Smart cities guide for sharing data and information launched

Smart cities guide for sharing data and information launched

May 02, 2017 by John Hatcher

BSI has launched a new guide on establishing a framework for sharing data and information services in cities.

PAS 183:2017 Smart Cities – guide to establishing a decision-making framework for sharing data and information services – was developed at the request of the Cities Standards Institute in part to support a transparent approach to making decisions. The Cities Standard Institute is a collaboration between BSI and the Future Cities Catapult to create a standards-based community of good practice for cities and the companies they work with.

Creating specific data-sharing agreements can help decision-makers fully realize the benefits and value of data and information services in a city. Currently, data is mostly used for a specific purpose by cities, often related to a public task, with the value of data sharing yet to be fully explored and realized by cities. Data is not yet widely viewed as an essential asset which can be used to transform a city. There is also untapped potential for data to provide the basis for new commercial models in smart cities.

An effective decision-making framework for sharing data can help ensure that city decision-makers – in the public, private and third sectors – have the best overall data to shape their decision making. The consequences for missing data or the misinterpretation of data can lead to wrong actions – sometimes with debilitating consequences for an organization or the wider public.

PAS 183 defines the data framework for sharing city data to enable discussions between the specialists who build and design the physical and digital services and the decisions-makers using data to transform their city.

The guide covers types of data in smart cities; establishing a data sharing culture; a data value chain, and its roles and responsibilities; purposes for data use; assessing data states; defining access rights for data; and data formats of transportation.

Full data interoperability requires a data framework to be created across the entire spectrum of data for a city: open, closed and shared data. For some cities, there will also be a need to establish specific data sharing agreements, particularly where data is being shared by multiple organizations simultaneously.

Dan Palmer, head of manufacturing at BSI, said: “PAS 183 was created to make the process of sharing different sets of data as easy as possible, and set out guidelines for appropriate use of data.

“This PAS provides clarity around what types of data can be published as open data, what can be shared and what should be kept private. The sharing of as wide a range of data as possible is essential in order for both city authorities and citizens to make informed decisions about the options open to them.”