Smart cities are taking shape in small ways, as the technology develops and makes its way to market. Orange Silicon Valley's Will Barkis discusses some of the newer tech he's seeing, where it might be used and privacy concerns that come up.

Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief

October 21, 2019

2 Min Read
Podcast: Orange Silicon Valley's Will Barkis on Smart Cities

Will Barkis leads the Smart Cities portfolio at Orange Silicon Valley's innovation lab and he spoke to Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey about the potential benefits and privacy worries surrounding computer vision, and what happens when municipalities begin using AI for work such as facial recognition.

Is there a market for smart cities for service providers? Yes, but it depends on where the city is, who the service provider is and what the citizens are willing to put up with, Barkis said. There are no easy answers and that's why the examples of smart city applications are few and far between when compared to the volumes of hype about what's possible by interconnecting transit systems, cameras, utilities and other major city systems.

Another issue we hit on is whether service providers have some advantage in the minds of consumers. Are they more trusted than the newer, Internet-based kids on the block? That, too, is a tricky discussion. Telecom services have evolved by asking consumers to pay for new services with an implicit understanding of what you get for your money. Internet-based firms aren't necessarily using that model; they may want data as the main currency and, if so, "it's very important to consider how people expect their data to be used," when cities are considering new smart city applications, Barkis said.

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Phil Harvey, US Bureau Chief, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

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