Step 2: Project Scope & Brief

11 August 2021

Stinze Smit, Daan Groenink, Amy Rook, Nanook Vermaas

Establish the location, population, stakeholders (including the public), and a timeline that will help you achieve your goals. This step is about the WHERE, WHO and WHEN.

2.1 Questions

Establish the location, population, stakeholders (including the public), and a timeline that will help you achieve your goals. This is about getting your Open Source Crowd Monitoring project implemented in the right space with the right people at the right time – the WHERE, WHO and WHEN. Some considerations would include:

Define location criteria against your goals and desired outcomes.
Where can you best test your ideas? Establish a location
Who will need to help you accomplish your goals? Identify your team and stakeholders. Include the public as a stakeholder but keep your communication internal at this point.
Establish governance, ownership, roles, and responsibilities.
When do you think you, your team and stakeholders will be ready? When do you want to test?
Create a preliminary plan and schedule. Most likely both will change!

Now is the time to get an overview of the Technical, Spatial and Legal considerations involved in STEP 3. The Ethical aspects and interrelationships need to be taken into account before you move forward with your crowd monitoring project.

2.2.1 TADA Data Ethics

It is important to be aware of the social and ethical implications of Crowd Monitoring in public spaces. Before you start to plan your project take into account data ethics to inform your decision making using an effective framework:

https://tada.city

DEDA App

The DEDA app addresses the different phases of a data project with individual questions. Depending on the user’s answers, DEDA responds with new questions, addresses concerns and points to action points.

https://dataschool.nl/en/deda/app/

The NYC IoT Strategy – Example of Defining Principles

Every city is different but it’s a good idea to establish social values as part of a city wide policy for sensing projects.

In March 2021, the New York City Mayor’s Office of the CTO published their IoT Strategy to plan for more inclusive sensing projects in public spaces. As part of this report they clearly defined six IoT principles that revolve around:

Governance and Coordination
Fairness and Equality
Privacy and Transparency
Efficiency and Sustainability
Security and Safety
Openess and Public Engagement

For details about these principles download the full report here: NYC IoT Strategy

2.2.2 The General Data Protection Regulation

At this stage it is a good idea to become familiar with the GDPR. This will help guide you towards good decisions at this early stage in the context of legal aspects of data use and reuse in public spaces.

https://gdpr.eu

2.2.3 Project Scope and Brief Examples

Of course there are many ways to plan a project and you most likely have your own way of doing things but for Open Source Crowd Monitoring using computer vision technology there are some specifics you should prepare for.
http://www.mspguide.org/msp-guide
Other useful links for Project Scope and Brief examples:

Urban Labs: A Living Lab way of Working from the Amsterdam Metropolitan Solutions Institute (AMS) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kris_Steen/publication/318109901_Urban_Living_Labs_A_Living_Lab_Way_of_Working/links/595a2f97aca2728a137aa467/Urban-Living-Labs-A-Living-Lab-Way-of-Working.pdf

How to write a project scope statement: This resource from Project Engineer NET is only one of several examples and explanations which you may find useful https://www.projectengineer.net/how-to-write-a-project-scope-statement/