City getting a jump on Smart Cities entry
Yes, there is a Smart Cities Challenge, and Peterborough will have a head start on the competition. We are expecting the second round of the Smart Cities Challenge to be formally announced by Infrastructure Canada in spring 2020, which was confirmed to us by government officials as recently as last week. For the past six months, several community leaders and groups have volunteered their time to gear up for this challenge that could bring $50 million to our community. In September we hosted a Smart Cities Summit at Market Hall. We had presentations by various Smart City planning and development experts, and the event was open to the community. We have built relationships with the federal government and other officials to learn as much as possible about how to craft a winning bid. Mayor Diane Therrien’s support and leadership has been indispensable to this, and we commend her and all city councillors for making the commitment to support a submission. Under the appointed steering committee, the submission is being developed at no cost to the City of Peterborough. The Smart Cities Challenge is a competition to inspire communities to define their future through the use of a smart cities approach. To begin, each community must define a challenge statement. The challenge statement must be relevant to a local need, measurable, ambitious and achievable through the proposed use of data and connected technology. For Peterborough, the challenge is undoubtedly our need for affordable housing. Peterborough is uniquely positioned to win this challenge. We have the people and the gusto to bring home $50 million for our city. Our size is irrelevant because the competition is based on the magnitude of the idea to solve municipal issues. Our people are an asset as we have a growing list of professionals and volunteers eager to assist in the creation and submission of a winning proposal. Thanks to the mayor, we have a rallying cry to get a head start on this challenge. By uniting as a community with positive and big aspirations, we could win this! To learn more or get involved,
visit smartcityptbo.ca.
Terry Guiel, executive director, Downtown Business Improvement Area
Sacha Lai-Svirk, volunteer lead, The Smart City Readiness Project