Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 02

March/April 2018 // Canadian Government Executive / 15 to our entertainment are commanded and connected by binary code,” says Romoff. ”The time has come to apply those dis- ruptive forces to the design, construction, maintenance and operations of our critical infrastructure. The innate, innovative spirit of the Smart Cities Challenge will necessi- tate new eyes and bold ideas to ensure the next generation of integrated infrastruc- ture and service delivery provides the best value for our communities.” Halifax, Mississauga, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver are among the major urban centres joining Edmonton in the competition. In fact, Vancouver and Surrey, B.C. have announced they will join forces to take on the Challenge. In a joint news release, Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner says, “the cities of Surrey and Vancouver have an opportunity to realize smart city infrastructure investment that could prove transformational for our region and mean- ingfully benefit citizens’ quality of life for decades to come.” The Smart Cities Challenge is also a means for Canada’s First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities to address their unique infrastructure needs – including broadband connectivity that provides economic devel- opment opportunities, improved health- care access and educational advancement in remote regions of the country. Each applicant is required to present a Challenge Statement – “a single sentence that defines the outcome or outcomes a community aims to achieve by implement- ing its smart cities proposal.” Much of the attention is focused on ways and means to make communities more livable, healthier, mobile and inclusive. Such was the case in similar competitions in the UK and the United States. Glasgow won the UK Future Cities Competition in 2013. Columbus, Ohio took top honours in the 2016 U.S. Smart Cities Challenge. Both cities focused their attention on relieving their increasing transportation stresses. The plans are based on integrated data exchanges that improve everything from traffic flow, to air quality, from pedestrian safety to journey planning. But Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge also provides small and mid-sized communities the chance to recalibrate local economies – particularly in municipalities that live and die by the success of a large, major em- ployer. Where they may have relied almost exclusively on the manufacturing industry, some cities see smart city thinking as a new foundation for economic growth and busi- ness development. That will be the focus for the City of Os- hawa, where high paying, skilled jobs were lost and businesses died at an alarming rate in the wake of the world economic crisis. The Great Recession staggered Os- hawa’s major employer – General Motors. Today, Oshawa is bouncing back with new jobs and a more diversified economy. Mayor John Henry says the Smart Cities Challenge is a great opportunity for the city to accelerate its economic growth and to increase its downtown density. It starts with the 100 kilometres of fibre optic cable running through the city, which is all about moving data to connect infrastructure, ser- vices and business. “It doesn’t matter if you’re at General Motors engineering centre or our Lak- eridge Health Corporation or at either of the universities or colleges located in town- the key is utilizing fibre to do the things that need doing.” Similarly, Sault Ste. Marie was economi- cally reliant on a single major employer – Algoma Steel. But Tom Vair says Sault Ste. Marie has created an economic envi- ronment in the past 5 or 10 years that has supported the launch of several start-ups, has seen a growing IT sector, and compa- nies relocating to the Soo. The SCC, he says, “is an opportunity to add more fuel to that fire.” The SCC has caught fire in the commu- nity. Soo residents have had no shortage of ideas on how the city can improve services and facilities. Mayor Christian Provenzano says the SCC, “gives the City an opportunity to ask some interesting questions and get a sense of how the community feels about potential directions. This challenge gives us the broader opportunity to ask some of those questions, get a sense of the response and some ideas on how to move forward.” Henry says the SCC process “is a win for the entire community that is driven by the community not just by us here at City Hall. Whether we win or lose, we have the piec- es in place to continue down this (smart city) path.” Tom Vair admits the smart city agenda may not move as quickly if Sault Ste. Ma- rie fails to win the SCC, but he says the real value comes from the innovation and ideas generated by the competition. “This has been an opportunity to really engage the community and galvanize support for priority initiatives,” he says. “We don’t want to keep good ideas at bay. It’s good to have that dialogue and we can add that into our planning at the city as we go forward.” By that measure, the federal govern- ment’s $75 million investment in SCC awards could easily initiate hundreds of millions of dollars in inventive, if not vi- sionary new approaches to urban infra- structure design and service delivery. Whether it’s monitoring the flow of cross border goods or integrating emergency re- sponse with transportation technologies, the worlds of concrete and connectivity are quickly merging. “We simply can’t think of smart cities without smart infrastructure,” says Mark Romoff. “We’re confident public-private partnerships will play an important role as the smart city plans unfold across Canada. The model lends itself to the development of the new, innovative, high tech design that will connect infrastructure and ser- vices.” Applications for the SCC must be submit- ted by April 24, 2018. The SCC finalists will be selected this summer. The winners will be announced in the spring of 2019. D ave T rafford is Director, Commu- nications and Media Relations at the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships. Smart Cities Timeline of Smart Cities Challenge Process