IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Many countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan are facing the problems of an ageing population and declining productivity, smart city has become their best solution.

Research institute IDC observes that among the five smart city projects that every nation focuses on, three are data related, namely data use, digital trust, and data-driven public safety, and these are closely related.

Central to this will be the development and publication of policies for ‘Digital Economy’ leadership.

This is a crucial piece of the puzzle, because as the article Digital Nation 2011 from Backbone Magazine highlights, Canada is still missing this essential policy.

01 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The first city in Canada to develop and implement a digital strategy, Vancouver continually aims to improve the ways in which residents can access city services and information.

“Our digital transformation initiatives across the organisation have delivered value and benefits to residents, staff, businesses and visitors,” says Jessie Adcock, City of Vancouver chief technology officer.

PwC is launching new research to see if Canadians are ready to receive more services and information electronically through their phones, computers and tablet devices. The project, called Citizen Compass, begins April 18, 2012 and invites the public to participate, in either a survey format or an idea forum to make suggestions or discuss issues. The link to the site is http://CitizenCompass.pwc.com.

But it wasn’t as simple a job as it sounds.

Emails and incident response reports from the department charged with overseeing the IT infrastructure shared by 43 different government departments give a glimpse into how Shared Services Canada interacts with other departments, and how sophisticated email scams can bypass firewalls and successfully con federal workers with messages appearing to come from government agencies.

In an official report from Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Mark Mayrand, on the 41st General Election of May 2nd, Mayrand has announced Elections Canada’s pursuit of electronic voting.

Mentioning the fact that Canadian society continues to experience rapid change, Elections Canada has seen expectations of more convenient government services. Along this line in general, Canadians are increasingly expecting to be able to conduct business online. Thus Elections Canada has been pursuing the option of providing e-services, says the report.

At ULI’s Spring Meeting apartment experts found new solutions and opportunities to build—even in uncertain times.

A questionable economy and high-interest rates are not stopping apartment developers from making new plans to transform communities.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and US offer advice on potential smart city vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them.

New guidance, Cybersecurity Best Practices for Smart Cities, wants to raise awareness among communities and organizations implementing smart city technologies that these beneficial technologies can also have potential vulnerabilities. A collaboration among the Five Eye nations (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US), it advises communities considering becoming smart cities to assess and mitigate the cybersecurity risks that comes with the technology.

A joint effort between the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand yielded recommendations to prevent cyber attacks on increasingly digital infrastructure.

As municipal infrastructure becomes increasingly integrated with technologies to improve the operations and efficiency of basic utilities—running water, power, and internet access—the governments of the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand launched updated cybersecurity protocols.

Google's sister company Sidewalk Labs has revealed a massive plan for investing about $990 million to build a waterfront area in Toronto, Canada into a high-tech smart city.

Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff said the company is releasing the draft Master Innovation and Development Plan for Toronto's eastern waterfront, titled "Toronto Tomorrow A New Approach for Inclusive Growth" after 18 months of preparations.

The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, today announced details of the third round of projects conditionally approved for funding through the Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians program. These 21 latest projects will soon connect 30 184 households in four provinces and one territory to broadband Internet networks.

"These projects are the latest commitment to Canadians living in northern and rural regions through the Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians program," said Minister Clement. "The new economic opportunities these projects will create in these communities will benefit Canada for many years to come."

The announcement was made jointly by the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, and the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

HealthLink’s GP-specialist e-referral system has gone live in Canada.

The system enables GPs to send referrals to private specialists. It has been rolled out at four medical practices in Kelowna, British Colombia.

“Following the successful trial in Kelowna, we hope to implement the system right across Canada as swiftly as we can,” says HealthLink Canada business development manager Mark Douglas.

With the USA charging ahead with key Internet innovations like 'Trusted Identities,' what can Canada do to keep up?

'Trusted Cloud' infrastructure can refer to how Cloud Computing systems can be assured to be secure enough to run shared application scenarios, like eHealth Community Clouds.

As a result, Canadians are developing a preference for the online alternative. Government e-services just might be the best thing since online banking, and Canadians across the country would love to see more of these digital services available. We just don't want to pay for them.

Elections Canada, in an Aug. 17 report on the country's general election held on May 2, says Canadians increasingly expect to conduct business electronically, "including when they engage in the electrical process."