Digital Trust for Places and Routines (DTPR)

Charlotte is encouraging digital transparency

The Queen City is a smart city working to improve its efficiency and effectiveness by using data to inform decisions, and it’s only getting smarter.

Technological innovations are often met with questions and concerns from the public looking for increased transparency on how these technologies collect and use data, how privacy will be protected, and who is accountable for the use of these technologies and the outcomes they enable.

As the city continues to leverage technology to improve opportunities, community engagement and transparency remain at the forefront.

Your Impact

The City of Charlotte is working toward SmartCLT 2027, a smart city strategic framework that builds resident-centric strategies around privacy and data rights, digital equity, and digitally interconnected infrastructure. We must all work together for this strategy to be successful.

For smart cities like Charlotte, public infrastructure is supported by digital infrastructure. It is all around us through vehicle-sensing road lanes, light-reactive streetlights, public Wi-Fi and much more. Technologies like this use data to improve safety and efficiency throughout the city. Transparency in how that information is used in data governance and privacy management helps support the vital ongoing dialogue between city leadership and residents.

We are building a framework where community members participate in decisions about technology, data use, and data storage. A key component is Digital Trust for Places and Routines (DTPR), a communication standard to inform and engage people about technologies in public spaces that is being piloted.

Example of DTPR in Charlotte

Web Accessibility for DTPR hexagons with text description below

Four hexagons are displayed from top to bottom; the top is the technology’s purpose (mobility); The left one in the middle is a QR code, leading to a webpage with more information; the right one in the middle is the accountable entity (City of Charlotte); and the bottom is the technology type (electric vehicle charger).

Places you’ll soon see DTPR

The City of Charlotte has multiple projects that will use the DTPR standard to raise awareness and gather feedback, including:

The PoleVolt electric vehicle charger in Belmont.
The TravelSafely app, which connects users in South End to a network of traffic intersections, pedestrian beacons, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
The Our Stories CLT mobile app developed by youth of the North and West Ends to tell community stories through an engaging game along the Urban Arboretum Trail.

Join the conversation

We want to hear from you!

Learn more about and share your thoughts on the PoleVolt electric vehicle charger.
Learn more about and share your thoughts on the TravelSafely app.

City partners helping to make this possible

With the help of the Knight Foundation and Helpful Places, the City of Charlotte will be able to pursue its goal of digital transparency, accountability and inclusion. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has a strategic focus to invest at the intersection of technology and public spaces in ways that create more informed and engaged communities. The Knight Foundation was integral in bringing Helpful Places to the City of Charlotte.

Helpful Places mission is to help organizations, and the communities they serve, harness the power of technology in ways that are transparent, inclusive, participatory, and in alignment with the community's goals