with their governments and businesses, it becomes easier to see how our consumption affects each one of us on a micro-level. Imagine knowing exactly how much energy your household consumes at any given time; you’d have an excellent understanding of how to manage your resources more sustainably and minimise your carbon footprint. For example, smart thermostats provide immediate insight into energy consumption—and allow users to make more informed decisions about changing settings or finding cheaper providers based on their personal data analysis.
IoT can also empower citizens to take action on sustainability challenges like air pollution or climate change. This means that IoT does not just provide information but also gives citizens actionable insights through citizen engagement tools and platforms. Citizens can then use these insights to drive changes in behaviour, leading to changes in collective behaviours towards sustainable outcomes at scale.
Conclusion
Although IoT has been touted as the next big thing in tech over the last few years, not enough attention has been paid to its role in enabling citizen engagement and how this can change the future as we know it today. The point of IoT for citizen engagement is to provide real-time information for governments and citizens. By providing accurate data and actionable insights, governments can make informed decisions regarding new projects and budget allocations. Because of its usefulness in helping cities function properly, citizen engagement is set to become an integral part of smart city design in years to come.
