Meet the “smart citizens”, stars of the Digital Symposium

Organised by ANTIC Pays Basque in Bayonne at the start of July, the 8^th Digital Symposium put citizens and the data they generate at the centre of discussions on strategies for a “smart city”.

For around ten years, the “smart city” concept has inspired the development of digital technologies and the ambition of local authorities for optimization of resources. 70% of the global population will be living in cities by 2050, compared to 50% today. This growing urbanization is pushing the heads of local authorities to imagine, develop and then put into action methods and tools for cooperation between businesses and citizens.

In 2016, the Pays Basque Agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ANTIC Pays Basque) organised its Digital Symposium on the theme “The communicative city - IoT and related topics” with a view to putting into action new potential technologies. For the 2017 edition, this perspective will run alongside the participation of citizens, a subject which was discussed at Bayonne in the presence of two hundred participants.

By producing data collected by several sensors, citizens provide data banks, whose information can be used to optimize the general organization of cities. The Digital Symposium 2017 addressed the question of ownership of these data, as well as how they are shared, safeguarding how they are stored and used, the needs of specific platforms and data centres, and even the level of citizen knowledge of digital tools and functions.

The Digital Symposium offered talks by a range of experts including Raphaël Rogé, digital manager at Caisse des dépôts et consignations, Francis Pisani, journalist and writer, Fabien Cauchi, director of the company Metapolis, not forgetting presentations from representatives of local authorities who are developing smart city strategies and demonstrations by operators and service providers. With all this on offer, it’s safe to say that the eighth edition of the Digital Symposium provided participants with an extensive overview of the questions raised by the concept of the digital citizen but also of current solutions.

ANTIC website: www.antic-paysbasque.com