Wrap-up: Launch Responsible Sensing Lab & Opening 'Senses of Amsterdam' at The Studio of NEMO

Launching Responsible Sensing Lab

On this day, Data Protection Day, Amsterdam announced that it wants to introduce a reporting requirement for sensors in the city. The mayor and city council members declared that it wants to keep track of devices that collect data in Amsterdam’s public space, such as cameras and sensors, in a sensor register. Besides reporting and registering, the City of Amsterdam finds it important to develop and make responsible alternatives available for ‘smart’ technologies and sensors in the city. These alternatives will be researched and tested within the Responsible Sensing Lab.

The Responsible Sensing Lab explores how to integrate social values in the design of sensing systems in public space. It is a testbed for conducting rigorous, transparent, and replicable research on how smart technologies placed in public space can be designed in a way that makes the digital city ‘responsible’. TheResponsible Sensing Lab (RSL) is a collaboration of AMS Institute and the Digital City program of the City of Amsterdam. More information here.

To celebrate the launch, we organized an interactive livestream. In several online workshops we also talked about what responsible sensing means, and discussed what should be done to design a better, more democratic, and more responsible digital future city.

Event program
Prior to the plenary interactive livestream we hosted several online workshops in which we talked about what responsible sensing means, and discuss what should be done to design a better, more democratic, and more responsible digital future city.

During the event, our keynote speaker Anthony Townsend discussed the current state of Smart Cities through a livestream from the US. Follow by a talkshow and several panel discussion. Deputy Mayor Touria Meliani closed the program with the official (virtual) opening of the exhibit.

Find the highlights of the event here in the recoding:
| 00:04 - 00:26 | Dr. Anthony M. Townsends keynote ‘From Parasite to Symbiant: Redesigning Our Relationship With Urban Sensors’.
| 00:27 – 00:50 | The Responsible Sensing Lab and its projects, for example the Camera Shutter and the mmwave sensor.
| 00:51 – 01:15 | Panel discussion on The Influence of the coronavirus on surveillance in Amsterdam.
| 01:16 – 01:25 | Interview with Deputy Mayer Touria Meliani (Digital City) about responsible sensing in a smart city like Amsterdam & official opening of the exhibit 'Senses of Amsterdam' at The Studio of NEMO.

Opening Senses of Amsterdam at The Studio of NEMO

This event also marked the opening of ‘Senses of Amsterdam’: an interactive exhibit about sensors in the city at the Studio of NEMO Science Museum. In 'Senses of Amsterdam' you can discover how sensors make Amsterdam a smarter city. This interactive installation at at the Studio of NEMO Science Museum is about the sensors we use in our city. What measurements are taken and how is data collected? The installation informs about the sensors in Amsterdam and how these sensors make the city smarter. You will be challenged to think along with them, and how we can make their use more 'responsible'.

The installation is a collaboration of AMS Institute, City of Amsterdam and NEMO, and is part of the program Responsible Sensing Lab. Deputy Mayor Touria Meliani official opened the exhibit during the event.

Please note: in line with the guidelines of the Dutch national government with regard to the corona virus, NEMO The Studio has currently closed its doors for the public. We hope to welcome you to the installation once these guidelines allow for public visits again.

For now, you can watch the trailer or visit the virtual exhibit here>>

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For most recent updates and news on Responsible Sensing Lab please visit the website: www.responsiblesensinglab.org.

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