Participatory sensing, privacy, and trust management for interactive local government

Faced with increasing pressure regarding resources and urban infrastructure, local governments implement strategic plans with intentions of improving the quality of life for their citizens. This work explores participatory sensing (PS) and the issues associated with governance in the light of new information-gathering capabilities and technologies. These new technologies directly engage citizens in collecting data and providing contextual insight. The insight gathered has the potential to greatly enhance City Council operations in efficient management. Key hurdles affecting the viability and uptake of PS from different stakeholder perspectives are examined. The aim is to understand whether (or under what conditions) there can be a the mutually-beneficial communication link between citizens and the government when using the emerging technologies. Participants? respective value propositions are considered. Simultaneously community engagement is increased, and city operations are enhanced through a partnership with citizens. The challenges of PS, and associated privacy impacts, are considered through the application lens of noise monitoring (framed by the particular insights and needs of the City of Melbourne). This provides insight on the social impacts of emerging technologies, particularly the issue of privacy infringement and other associated risks and implications. These social impacts are examined not only in light of the individual but also in light of the shared environments. Accordingly, responsibilities and avenues for mitigation are assigned to stakeholders, which includes user awareness factors, policy frameworks, and design-level strategies.