IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Spring 2014 - 36

Networks (NGN), and therefore,
increases the importance of the
ubiquitous Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). According to Aguilar et al. [4], the network of wireless
sensors represents an emerging
technology that resulted both from
the advances of micro-electromechanical systems and from the latest wireless technologies, over the
last decade.
According to Evans [5], to meet
that demand research on WSN has
advanced in a broad range of applications that include monitoring
of vehicular traffic in cities or of
environmental phenomena, among
many other possibilities.

Smart Cities
The convergent role played by
ICTs in the daily lives of individuals, companies and governments
becomes increasingly important
as cities effectively turn into platforms of economic development.
This is highlighted by the European Technology platform [6], an
initiative aimed at instigating the
development of network capacities
as a way to achieve their potential
in allowing improvements in the
living standard of citizens.
In this sense, Firmino [7] points
out that there is a major commitment of planners and technological
development agencies to stimulate
integrated technological development in many cities and regions
worldwide, as a way to create digital smart cities.
However, this transition raises
new security issues. According to
Deluca [8], although the WSN are
backed by a specialized structure
with no connection to communication networks, a significant part of
these networks can be, and indeed
are being, connected to information systems.
Another key issue relates to
the privacy of the information
monitored by sensors, and to the
implications that the violation of
this principle can have on citizens' routines and habits in case
36

of malicious or unintentional data
exposure. In this context, the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) [9] points out that one of
the most important challenges for
adopting these emerging technologies in smart cities is in data protection and privacy.

Presence of Power and
Authority in the Relation
Between Technology
and Society
Technological neutrality is the bias
that permeates the discourse about
the benefits of applying ICTs in
smart cities. However, one should
note the weakness of this view,
as pointed out by many authors.
Dagnino [10] describes such a
perception of science as a neutral
activity carried out by researchers
imbued with the purpose of seeking the truth as illusory and disconnected from social reality.
Thus, the reliance on ICTs in the
management of smart cities has often
been presented as absolutely neutral,
whether in smart buildings, in traffic
monitoring, in the surveillance of stadiums, or in the monitoring of water
flow in basins. Nevertheless, according to Dirks [11], smart cities should
have a level of maturity in the collection, processing, and dissemination
of information. These requirements
are summarized in three specific
points: instrumentation (collection
and provision of data), interconnection (different systems are interconnected and data are exchanged to
produce information), and finally
intelligence (with the ability to use
the information, modeling patterns,
and behaviors).
For paraense [12], the use of
distributed intelligence in the management of smart cities requires
a sensor network as an interface
between the real and the digital worlds. Ubiquitous Networks
(USN) in the structure of smart cities will act as eyes and ears, collecting data and acting as a source
of the information required by the
city management. According to the

IBM taxonomy, this part refers to
the instrumentation phase.
Although there are many potential benefits, it is necessary to consider the conditions for the adoption
of such new technologies, and to
consider the issues related to their
acceptance by the population such
as data privacy, information security, availability, interoperability,
and the provision of the necessary
infrastructure as well as an efficient and effective management.
This corresponds to the interconnection phase.
Finally, the third and most
important part of the process, the
intelligence dimension, requires
going beyond the strictly technical aspects. When analyzing ICTs'
contributions, either positive or
negative, to efficiency and productivity or their environmental
effects it is not enough to evaluate
machines, structures, and systems.
The role of specific forms of power
and authority should be taken into
account in the third phase. After
all, the technology is connected
with political decisions, and is
capable of manipulating reality and
of favoring certain social classes.
Winner [13] exemplifies such a
problem by mentioning the case of
the Long Island bridges. In short,
these bridges were built intentionally
below the standard height in order to
preclude the passage of buses. This
action was a way to manipulate society, as this would prevent the black
and poor population to get to these
so-called sophisticated areas, keeping it exclusive for the middle and
upper classes. In such a way, technology granted privileges to certain
social groups over the others.
Thus, when it comes to the construction of smart cities, it is very
important to understand what
underpins their structures and to
understand what are the purposes
of their sensors. The key issue is
then asking whenever city authorities acquire data by means of
sensor system, what were the criteria for this acquisition, who is

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

SprING 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Spring 2014