"DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP: SOME ETHICAL CHALLENGES"
MIRKO GARASIC

By looking at various global polis and smart cities ranging from South Korea to Germany -which are seen as virtuous examples of direct democracy, of technological activism capable of substantially reducing gas emissions from private vehicles and using 5G also as a life-saving tool (especially when connected to medical emergency situations such as the recent pandemic), the intention of this talk is to engage with some of the least appealing aspects of this move into the digital dimension that citizens from all over the world are seeing as we speak. All the fascinating developments are offset by various types of concerns related to this way of conceiving and developing cities and the political and social life in them. First, our privacy seems destined to be annihilated once and for all, and that can certainly worry - especially if you envision a dystopian future in which information concerning our lives is in the hands of a not-so-benevolent dictator. A further concern that these cities can give us, is that they underline in an even more evident way how the digital divide in the not-too-distant future will end up making life (even politically) completely different for a citizen.