Engagement and Inclusivity Are Focus of Smart City Research Publication

The November 21, 2021 edition of the IEEE Future Directions newsletter featured a publication by CICS own Dr. Becky Hammons and two alumni, Rabia Daud and Yinka Ajibola. Best Practices for Community Engagement in Smart Cities was a qualitative research study conducted with five city planners across the United States to learn more about how community engagement and inclusiveness are addressed in contemporary smart city initiatives.

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Dr. Hammons focuses locally as well as internationally on smart city initiatives. In addition to serving as co-chair of the IEEE IoT Initiative Smart Cities Working Group, she is chair of the Global Cities Teams Challenge Ethics Action Cluster (NTIA/NIST), and serves as chair of the Internationalization Taskforce for the College of Communication, Information, and Media at Ball State University. As an associate professor for CICS, Dr. Hammons current technology industry research interests include Ethics in Smart Cities, the Internet of Things for Elders, and Gold-Collar Workers. Dr. Hammons thrives on leading organizational change initiatives and coaching individuals and teams to reach their full potential.

Rabia Daud is a July 2021 graduate of CICS. Originally from Lahore, Pakistan, Rabia completed her undergraduate from DePauw University and majored in Economics and Communication before completing her masters. Rabia served as a graduate assistant for Dr. Hammons and was able to have extensive work in the area of Smart City planning and ethical use of the Internet of Things (IoT) for smart city planners in the US.

Yinka Ajibola is currently a Ph.D. student at the Information School (iSchool) at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Yinka obtained his master’s in Political Science (M.A) and Information Communication Sciences (M.Sc) from Ball State University. Yinka’s research is focused on technological design and implementation within the developing context with a focused interest in how technology can be leveraged in developing regions / underserved communities to aid growth.

The work of these scholars can be found in the Technology Policy & Ethics section of the IEEE Future Directions publication. According to IEEE,

“IEEE Technology Policy & Ethics is a bi-monthly digital publication featuring timely technical, policy, ethical, social, governmental, but not political commentary, related to emerging technologies and advancements that are electrical and electronic in nature. Future Directions considers the reflection of technology through the lens of social implications a key tenant as IEEE works to incubate and promote technologies. This publication is actively promoted across IEEE Future Directions Initiatives. Readers of this newsletter include IEEE top to middle-level leadership, policy and technology experts, academicians, scholars, and students”.