#User involvement
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Voor het eerst in Nederland heeft een elektrische deelauto stroom terug geleverd aan het publieke elektriciteitsnet.

V****oor het eerst in Nederland heeft een elektrische deelauto stroom terug geleverd aan het publieke elektriciteitsnet. Een Nissan LEAF van Buurauto leverde tijdens een test in Amsterdam elektriciteit aan woningen via een Vehicle-to-Grid-laadpaal van NewMotion.

In dit proefproject werken Nissan, Buurauto, NewMotion, Alliander en Amsterdam Smart City samen. Deze pilot baant de weg voor de groeiende vloot elektrische deelauto's om gezamenlijk als energiebuffer bij te dragen aan de omschakeling naar duurzame energie. De pieken en dalen in de zon- en windenergie kunnen door de batterijen van elektrische deelauto's worden opgevangen, zodat beter gebruikgemaakt wordt van de duurzame energie.

Nissan: rijdende batterijen
Voor de pilot in Amsterdam is een Vehicle-to-Grid-laadpaal gebruikt die beheerd wordt door NewMotion. Hiermee is een elektrische LEAF van het deelautoproject Buurauto opgeladen en later ontladen. Robbert Monteban, EV Director Nissan Benelux: 'De rol van elektrische auto's gaat verder dan mobiliteit. Het zijn rijdende batterijen. Nu al kunnen we apparaten en woningen van elektriciteit voorzien via al onze elektrische auto's. Met deze pilot zetten we een volgende stap en koppelen we de auto aan het centrale, publieke elektriciteitsnet om dienst te doen als energiebuffer.'

NewMotion: testen met echte gebruikers
Bij NewMotion is het team van Sander Ouwerkerk, Business Development Director, bij het project betrokken: 'We zijn trots op de eerste resultaten met bi-directioneel (Vehicle-to-Grid of V2G) laden in zowel de publieke en in de private ruimte. Dit soort pilots geven ons inzicht in wat er op technisch, sociaal en economisch gebied goed werkt en niet goed werkt. We testen de gebruikstoepassingen van de V2G-laders en de impact van smart-charging op het lokale netwerk van netbeheerder Alliander. Deze pilot met echte gebruikers leert ons ook veel over toekomstige mogelijkheden van bi-directioneel laden, zeker met het oog op het verminderen van grid-congestie en het balanceren in vraag & aanbod van energie. Verder doen we proeven met integratie van lokaal opgewekte zonne-energie en het benutten van deelauto's.'

Buurauto: nieuwe energiesysteem
Bas Verdoorn, verantwoordelijk voor marketing, PR en communicatie bij Buurauto, ziet dankzij het proefproject de missie van Buurauto een flinke stap dichterbij komen. 'We zien een toekomst waarin in elke plaats elektrische deelauto's beschikbaar zijn. De auto's worden door buren gebruikt en rijden op elektriciteit van eigen zonnepanelen of windmolen én tegelijkertijd worden ze voor de opslag van energie ingezet. Ze worden onderdeel van een nieuw energiesysteem en ondersteunen de noodzakelijke energietransitie. Deze pilot is een begin.'

Alliander: groeiende rol voor deelauto's
Marisca Zweistra, strategisch projectmanager van Alliander: 'Vanaf 2030 zal iedere nieuwe auto in Nederland emissieloos zijn. Dat betekent dat er komende jaren honderdduizenden nieuwe laadpalen zullen worden aangelegd. Uitdaging daarbij is om het zo te organiseren, dat het bestaande elektriciteitsnet zo slim mogelijk wordt gebruikt en overbelasting wordt voorkomen. In Amsterdam doen we sinds begin 2018 ervaring op met elektrische auto's als batterij. Nu er ook een elektrische deelauto wordt ingezet in de experimenten, kunnen we veel leren over gedragspatronen met betrekking tot deelauto's. Dat is een interessante toevoeging aan onze pilot, aangezien de verwachting is dat deelauto's in de toekomst ook nadrukkelijker aanwezig zullen zijn als vervoermiddel, zeker in verstedelijkte gebieden.'

Amsterdam Smart City: slimmer omgaan met energie
Binnen het Europese programma City-Zen, onderdeel van Amsterdam Smart City, wordt in twee steden, Amsterdam en Grenoble, onderzocht hoe meer duurzame energie in een dichtbevolkte stad kan worden ingepast. Hiervoor is flexibiliteit, dat wil zeggen gerichte aanpassing van vraag en aanbod, nodig. Het testen van de V2G-technologie is één van de twintig projecten.

In the Morgenstadt Smart City Solution competition ViNotion pitched their UrbanDynamics solution; our answer to increasing urbanization, complex traffic situations and multi-modal means of transportation. Increase the accessibility of a city by optimizing the traffic throughput of pedestrians, cyclist and vehicles and thus creating safer traffic situations based on automated image analyses with Artificial Intelligence.

By using a camera as a sensor we are able to realize high accuracy and reliability figures. Giving you specific dynamical insights into traffic data such as:
- speed,
- direction,
- flow,
- trajectories,
- position.
- density
- classification

Triggers like:
- stopped vehicle detection
- congestion
- fallen cargo
- near collision detection

Benefits:
- works in crowded spaces
- a single sensor for multimodal traffic participants such as pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles
- works under different weather circumstances
- can monitor specific geo spaces
- data is easy to compare
- open API

We appreciate the acknowledgment and look forward to onboarding the Morgenstadt Network to provide our solution(s) to the European cities in this innovative Network.

Get in contact for additional information or a plan an appointment:
Azem Kariman
00316-29784291
azem.kariman@vinotion.nl

Within less then one year shared electric scooters (I would say electric steps) are gaining ground very fast in already 65 cities in the USA. They might become a dream solution for the first and last miles, much better than the growing deployment of Ubers at these short distances. In my newest blogpost I deal with these and other micro-mobility solutions for the future.
You will find the Dutch version of this post here: https://wp.me/p32hqY-1GS

This week a joined a challenge of the government of Haarlem. The challenge is how we can improve the contact with civilians. See https://r2.miraheze.org/wiki/Contact_met_inwoners for more info.

Earlier this summer I was interviewed by Ioana Păunescu for Igloo magazine about what makes Amsterdam so unique as a smart city. Simply said, Amsterdam has always been a laboratory for experiments. Since the Renaissance, citizens have always street-tested new concepts of religion, economics, politics and social justice. Today we are celebrating a new ‘digital’ renaissance where our municipality and communities remain committed to experimentation to develop brand new tools and solutions to make Amsterdam more responsive, resilient and sustainable for its residents and tourists alike.

Before visiting Amsterdam, check out these Top 10 Living Labs to see these experiments first hand.

Want to test your own experiment in Amsterdam? or learn how you can transform your own street or public space into a living lab? contact us at City Exchange Lab - info@citixl.com

Today I test drove the Sono Sion, a solar charged EV that comes in “any colour so long as it is black”. Henry Ford implemented this single colour policy for his Model T in 1914, in order to streamline the production process, reduce costs and simply because of the durability of the paint. The similarities between the at the time startup Ford Motor Company and modern time start up Sono Motors go however far beyond beyond colour options.

Henry Ford, an engineer by trade, believed in a strong product market fit. This meant the model T was conceived to be a single, non-configurable product that would satisfy the vast majority of the market. This did not mean the T-Ford was only available in one model, in its production run of almost 20 years (1908-1927) numerous body styles were made that included sedans, coupes, roadsters, pick-ups and delivery vans adding up to a grand production total of 16,5 million model T's. All models were being built with the same technical components on the same platform strategy, allowing for one model for each specific market. Each model however, came in one configuration only.

The Sono Sion comes only in black, not because the owner of the company decided so but because the majority of the online community of Sono Motor followers decided so. When given the choice between black and white for the first production run, the majority of voters elected black. The online community was also asked to choose between two proposals for the front headlight design. This clearly illustrates Sono Motors' strategy to pay very close attention to the best product market fit by actively involving the market in the decision making.

Another example of how Sono Motors is engaging with the market at an early stage is of course the fact that prospects are already invited to test drive one of the two (!) prototypes. Something that is unheard of in the car industry where new cars are developed in secret and car manufacturers camouflage their test vehicles and do everything to hide their precious prototypes from prying eyes.

So how did the actual test drive go? Upon entering the car the first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful transparent polycarbonate roof with solar cells laminated onto the top surface. The sunlight scatters between the cells creating a sparkling mosaic of light and dark. According to Sonos Motors it is unfortunately not sure this feature can be turned over to the final production version because of safety reasons, precisely because of the way the light is being scattered in the car's interior which can be distracting. I guess a tinted roof might be a good way to reduce this effect, because seeing the solar cells on the roof is a very nice design feature and a distinct reminder that you are driving something special. Another reminder is of course the moss in the dashboard that acts like a natural air filter to improve the interior air quality. Other than this I found the car drives like any other electric vehicle on the market today which, keeping in mind that this is still a prototype and development started only 2 years ago, is a big compliment.

It is very clear that the Sion has been made with practicality and affordabilty in mind. That is why it has a (to modern EV standards limited) range of 250 km on a single charge, which should be more than enough to satisfy every day's practical needs. It is compatible with a wide range of charging solutions (household socket, charging station, fast charging) thanks to a wide range of charging connectors and even has a power output (bi-directional charging), which means it can be used as a mobile energy station to charge other electric cars or even a household. The solar panels that are integrated into the bodywork passively charge the car when it is not plugged into an external energy source, while driving for instance. All though solar charging does extend the range, it should be considered as an extra add on and the Sion is primarily conceived to be an affordable, practical electric plug-in vehicle and not a solar car. Even more so, it should foremost be considered a practical family car that seats five persons and has a spacious luggage compartment.

Therefore there is also no budget spilled on making it self driving, instead it comes with built in car sharing (and billing) technology that allows it to be accessed remotely to be driven by other people if the owner is not using it. Payment and reservation are made via the Sono app, which also enables people to hitch a ride as it goes about. Power sharing, car sharing and ride sharing are all part of the Sion's mobility concept that aims to maximize its capacity by making it available to other users. This makes it not only very efficient but also a truly social car.

What I like most about the Sion however is that it's not endlessly configurable, but rather purpose built. In a time where “personalization” of mass products leads to extensive development and marketing costs and thus a higher consumer price, it's a relief to see a mass product that is not trying to please single individuals in the market but rather the market itself. Because after all, what the market wants is a good product at an affordable price. As Henry Ford put it in his memorial My life and work:

“I will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one – and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.”

Just like the model T was conceived to convert the automobile from an expensive curiosity into an affordable means of personal mass transportation, the Sion aims to make electric mobility more affordable to the general public using the same single product strategy. Today electric cars still have a considerable higher price tag than their fossil fueled competition, but the Sion might just be the car to mass electric mobilize the general public. With a suggested retail price of € 16.000,- excluding tax and a monthly subscription for the battery rent (prices to be announced) or single purchase of the battery pack (€ 4.000,-) Sonos Motors has already received 7329 pre-orders. Not bad for a car with an option list that is limited to a tow bar. I do wish however the mosaic roof (in modern marketing terms) will become available as a second option!

Visit Amsterdam in the travel trivia game Backpacker! Prove your knowledge about the city of Amsterdam and its culture, history, sights, monuments and much more in the travel trivia game Backpacker. You can download the game on the App Store and Google Play by following this link www.backpackergame.com

Explore the world and Amsterdam, become a Backpacker!

In June we kicked off a new phase of Amsterdam Smart City. More partners than ever are pooling their networks, knowledge and skills. Who are they? We will present some of them one by one. Arcadis: 'The energy supplies we use in the city need to be more decentralized and renewable, without any concessions on reliability.'

What is the main reason for you to join the open collective Amsterdam Smart City?

As an engineering and consultancy firm, Arcadis is always improving and innovating our built environment. As the relation between our built environment and other technologies intensifies, there is also a growing need to collaborate. We want to be part of the ecosystem to create the best, smartest and sustainable city.

What is your ambition for the city and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area?

Our motto is to improve the quality of life. A smart city for us is a city where all the city systems are optimized to meet the needs of the citizens, to create a city for all people taking profit and planet into account.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for the city and the region in the future?

There is an increasing pressure on all the city systems, e.g. the water system with more drought and heavy rainfall periods, the transition to a climate neutral energy system, or the transportation system with the increasing crowds. Keeping all the city systems flowing and working in a sustainable way is key to ensure quality of life.

How do you see the role of the residents and citizens in your plans?

Residents and citizens, but also people who work in the city or visit the city, are all part of the solution. A city that functions well has the right interaction between the people and the city systems. That requires both people and technology to innovate and develop.

What do you hope to work on in the upcoming years?

The upcoming years will be vital in transforming our society towards a sustainable and healthy one. Energy transition and the transformation of our mobility are the two themes we will focus on within Amsterdam Smart City. The transportation system of the city needs to be transformed to enable more sustainable and more multimodal transport. The energy supplies we use in the city need to be more decentralized and renewable, without any concessions on reliability.

Sustainable startups in the Netherlands are doing well. Never before has so much been invested in startups that offer solutions to accelerate the energy transition. This is evident from StartupDelta’s bid book Startup Solutions for the Energy Transition, published today containing the profiles of 285 green startups, in partnership with the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge.

Honoured to be featured with WOODYSHOUSING as one of the solutions to drastically reduce CO2 emissions far before 2030!

CO2 reduction is just a beginning. We go further: circular, social, affordable, fair and connecting. We have a very good solution to the deficit in affordable and sustainable housing. We don't do it alone. We believe in cooperation and co-creation with all stakeholders. Thus.... be welcome to contribute in kind or cash, in network or locations to make the impact we aim for individuals and society.

You can be part of WOODYSHOUSING!

In June we kicked off a new phase of Amsterdam Smart City. More partners than ever are pooling their networks, knowledge and skills. Who are they? We will present some of them one by one. Waag: 'Amsterdam should be an innovative frontrunner with a focus on the ethical and principled development of smart city technology.'

What is the main reason for you to join the open collective Amsterdam Smart City?

Waag joined the Amsterdam Smart City collective because we believe that inclusive and open innovation only can happen with cooperation between all stakeholders involved, with an important role reserved for the citizen. Waag represents a critical, but constructive voice in the development of a smart and shared Amsterdam.

What is your ambition for the city and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area?

Waag wants Amsterdam to be an innovative frontrunner with a special focus on ethical and principled development of new smart city technology. Innovative technology should serve the citizens of Amsterdam. According to the "Amsterdam Approach”, we want to create educated, involved and empowered citizens and involve these citizens in the development of smart city solutions.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for the city and the region in the future?

Waag wants to give back control to the citizens, and give them the tools to manage their environment, personal data and privacy in the development of city of the future.

How do you see the role of the residents and citizens in your plans?

The residents of Amsterdam play an pivotal and essential role in our approach to innovation. Through co-creation, we invite citizens to give input, create, and lend their expertise for the development of open, fair and inclusive technology.

What do you hope to work on in the upcoming years?

In the context of the Smart City Waag is active with several projects on a broad spectrum of topics, such as personal data ownership (DECODE), citizen science (Amsterdam Smart Citizen Lab), maker education (Maakplaats 021), commons (Chamber of Commons), and much more.

In June we kicked off a new phase of Amsterdam Smart City. Amsterdam Smart City is a collective of citizens, businesses, knowledge institutions and public authorities that are convinced that the changes necessary for the city and region, can only be achieved through collaboration.

More partners than ever are pooling their networks, knowledge and skills. Who are they? We will present some of them one by one. City of Amstelveen: 'Work collectively to improve the quality of life!'

What is the main reason for you to join the open collective Amsterdam Smart City?

We believe in cooperation, and we think this is a great opportunity to bring together our knowledge and expertise. We aim to solve challenges together with Amsterdam Smart City, and scale up successful Amsterdam Smart City projects.

What is your ambition for the city and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area?

We are looking forward to work collectively to improve the quality of life in our cities and create a sustainable future for everyone!

What do you think is the biggest challenge for the city and the region in the future?

Creating a sustainable Metropolitan Area, that provides space for everyone to achieve his full potential.

How do you see the role of the residents and citizens in your plans?

Amstelveen Smart Society aims both to make our citizens smarter, and use the knowledge in our society (citizens, residents, entrepreneurs) to create the most fitting solutions.

What do you hope to work on in the upcoming years?

In Education: Programming and robotics in primary education

In Digitalising welfare in order to give children in low income families easy access to sporting clubs and cultural activities.

A pilot with Automated Vehicles for the first/last mile from Metro to destination

A fast broadband connection for every citizen in Amstelveen.

Picture: Stefan Cornelissen, Bill Kuipers, Guido Israels, Simone Doornbosch.

Recently, Ceresus published the 2018 Smart City Development Index Report, which uses the need-based smart city development framework with data science to evaluate 12 selected smart cities worldwide. The result shows that Amsterdam and Boston were ranked at the top.

Ceresus is a data-driven marketing consultancy and we have been inventing evaluation frameworks for companies to drive business growth and for industries to make the positive change.

If you are interested in our 2018 Smart City Development Index, please write me an email for more details (cindy.ho@ceresus.co) and check out the Index here:
>>>> https://www.ceresus.co/view.php

Take a pause from your busy life and look at our planet’s incredible sustainable natural cycle. Have you ever given a thought that our planet wouldn’t have lived billions of years without this natural cycle where the excretion of one living species tends to be another’s food – a natural zero waste management system.

On the 21st of June we kicked off a new phase of Amsterdam Smart City. Amsterdam Smart City is an open collective of citizens, businesses, knowledge institutions and public authorities that are convinced that the changes necessary for the city and region, can only be achieved through collaboration.

More partners than ever are pooling their networks, knowledge and skills. Who are they? We will present some of them one by one. Now AMS Institute: ‘Creating value for all involved parties including citizens makes the process of innovation more complex, but leads to better results.'

What is the main reason for you to join the open collective Amsterdam Smart City?

The main reason to join the ASC coalition of the willing is to co-develop and accelerate urban innovations that create true value, matter to citizens and help solve some of the most pressing challenges in our city (and cities worldwide). By joining forces we hope to speed up the process of innovation, create more value for society and reduce the risks associated to new solutions. AMS Institute is able to contribute with cutting-edge research and knowhow to co-create urban solutions that work.

What is your ambition for the city and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area?

We aim to help create and (re-)design the city into a sustainable, resilient, intelligent and creative city with a very high quality of life for its citizens and visitors. This is to create a prosperous future. We bring together some of the brightest minds and knowhow in technology, engineering and design to make work on the topic of urban innovation.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for the city and the region in the future?

Working towards the most prosperous, sustainable and creative region in the Netherlands, and even Europe, with a high quality of life for all of its citizens. This entitles solving challenges on sustainable energy transition, circular resource flows, accessible and affordable mobility, and the development of new digital technologies. On top of this, these solutions will need to be implemented in a meaningful and integrated way, in the context of highly densified areas with limited space availability. Solving these challenges in a holistic and citizen-centered way will be the biggest challenge, and opportunity.

How do you see the role of the residents and citizens in your plans?

Co-creating and co-developing urban solutions requires involvement and empowerment of citizens in the innovation process. This should enhance and facilitate the development and implementation of accepted solutions that work and create value for all involved parties, including citizens. This makes the process of innovation more complex, but should lead to better results and impact. How to organize citizen involvement and empowerment in uncertain innovation processes is something we, together with the broader ASC initiative, will have to learn and discover along the way.

What do you hope to work on in the upcoming years?

We hope to work on new solutions in the area of renewable energy integration in the city, Mobility as a Service, with solutions that are affordable and accessible to all, circular economy in the city, and adequate and meaningful digital technologies that improve city services and operations that enable citizen empowerment.

Thanks @Lotte Duursma for inviting me to share this summary of 'We Make the City', and thank you to Amsterdam for the generous welcome. Looking forward to learning more from such diverse, creative and inclusive citizens and sharing 'down-under'.

On the 21st of June we kicked off a new phase of Amsterdam Smart City. Amsterdam Smart City is an open collective of citizens, businesses, knowledge institutions and public authorities that are convinced that the changes necessary for the city and region, can only be achieved through collaboration.

More partners than ever are pooling their networks, knowledge and skills. Who are they? We will present some of them one by one. This time Pakhuis de Zwijger: ‘It is essential to make sure all Amsterdammers can decide about the future of their city.'

What is the main reason for you to join the open collective Amsterdam Smart City?

As Pakhuis de Zwijger we would like to facilitate and participate in an open dialogue on the transition of our city. We believe in the goals Amsterdam Smart City stated in the transition paths to a digital, circular and energy neutral city.

Amsterdam Smart City as a collective of cooperation is the perfect platform to achieve these goals.

What is your ambition for the city and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area?

Pakhuis de Zwijger would always like to strengthen the dialogue between all Amsterdammers. We do this by organising events, dinners, festivals, conferences and screening films.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for the city and the region in the future?

With all the challenges of this time, like the energy transition, the unprecedented growth of the city, keeping the digital infrastructure open and accessible and the growing city moving, it is essential that we make sure that all Amsterdammers are able to participate in deciding the future of their city.

How do you see the role of the residents and citizens in your plans?

The Amsterdammers are central to achieving the goals of Amsterdam Smart City. That is why we are facilitating dialogues both in Pakhuis de Zwijger but also elsewhere in the city and through a festival like WeMakeThe.City.

What do you hope to work on in the upcoming years?

Last season we organised more than 600 events in Pakhuis de Zwijger and, together with our partners, we staged WeMakeThe.City. Next season we will certainly bring new events and a new edition of WeMakeThe.City. See our events in the calendar of Amsterdam Smart City or our website for more information.

> Let’s create better streets, neighbourhoods and cities!

Photo: Koen Smilde Photography

Interesting read in addition to Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil

By Stacy Cowley, NY Times, 2018/08/13.

When you’re browsing a website and the mouse cursor disappears, it might be a computer glitch — or it might be a deliberate test to find out who you are.

The way you press, scroll and type on a phone screen or keyboard can be as unique as your fingerprints or facial features. To fight fraud, a growing number of banks and merchants are tracking visitors’ physical movements as they use websites and apps.

Some use the technology only to weed out automated attacks and suspicious transactions, but others are going significantly further, amassing tens of millions of profiles that can identify customers by how they touch, hold and tap their devices.

The data collection is invisible to those being watched. Using sensors in your phone or code on websites, companies can gather thousands of data points, known as “behavioral biometrics,” to help prove whether a digital user is actually the person she claims to be.

To security officials, the technology is a powerful safeguard. Major data breaches are a near-daily occurrence. Cyberthieves have obtained billions of passwords and other sensitive personal information, which can be used to steal from customers’ bank and shopping accounts and fraudulently open new ones.

“Identity is the ultimate digital currency, and it’s being weaponized at an industrial scale,” said Alisdair Faulkner, one of the founders of ThreatMetrix, which makes fraud detection software for large merchants and financial companies. Many of his company’s customers are now using or testing behavioral biometric tools, he said.

Privacy advocates view the biometric tools as potentially troubling, partly because few companies disclose to users when and how their taps and swipes are being tracked.

Continue reading >>>

On the 21st of June, the launch of the new Amsterdam Smart City took place. Our open collective, with more partners than ever, incorporates citizens in the city challenges. But many initiatives arise from residents themselves. We talked to a few of them to hear how they 'make the city'.

The video is in Dutch and has subtitles in English.

Next week, as part of We Make the City, we will be demonstrating some of the latest camera and object recognition technology and discuss the past, present and future of neighborhoods and how they relate to public data collected as a service solution vs a surveillance system.

Join us on Thursday June 21 at 2PM at Makerversity (part of the Marineterrien) for a thought provoking panel of guests including: Marc Schoneveld (DataLab), Bert Spaan (city data applications), Kim Smouter (Head of Public Affairs & Professional Standards, ESOMAR) and Tom van Arman (CITIXL).

Signup here: http://bit.ly/2JMLreQ

Why are we doing this?

The Chinese social credit system (SCS) was rolled out in 2014 and is planned to be fully implemented by 2020. That means that more than 1.4 billion Chinese either are currently or will be registered and tracked within the next few years. The Chinese government claims to use the system to both regulate the economy and individual citizen behavior by monitoring “trustworthiness”. According to the policy "It will forge a public opinion environment where keeping trust is glorious. It will strengthen sincerity in government affairs, commercial sincerity, social sincerity and the construction of judicial credibility." The Chinese government gathers information about its citizens’ including facial recognition, online behavior, spending, travel, social interactions and more. It is using this big data to provide individuals a social score that if high leads to privileges, but if low restrictions or punishment such as slower internet, restricted borrowing, travel bans, lowered status in dating apps and yes even less toilet paper in public restrooms.

This isn’t a Black Mirror episode,. Research shows that more than 90% of people rely on online reviews, so why not people reviews? While the Chinese government is using SCS to encourage trustworthy behavior, private industry is also venturing into people reviews and ratings. One such company, Peeple, released an app that allows individuals to review friends, colleagues, babysitter, dates and even enemies. The idea of this app outraged many in 2015 when it was unveiled and it has struggled to gain followers, but it could be just a matter of time before social rating systems become a way of life… and is it really so different from China’s SCS?

What are the dangers of this type of social scoring? Perhaps more importantly, what are the implications of harnessing big data from our traditional public commons? We have long had CCTV cameras in many of our big cities, including Amsterdam, for security purposes, but now technology such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) can use this data, combine it with other data and the use-cases are boundless. But the question is who will decide how this data should be used and when is it in the best interest of our citizens?

Good Intentions
They say history repeats itself and I cannot help but recall what happened here in the Netherlands…back in 1936 it became mandatory for each Dutch municipality to maintain a demographic record of its inhabitants and by 1939 everyone was required to carry a persoonskaart or a personal id card that contained information deemed important by the Nederland Bureau of Statistics including gender, age, religion, pollical party, heritage or “ethnic origins.” All of the information was stored centrally using, at the time, a technologically advanced “Hollerith punch-card” system. While the Dutch government collected and held the data for the best intentions, we all know what happened when Germany invaded and gained access to all of the centrally held data and processing power.

Fast forward 82 years and we no longer need personal identity cards when most of today’s cameras can recognize our faces in public and private domains. Should we be concerned? Is there a way to embrace technological advances for the “good” and somehow mitigate the risks? The famous historian, philosopher and author Yuval Harari said in his TedTalk that he “never underestimates human stupidity.” What I think he means by this is that history repeats itself in various ways and we often think it is a completely new situation, but it is often the same problem in a new context. For example there are lots of rights we rights we 21st century consumers will wave if we have to sacrifice convenience. The disruptive technology of today is a double-edged sword with wonderful potential to solve many of our world’s most pressing problems, but that potential also can, if we do not critically assess, have horrendous consequences. We, as citizens need to take responsibility and educate ourselves about what is happening in our increasingly complicated world. Unfortunately, it is as grave as it sounds. There is no reset button. It is our responsibility to make smart choices now for our future.