West Palm Beach Launches Pilot of Digital Trust for Places & Routines
Published on September 18, 2024
September 18, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Diane G. Papadakos, Director of Communications
City of West Palm Beach – Mayor’s Office
dpapadakos@wpb.org
(561) 822-1411 (TTY: 800-955-8771)
Ansley Lacy, Marketing Coordinator
City of West Palm Beach – Community Redevelopment Agency
alacy@wpb.org
(561) 822-1484 (TTY: 800-955-8771)
West Palm Beach Launches Pilot of Digital Trust for Places & Routines (DTPR)
To increase transparency and accountability for the City’s digital technology
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – The City of West Palm Beach is trialing a new way to inform and engage people about technologies in the City’s public spaces, thanks to an investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The City of West Palm Beach was selected as one of three localities — along with the City of Charlotte in North Carolina and The Underline in Miami — to participate in the Knight Community DTPR Program by piloting the Digital Trust for Places and Routines (DTPR) standard through a partnership with Helpful Places.
DTPR is an open-source communication standard created to increase transparency, legibility, and accountability for digital technology that is increasingly being incorporated in public places, including our City. It functions as both a wayfinding system and a type of “nutrition label” designed to help people understand how these technologies work.
The City is using the DTPR standard specifically for smart city technologies in West Palm Beach, including those developed through the Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3). Funded by the National Science Foundation, CS3 is a partnership between five universities and colleges, including Florida Atlantic University, that aims to harness local data, in real time, to enhance urban planning, improve transportation systems, and ensure public safety. The goal of CS3 is to understand how people move and interact within our City, so we can make informed decisions on how to address community needs, reduce congestion, and allocate resources more effectively.
By providing the public with information on how these technologies collect and use data, who is accountable for the use of these technologies and the outcomes they enable, and how their privacy will be protected, DTPR empowers residents to weigh in on decisions around which technologies are implemented and how they are used to improve our entire community.
Signs are being installed along Clematis Street and in Heart & Soul Park to inform residents and visitors about nearby technologies installed by the City of West Palm Beach. The signs use a set of icons to visually communicate the type of technology being used and its purpose. QR codes will also be available for people to use to access more information and to provide feedback. The City is also actively gathering resident input through in-person surveys and focus groups.
“Cities use technology to create efficiencies, improve sustainability, develop economically, and enhance quality of life for residents,” said Kelly Jin, Vice President for Communities and National Initiatives at Knight Foundation. “But people must first be informed and understand how the technology works to be able to engage in meaningful public conversations on how their communities will benefit from these tools. We believe that Helpful Places and these pilot projects are setting up the foundations for how spaces can use technology to deliver community outcomes.”
“We commend the City of West Palm Beach for piloting DTPR as a standard for making the invisible technologies in public spaces visible and legible,” said Jacqueline Lu, President and Co-Founder of Helpful Places. “We look forward to having West Palm Beach join the growing number of communities around the world taking steps to empower people to participate in dialogues about technology in public spaces.”
Q&A
Why is the City of West Palm Beach piloting DTPR?
Technological innovations are often met with questions and concerns from the public, who are looking for increased transparency on how these technologies collect and use data, how their privacy will be protected, and who is accountable for the use of these technologies and the outcomes they enable. As the City continues to leverage technology to improve opportunities, community engagement and transparency remain at the forefront.
DTPR provides an organized and standardized way of understanding public-facing technologies by sharing that information in an accessible way and enabling resident feedback.
Where else has DTPR been used?
There have been twelve deployments and counting across North America, Europe and Australia. In the United States, DTPR has been used in the following cities: Boston, MA; Washington, DC; Detroit, MI; Long Beach, CA; Charlotte, NC; and Miami, FL. The City of Long Beach’s deployment of DTPR was recently profiled in the Los Angeles Times and Government Technology.
How was DTPR developed?
The standard was created through a collaborative effort that involved dozens of experts across privacy, smart cities, tech, and the public realm. It was then refined through an open co-design process and inclusive usability testing. DTPR represents a working consensus on the most important things that people want to know — and what experts in privacy and responsible tech consider as key concepts to communicate — about digital tech.
Research and engagement efforts from other DTPR deployments have shown that the standard helps people better understand a technology and what it does, and that people would like to see DTPR used for other technologies in their community.
How can I learn more about DTPR?
You can find more information on the DTPR website here: DTPR.io
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About the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA):
A Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is a dependent district established by City government to carry out redevelopment activities that include reducing or eliminating blight, improving the economic health of an area, and encouraging public and private investments in a CRA district. The CRA is governed by State Statutes, Chapter 163, Part III. The West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF).
About the City of West Palm Beach:
The City of West Palm Beach is a vibrant and dynamic City located on the Atlantic coast of Florida. With a rich history, a thriving arts and cultural scene, and a commitment to sustainability, the City of West Palm Beach is a great place to live, work, and play. As one of the three largest cities making up the South Florida region, and the central City of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach is a vibrant, growing, waterfront City that offers the business advantages available in the region, combined with a more refined and relaxed environment for living and working. To learn more about the City of West Palm Beach, visit us on our official website, or follow us on our social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and/or Linked-in.
About DTPR and Helpful Places:
Digital Trust for Places & Routines (DTPR) is an open-source communication standard to increase the transparency, legibility and accountability of digital technology in the built environment. It is both a wayfinding system and type of “nutrition label” designed to communicate key information about digital technology and data practices in public places, including the type and purpose of a technology solution. It uses a set of icons presented in an organized way to communicate these concepts visually, and QR codes for people to seek more information and provide feedback.
The DTPR standard is currently stewarded by Helpful Places, a mission-driven startup that aims to help organizations, and the communities they serve, harness the power of technology in ways that are transparent, inclusive, participatory, and in alignment with the community's goals.
Helpful Places is working with organizations around the world to implement the DTPR standard in their communities for a variety of different public space technology projects. DTPR has seen increasing interest and adoption, including twelve deployments and counting across three continents.
Sydney Olympic Park’s deployment of DTPR won the Trusted IoT Service Award at the 2024 Australian IoT Awards. The standard was also highlighted in the American Planning Association’s 2023 Trend Report for Planners, was a finalist for the 2023 World Smart City Innovation Award and for Most Impactful Privacy Product or Service at the 2024 PICCASO Awards, and is a featured initiative of the World Economic Forum’s Future of the Connected World Global Action Plan.