TORONTO, August 10, 2020 – Estimates by the UN indicate that by 2050 two-thirds of the world’s total population will be living in cities. Due to these urbanization trends, cities across the globe are faced with the challenge to balance technological advances, increased infrastructure demand, economic factors, and the well-being of their citizens. Canadian cities are equally in need of innovative approaches that drive economic development, social benefits, and prosperity for the community.
In response, the CIO Strategy Council formed two new technical committees to inform and drive the development of a series of data centric national standards for the integration of new urban technologies into working cities.
“The evolving technology landscape has transformed the way in which data can be accessed, used and monetized in our cities and towns,” says Keith Jansa, Executive Director of the CIO Strategy Council. “This raises questions surrounding the governance of data that are in need of answers to help drive responsible technology deployment.”
Connected Cities
Cities are increasingly generating large amounts of data while providing everyday public sector services from health care and transportation to wastewater treatment and energy. The new technical committee on connected cities is first tasked with developing a series of standards for the discovery and management activities for context-rich, digital representations of built environments (i.e. Digital Twins).
“We are thrilled as proponents to have initiated this crucial standards’ work” says Hugh O’Reilly, Executive Director of Innovate Cities. “The global pandemic has forced us to rethink our cities digital infrastructure, and the approaches in creating safe, accessible, smart and connected spaces that will benefit our citizens and the economic prosperity of our country.”
Autonomous and Connected Vehicles
Automated and connected vehicles have the potential to greatly improve road safety and increase mobility, while also offering new economic opportunities and environmental benefits to Canadians from the unprecedented volumes and types of data generated.
The new technical committee on autonomous and connected vehicles is developing minimum requirements for public testing and proving grounds, with emphasis on the responsible use of data generated by autonomous and connected vehicles. The national standard will focus principally on public infrastructure and public spaces.
“New standards are an important practical lever in policy and governance modernization,” says Andy Best, Executive Director of Open City Network. “This work is an important opportunity to address challenges in ownership and intellectual property when data intersects with both public and private digital infrastructure.
Join Technical Committee on Connected Cities
Join Technical Committee on Autonomous and Connected Cities
About CIO Strategy Council
The CIO Strategy Council provides a forum for Canada’s most forward-thinking chief information officers to focus on collectively transforming, shaping, and influencing the Canadian information and technology ecosystem. The Council has deployed a nationally accredited, agile, and consensus-based standards-setting process that matches the speed of innovation and advancement in information and communications technology (ICT). Learn more at ciostrategycouncil.com
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For more information on the Technical Committee and on how to participate, please contact:
Matthew MacNeil
Director, Standards and Technology
CIO Strategy Council
matthew.macneil@ciostrategycouncil.com