In the future, the algorithms of the smart city will decide the allocation of public resources. If many electric cars have to be charged, a smart charging algorithm will determine when your vehicle can be charged. And this can make charging your car take longer than planned. How can you be sure that decisions as to who gets priority are taken honestly? ElaadNL and Alliander commissioned The Incredible Machine to design the Transparent Charging Station to show how the energy available is distributed, and on the basis of which factors. This design gives smart cities a way to share their transparency with citizens. With the prototype, the developers demonstrate the added value of transparency for the user.

The jury is impressed by the inspiring, conceptual and pioneering work of The Incredible Machine, and even more by the speculative nature of the research and the working method. In the smart city of tomorrow, more and more choices will be made on the basis of algorithms. The Incredible Machine is able to make these complex processes transparent for a wide audience by means of a charging station. Nor do they shun the ethical issue: does a doctor always have priority but not an unemployed person? With all self-thinking technology, which is becoming more prominent in our everyday lives, transparency is increasingly necessary.