RightsCon Tunis 2019

The session will start with the three organizers briefly sharing ‘smart-city’ initiatives in their respective cities: Toronto, CA (Sidewalk Labs); Berlin, DE (AfD doxing, Fuck Off Google); and Boston, USA (FabCity Global Initiative, City-Scoring). Following the introduction, we will begin mapping the local representation in the room and divide into small working groups with cross-continental and diverse perspectives. The goal of the working groups will be to share smart-city initiatives taking place in our communities and draft a Public Service Announcement (PSA). The PSA will be a call-to-arms for communities to band together by sharing lessons learned and organizing strategies against the onslaught of corporate oligarchy and the commodification of public data, infrastructure, and services. We will discuss comparative issues pertinent to millennial demographics such as: housing, the gig economy, education, healthcare, public consultation, climate change, and multilateral trade agreements on data infrastructure and surveillance tools. The goal of this session will be to go against the grain of neoliberal conceptualizations of ‘smart-cities’, or in other words: re-define our cities as ‘smart’ ONLY IF public services are equitable, accessible and inclusive.