Who is Involved?

The DTPR standard was created through a robust and inclusive development process, including co-design and consultation sessions with global experts and with the general public. The landscape of emerging technologies in the built environment is changing rapidly, and the DTPR standard must be able to adapt to new technologies as well as to evolving regulatory environments.

Helpful Places is an independent organization stewarding the DTPR standard, as well as offering a set of paid services and platforms to aid in its adoption globally. As an open-source standard, the goal is for DTPR to be governed through an inclusive approach to ensure the standard evolves and changes in a manner that accommodates diverse perspectives, contemporary technologies, and practitioners around the world, yet maintains its principles, structure and practical application within the built environment. Proposed permanent changes to the standard are validated by user research with the public, through consultation with the DTPR Community of Practice Council as well the Helpful Places team working day-to-day on the ground with the standard.

Changes to the standard are communicated to all practitioners and the associated guides and assets are updated to incorporate any changes to DTPR in a timely way.

DTPR History

DTPR began as a co-design project that was originally called Designing for Digital Transparency in the Public Realm. The project was organised by Jacqueline Lu, Patrick Keenan and Chelsey Colbert, all Toronto-based employees of Sidewalk Labs, which was an Alphabet-funded urban innovation company. Sidewalk Labs was developing a master plan for the Quayside development in Toronto, after responding to Waterfront Toronto's Request for Proposals for an Innovation and Funding Partner.

The co-design project involved more than 150 people who were all invited to attend "design charrettes" where they contributed ideas to inform the development of DTPR. Every contributor that attended the sessions in 2019 signed a "Contributor's License Agreement" that licensed their contributions to the "Designing for Digital Transparency in the Public Realm" project organised by Sidewalk Labs. The list of signatories can be viewed here.

In October 2020, Sidewalk Labs publicly announced that stewardship of the DTPR project was independent of Sidewalk Labs and Alphabet and was being stewarded by Helpful Places and an emerging coalition of collaborators.