By 2050, it is estimated that 70% of the global population will reside in urban areas. This shift signifies a transition to a predominantly urban economy. Cities will need to evolve and adapt to cater to their expanding populations.
Urbanization presents opportunities for economic growth, enhanced living standards, and increased cultural diversity. Historical data underscores this trend: since 1950, the world’s urban population has surged from 751 million to 4.4 billion. This trajectory is expected to continue, potentially doubling the current urban population by 2050.
The City is working with a number of partners with the aim of modernising services to make it easier for businesses, homeowners and permit applicants.
The City of Vancouver is spearheading the use of digital credentials to reduce the need for manual verification steps in permitting and licencing services.
This work is being done in collaboration with Technical Safety British Columbia (BC), Land Title and Survey Authority of BC (LTSA) and the Ministry of Citizens’ Services.
Weiterlesen: CA: British Columbia: Vancouver spearheads use of digital credentials
Question remains whether the vision for Markham Centre will be embraced by the people it aims to serve
As the dawn of 2024 breaks over Markham, the city is charging ahead with its ambitious urban development plans, aiming not just to grow in size but also to emerge as a beacon of smart city innovation in the north.
Positioned as Toronto's comparable in the northern region, Markham's strides in urban development show no signs of slowing down.
The Canadian federal government launched the Smart Cities Challenge in 2017 to award up to $50 million to municipal governments that are best able to leverage technology to improve life in their cities.
The challenge is part of the government's Impact Canada Initiative, which aims to address complex economic, environmental and social problems across the country.
Weiterlesen: Why Canada's Smart Cities Challenge Is Missing The Mark
Digital literacy is crucial for the public to understand the changes in our lives. To date, we’ve largely underplayed one widely available and publicly accessible avenue to a digitally literate public: libraries.
AI changes so quickly. In just the past year, we have ricocheted between the introduction of ChatGPT to the idea that AI could possibly destroy humanity to the recent OpenAI management drama. We have a proposal: to keep on top of AI, Canadians should turn to the hard-earned human intelligence available at … their local libraries.
Weiterlesen: CA: Citizenship in the age of data: The critical role of libraries for digital literacy