Canada’s future relies on tech
Virus has exposed how important smart cities are,
It was disappointing this week to see the formal end of Google-backed Sidewalk Labs’ effort to bring Quayside to fruition. COVID-19 has created many hardships for Canadian technology startups and workers, and now the crisis has halted a significant project led by one of the world’s largest tech players.
An extraordinary amount of effort was expended by the company, the community and three levels of government to create a mandate to build and embed a smart city driven by data, innovation and clean technology.
It’s now left to us to find another way forward for our smart-city aspirations — all the ingredients that were driving the need and the special opportunity in Toronto are still here. If anything, the need for smart urban infrastructure is more urgent than ever.
Urban leaders and planners everywhere need to make the best possible use of innovative technologies to solve intractable problems such as climate change, housing costs, traffic, economic polarization and unemployment.
It’s ironic that the very crisis tied to the project’s termination is also the proof point for why we need these smart solutions. The COVID-19 crisis has exposed how important digital infrastructure, data and updated regulations have become for Toronto and other cities.
For example, consider the issues unlocked in the conversation around contact tracing, which allows us to track possible disease vectors but also poses exacting questions about citizen privacy. The news story is COVID-19, but these are very much smart-city issues.
Even with Sidewalk bowing out, Toronto needs to keep having difficult conversations and soliciting broad input about these issues.
What do we need and where do we draw the lines? What can 5G do for us? Where are sensors appropriate? How do we govern data collection? What’s the best way to solicit and ensure community input? How do we ensure that smart cities lift up and respect the needs of all citizens, not just the wealthy or the connected? How can we ensure that our regulations keep up with the innovation being poured into the devices and the software?
We really can’t lose sight of how important this is going forward, because Canada is a growing hub and destination for startup technology companies, innovation and talent. We need to keep walking the walk if we’re going to maintain and keep building this dynamic ecosystem.
Before COVID-19, Canada was creating 60,000 new tech jobs a year, fed by investment, openness to diversity and a desire to attract talent from around the world. Toronto’s tech sector doubled in size in five years — faster growth than the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and Washington, D.C., combined. This kind of growth comes with challenges that smart cities can help to address, but it also creates opportunities for modernizing Canada’s economy.
The innovative companies that can build smarter cities are the same kind of companies that are already feeding into the most vital sectors of Canada’s economy — the ones we’re counting on to drive employment and growth after the pandemic. Innovation is our economic future, and smart cities can be — should be — a significant piece of that.
We’re not going to give up on the idea, the issues it raises or the economic importance of the startup ecosystem that would feed it. Anyone who sees the value of cities should be doubling down on smart cities. They’re critical for Canada’s future.