'Smart City' Rio de Janeiro had forgotten to focus on the people

In advance of hosting the 2014 World Cup and this year’s Olympics, Rio de Janeiro launched two big data operation centers: the (not-so-cleverly named) Operations Center, and the (Big Brotherishly named) Integrated Center of Command and Control. These initiatives earned Rio a “World Smart City Award” from the Smart City Expo World Congress in 2013. A new analysis finds that, despite doing some good, the program often forgot to focus on the people.