Lethbridge taking Smart Cities Challenge

COMPETITION FEATURES SINGLE PRIZE OF $50 MILLION

The City of Lethbridge is taking part in an Infrastructure Canada challenge that could provide an opportunity to improve the community through technology.

The Smart Cities Challenge is a pan-Canadian competition for communities of any size, including municipalities, regional governments and Indigenous communities.

The challenge is hosted by Infrastructure Canada and features a single prize of $50 million open to all communities, two prizes worth $10 million for cities under 500,000, and one prize worth $5 million for cities under 30,000.

“Everything we do is built on the foundation of connectivity,” said Vicky Bennett, Intelligent Community Program Manager, part of the team working toward a Lethbridge submission.

A smart city is one which uses connected technology and data to deliver meaningful outcomes in its community.

According to the Infrastructure Canada website, the challenge is about “building the cities of tomorrow.”

There are six areas from which municipalities need to draw their challenge statement from, covering topics such as security, economic opportunity, mobility, environmental health, empowerment and providing an opportunity for an active and healthy lifestyle.

Bennett said the City needs to identify one or two areas to focus on for their challenge statement. The statement will direct the course of their submission.

“For example, if we found that safety and security was our priority, a potential challenge statement would be, ‘The neighbourhood in our community with the highest crime rate will become safer than the national average,’” she said. “This is a measurable achievable challenge we can meet through using data and technology.”

The application deadline is April 24.

Finalists are expected to be announced this summer. The top five finalists in each category will receive $250,000 in order to fully develop their application and proposal.

Winners will be announced in spring 2019 and winners will have five years to implement their solutions.

Currently, the committee is reviewing existing studies and work that can inform guiding themes.

Following that, there will be an opportunity for the community to get involved and share their ideas. There will also be opportunities for online engagement for the community.

An Intelligent Community is a forward-thinking initiative for ensuring data is available for the community when it is needed.

It also involves promoting a knowledge-based workforce and providing local opportunities to both become educated and be employed as skilled workers.

“Digital inclusion means that no person is left behind with regards to technology,” Bennett said. “Whether it be for financial reasons, or perhaps they are afraid of technology. We want to be sure we are bridging those gaps.”

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