The goal for developing a guideline and a framework is to provide a standard process for thinking about what gets measured and how, said NIST’s David Wollman, deputy chief of smart connected systems in NIST’s Communications Technology Laboratory…

An emphasis on citizen engagement in project evaluation might help address a “techlash,” according to Stan Caldwell, executive director of Carnegie Mellon University’s transportation research institute, Traffic21.

The dissolution of high-profile smart city efforts like San Diego’s smart streetlights program and Sidewalk Labs’ controversial Quayside project in Toronto shows residents’ skepticism of certain smart city projects or technologies. “My advice for cities is that this is the time where you have to be extra cautious about being very transparent about what we’re doing,” Caldwell said. Cities must engage the public, he said, which often goes counter to how smart cities originally functioned.