In computing, security is commonly described as the conjunction of three major properties: information confidentiality (the fact that only authorized entities can access a piece of information), integrity (the fact that a piece of information cannot be unduly modified) and availability (the fact that authorized entities are not prevented from accessing a piece of information). In order to ensure these properties, various types of properties and technical tools may be used, such as authentication, authorization, non-repudiability, encryption, cryptographic signature, etc.
Published in Chapter:
Community Mesh Networks: Citizens' Participation in the Deployment of Smart Cities
Primavera De Filippi (Université Paris II, France & Harvard, USA)
Copyright: © 2015
|Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8282-5.ch014
Abstract
Smart cities embed information and communication technologies (ICT) to create interactive milieus that constitute a bridge between the physical and the digital world. In their attempt to improve citizens' quality of life through a more efficient use and sustainability of resources, smart cities might, however, also raise important concerns as regards the privacy and confidentiality of personal data flows. Insofar as the design of a city's telecommunication infrastructure is likely to affect the nature of social dynamics and human interactions, it should, ideally, be achieved through a coordinated, citizen-centric approach combining integrated ICTs with active citizen participation and intelligent physical, digital and informational resource management. This chapter analyzes the case of community mesh networks as an example of grassroots decentralized communication infrastructures, whose architecture design has important implications for the deployment and configuration of smart cities.