Giving Compass' Take:

• This Technical.ly Philly post reports on remarks by Philadelphia's Chief Information Officer Mark Wheeler on why we must listen to communities more closely before implementing technology in urban areas.

• It all starts with stronger relationships between policymakers and constituents: How can we best serve the people? In what ways can tech improve lives?

• Here are the foundations and other organizations making a big impact on smart cities.

Don’t get hung up on smart cities as a futuristic concept: The real smart cities are the ones that think about what communities need, then use technology to deliver that efficiently.

That was the takeaway from a panel of smart-city experts convened in Philly by the Knight Foundation on Tuesday, as part of its 2018 Smart Cities Forum.

A panel on the concept of smart cities drew thoughts from newly-minted Philly CIO Mark Wheeler, Harvard Law School professor Susan Crawford, former Boston CIO Jascha Franklin-Hodge and Georgia Tech’s Debra Lam.

Wheeler, who received the permanent appointment last week after eight months as interim Chief Information Officer, posited that any discussion around smart-city implementation has to take a bottom-up approach. A shiny new tech platform isn’t necessarily something the community needs.

“It’s overwhelmingly beneficial to listen to the communities and understand what their needs are,” Wheeler said.

Read the full article about how smart city initiatives can help build trust in government by Roberto Torres at Technical.ly Philly.