Good urban planning with an infrastructure that is oriented and developed to meet the needs of its citizens is certainly not a modern invention. In the distant past, individual houses sprung up near each other to form settlements. These became cities, which gradually acquired paved roads and the first infrastructure networks for water, electricity, sewage and waste disposal.
As a result, the need for new and, above all, faster information and communication opportunities grew. It also means looking at costs and benefits and carrying out risk analyses. In Darmstadt, participation is important. Citizens are involved, such as in the Smart City Laboratory, and no one is forced to do anything. Nevertheless, everyone will benefit from the digitalisation of infrastructure, administration and retail.
With its intelligent network, such a city connects people digitally AND socially. To achieve this, a city must first find ways to know the needs of its citizens, and then find the appropriate strategies and tools.
This gave us experimental ground in which we could and can continue to try things out. Digitalisation can also help the city save money, because its employees can perform their tasks more efficiently. It examines how the economy, society, companies, organisations and individuals can counter and prevent threats on the internet. In the Annual Report, panel member Dr Matthias Hollick examines the transformation of cities into digital and smart cities and describes how their infrastructures need to be designed so that they do not pose a risk.
Security — protection, in the sense of confidentiality and availability; absence of danger to the user due to system or component failures — focus on protection against cyberattacks on critical infrastructures that can become a danger to life and limb of the population. Privacy — the right of every citizen to self-determination as to which of their data should be made available to others.
