NSF Award
2431274
The research-centered CIVIC pilot aims to bring recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and video analytics to transform Charlotte's city center from a traditional Central Business District (CBD) space into a dynamic Central Activity District (CAD). To this end, this project will leverage privacy-preserving video analytics with integrated AI-assisted solutions to influence public perception and usage of urban spaces, enhancing the urban living experience, improving the quality of life, and reducing service disruptions. More specifically, the proposed pilots aim to (1) create proactive safety measures to enhance safety and perception of safety in uptown Charlotte; (2) address critical information gaps in understanding complex micro walking behaviors and dynamics of pedestrian flows for more efficient and intentional resource allocation; (3) and enable meaningful AI-guided soft changes in city center infrastructure. This planning phase includes a unique, established partnership between UNC Charlotte and Charlotte Center City Partners (CCCP), a leading civic organization, and other diverse stakeholders. The team will also work to get feedback from local businesses, residential communities, and other civic partners, such as local government and private service providers, as well as the larger general public of Charlotte. <br/><br/>The proposed pilot aims to redefine the role of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras from passive surveillance devices to insightful, proactive tools providing actionable insights to stakeholders and civic organizations by leveraging recent breakthroughs in privacy-preserving AI and real-time edge video analytics. This project's research and planning activities are centered around transforming existing passive surveillance devices into insightful tools for community and economic development that can deliver continuous growth, prosperity, and inclusion in cities. The pilot aims to break the barriers in translational research and pave the way for the responsible deployment of AI technologies within the city environment at a large scale, combining technical innovation with social, ethical, and legal aspects for responsible deployment. At the same time, this project establishes a robust community-in-the-loop framework that ensures that insights derived from AI analytics are directly fed back to the community, thus fostering a collaborative ecosystem where real-time data and community feedback inform decisions<br/><br/>This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program’s Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
