«smart City» in the Context of Intelegent System and Big Data: Strategies, Risks

Abstract

According to UN forecasts, by 2050 more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. Urban and rural areas are evolving and their evolution are based on wide use of broadband Internet systems, cloud computing platforms, geoinformation and geo-positioning systems, high-load computing clusters, wireless telecommunications, “Internet of Things” systems and other technological and information innovations. With the increasing complexity and cohesion of urban systems, the cost of management decisions - and the associated cost of decision errors - has increased significantly. The time for deciding has on the contrary decreased. Incoming data may be deliberately inaccurate, unreliable, clogged with random and intentional interference. And in many cases, it is the management decision that is a critical factor for development and proper functioning of the urban system especially in the context of the formation of a smart city infrastructure. The paper studies use cases of artificial intelligence systems (AI) for processing big data and decision support as a solution to the problems listed above. Use of AI systems allow collecting and cleaning data to obtain a reliable information landscape of the urban systems. Further, on the basis of the obtained picture, AI systems can be used for operational analysis and response to emerging crisis situations, for analyzing the medium-term perspective and balancing the optimal use of urban resources, for long-term planning of the urban environment development. Currently, according to experts, there are two main strategies for the development of information systems - vertical and horizontal. The article analyzes the possibility of applying these two strategies to the use of AI in an urban environment. Using the example of the implementation experience (ET City Brain), on the one hand, conclusions can be drawn about the long-term benefits of such an implementation, on the other, about the risks associated with "vendor lock-in" and the associated problems. One of the biggest risks is the subsequent monopolization of the management system, which transfers part of the power from city structures to the owners of the information system, who, in such conditions, gain the right to vote and leverage on municipalities. It is shown that maximal use of open data and open source software solutions are the most beneficial from the point of view from the point of view of the city and urban systems as stakeholders in the formation of a smart city.