Insights from ICTC Smart Cities Taskforces and Lessons from Smart Cities initiatives in Canada and Internationally Provide Essential Considerations for Future Planning: ICTC Report  

Ottawa, April 4, 2020—A new report describes the critical themes and insights that emerged from a year of smart cities taskforce meetings hosted by the Information and Communication Technology Council (ICTC).

Collectively Building the Framework to Shape our Future Cities: A Year of Engagement with the ICTC Smart Cities Taskforces, also highlights notable smart city developments taking place in Canada and around the world.

In Canada, the Government of Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge encouraged communities from around the country to think about how technology could improve the lives of residents. The report features three of the winners in the context of ICTC’s three key pillars for smart city development: Infrastructure, Smart Mobility, Smart Energy & Environment.

  • SMART INFRASTRUCTURE: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. This project focusses on lampposts to address infrastructure and energy challenges while offering benefits to tourism and livability.
  • SMART MOBILITY: Surrey and Vancouver, British Columbia. This project tackles improved mobility options for the cities of Vancouver and Surrey, including the creation of collision-free, multi-modal transportation corridors.
  • SMART ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT: Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. This project focuses on the problem of energy poverty, seeking new opportunities for the implementation, use and monetization of green energy solutions.

Internationally, Collectively Building the Framework to Shape our Future Cities: A Year of Engagement with the ICTC Smart Cities Taskforces explores smart government in Singapore, smart healthcare in Basel, Switzerland, and a principles-based approach to privacy in Seattle, Washington.

ICTC’s taskforces leveraged the expertise of key leaders from industry, academic institutions, associations and other essential organizations across Canada to guide and shape ICTC’s continuing research and policy work on smart cities.

The three areas of focus for the initial three taskforces covered labour demand, supply, and technology. The demand taskforce considered future public sector and private sector needs for workers in smart cities. The supply taskforce focussed on future sources of qualified workers. The technology taskforce provided insight on technological trends and impacts.

ICTC’s smart city taskforces will continue to play a critical role in understanding the essential elements that Canadian cities need to effectively plan for their smart future. The next smart city taskforce meetings are planned for spring 2020.

“While smart cities are primarily an economic and environmental imperative, the recent COVID-19 events have casted a new light on the importance of smart and connected communities in creating resilient supply chains, responsive healthcare ecosystem, and nurturing sustainable businesses in the face of adversity” Namir Anani, ICTC President & CEO

ICTC is a not-for-profit, national center of expertise for the advancement of Canada’s digital advantage in a global economy. Through trusted research, practical policy advice, and creative capacity-building programs, ICTC fosters globally competitive Canadian industries enabled by innovative and diverse digital talent. In partnership with a vast network of industry leaders, academic partners, and policy makers from across Canada, ICTC has empowered a robust and inclusive digital economy for over 25 years.

For media inquiries or further information about this report, please contact Paul Stastny at p.stastny@ictc-ctic.ca or 403.351.0138 Ext. 823.

A copy of this report can be accessed here.