Big data analytics promises new insights into how society functions. But often it remains unclear how this data is generated and who owns it. In what ways could citizens be better included in datafication and smart city projects and in what ways could they participate? 

Big data can provide valuable and up-to-date insights into cities and villages at a granular level. However, its approach does not hold a participatory structure in nature; instead, it is often based on passive data collection, where citizens have less opportunity to understand and participate in data collection, analysis, and value creation. Citizens tend to remain merely as data sources and the final consumers of algorithmic and automated solutions (e.g., apps) rather than active participants in designing solutions and discussing based on the data collected. It is important to ensure that citizens have access to such a value-creation process and engage in conversations about the data, solutions, and challenges. In the past decade, there have been various civic tech initiatives worldwide that engage in tackling pressing issues in local communities (for example see Hamm et al., 2021; Shibuya et al., 2022). Such initiatives often involve technology-mediated data collection, such as using IoT sensors to collect air quality level information. The data collected through such bottom-up collection is conceptualized as “civic data,” which is data of, by, and for citizens (Hamm et al., 2021; Shibuya et al., 2021). The focus of civic data goes beyond merely data collection; rather, it focuses on the process of formulating what is important and why, thus developing strong bases for actions (Williams, 2020; Maskell et al., 2018).  

How do infrastructures matter for citizens? 

Infrastructuring civic data and civic tech is crucial for a democratic and participatory society. However, maintaining such activities often poses challenges and is short-lived (Hamm et al., 2024; Hamm et al., 2023). To sustain civic tech and participatory structures in our datafied society, we need to explore ways to infrastructure civic tech and civic data. For instance, we need to find ways to guarantee the transparency of data-driven solutions in sustainable urban development and promote the use of the collected data. In addition,  ensuring inclusiveness and diversity at all levels of the process and combining the localized knowledge and experiences to understand the data are essential. 

How should knowledge about infrastructures be communicated and what role can journalists, researchers or public officials play? 

A continuous discussion among diverse actors, including journalists, researchers, public officials, the private sector, and ordinary citizens, is needed. Data cannot generate any value if no one interprets and makes use of them. Also, the values of the data can differ among actors and how to interpret and understand, building arguments upon the data.