Report Scores Cities to See if Technology Makes Them Safer

More and more people are migrating to

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cities. By 2030, 60 percent of the world’s population will live in an urban setting, according to the United Nations. How can these growing cities reduce conflicts, crime, violence, and terrorism?

In a word: technology. Cameras, command centers, social media alerts, predictive algorithms, and other digital and mobile technologies are already improving public safety in some capital cities, says a new report from the Brookings Institution. It finds that some of the safest cities in the world have made it a priority to invest in digital infrastructure and to support communities and law enforcement with tech-based initiatives. The results of these actions not only save lives, but improve the city’s productivity and national competitiveness.

“Our hope is that people can see who the leading innovators are and draw lessons for their own cities,” said Darrel West, Vice President and Director of Governance Studies and the Founding Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings. West co-authored the study, “Benefits and Best Practices of Safe City Innovation,” with Daniel Bernstein, a science policy Fellow at the IDA Science and Technology Institute.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/networks/report-scores-cities-to-figure-out-if-investing-in-technology-makes-them-safer