Smart city initiatives may be flourishing in North America where resources and opportunities abound but challenges remain. Concerns around safety, security and data privacy are making headlines. Several cities are banning or considering bans on use of citizen data such as mobile location and facial recognition. And high-profile projects like Sidewalk Labs vision for Toronto have been met with data privacy controversy despite a plan to create an independent trust for guarding citizen data. Lack of standards for the ethics and legality around capturing and using this type of personal data underlies many of these concerns, and it’s exacerbated by the fact that each smart city initiative is sponsored and governed by different players, technologies, policies and funding mechanisms.

However, the tide may be turning. Cities are beginning to develop privacy policies and international standards bodies like the ISO have started to develop smart city standards. In another example, last month 15 cities in the region partnered with other cities, foundations and businesses to launch the Open Mobility Foundation to focus on the development and adoption of mobility data standards.