Seeing through sensors - reflections on IoT in the public sector

Our cities, landscapes, institutions, and homes are increasingly being equipped with sensors that glean information that is being processed by algorithms and visualized to serve as a basis for decision making. In this talk, I will discuss how such IoT infrastructures are shaping society in novel ways. I will argue that it is important to approach IoT infrastructures as 'machineries of knowing' that perform specific realities, rather than as 'cameras' providing neutral representations of the environments they sense. I will illustrate this argument through empirical examples from a pilot project in Bangladesh as well as examples from IoT visions in the public sector in Norway. Having discussed the performativity of IoT infrastructures, I will reflect on how we can use this insight in the development of IoT infrastructures for the public sector. My talk will be based on the NRC-funded project 'InfraData - Infrastructuring Internet of Things for public governance’, which consists of researchers from Department of Informatics, UiO; Department of Computer Science, NTNU; and Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, UiO.