The Angle Podcast

What makes a smart city truly smart? Is it the tech—or the trust behind it? In this episode of The Angle, we speak with Dr. Thomas Linder, Senior Coordinator at Open North and Lecturer in Responsible AI at Concordia University, to explore the promises and perils of smart cities in the African context. From Toronto’s failed Sidewalk Labs experiment to the hidden costs of digital public infrastructure, Dr. Linder unpacks what it takes to build cities that are both digitally advanced and socially just. We go deep into issues of data protection, vendor capture, platform dependence, surveillance risks, and the true meaning of citizen-first design in an era of rapid digital transformation. Whether you care about digital voting, AI in public services, or urban inequality, this is a must-listen conversation that cuts through the hype and asks the right questions: + Who owns the data? + Who controls the tools? + Who gets left behind? This is part of a limited podcast series titled “The Digital Future of South Africa – Navigating Power, Policy, and Progress” in association with the Wits School of Governance, Tayarisha, and the Civic Tech Innovation Network. 00:00 – Intro: What is a smart city, really? 06:00 – Google’s Sidewalk Labs and the Toronto failure 10:00 – Why top-down tech never works 14:00 – Smart cities in Africa: opportunities and risks 18:00 – Surveillance, inequality & digital authoritarianism 21:30 – What is digital public infrastructure (DPI)? 25:00 – Data sharing across city services: the real challenge 28:30 – Cape Town’s smart city strategy: a local model 32:00 – Who owns the data? Vendor capture vs. sovereignty 36:00 – Smart cities and policing: tech without reform 40:00 – Digital voting: inevitability or risk? 44:00 – Investing in people vs. buying more tech 48:00 – What governments need to do first 52:00 – A hopeful future for African tech governance #DigitalGovernance #CivicTech #AfricaDigitalFuture #TechAndPolicy #DigitalInclusion #InnovationInAfrica #PlatformPower #SmartCitiesAfrica #DataSovereignty #TheAnglePodcast