People, Data and Ethics in Smart Communities, with Rohan Light

In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a great chat with Rohan Light, a public interest technologist who works on data strategy, governance and risk problems. Rohan tells us about his dual background in the country and the city, and his passion for people, communities, the society we live in and data governance. Rohan and I discuss how he got into the Smart Community space and what a Smart Community is to him, as well as what data means for our communities and how data governance issues can become democratic issues. We discuss why it's important that communities and government are engaging with data conversations and ethics, and the power of not only asking the communities the right questions but also of understanding the differences in language in their answers. Rohan and I talk about the hidden problem of people who are not tech-enabled getting left behind, and the opportunities and challenges of baking Smart Community thinking and engagement into our essential services. Rohan shares his thoughts with us on algorithmic bias, algorithmic accountability, creeping AI ethics issues and the paradox that things can be explained but not understood. Plus, the need to bridge the gap between expertise and communication of expertise. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trend of the role of public art as a means of dealing with the techno shock we are experiencing, and why cities must get across the problem of the filter bubble and disinformation, online and offline. As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Rohan on LinkedIn Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.