IT World Canada and the City of Toronto hosted Technicity on Dec. 3, inviting some of the most innovative companies in the region to discuss the possibilities of building a smart city alongside city staff leaders. Speakers discussed the Internet of Things (IoT), open data initiatives, and how different stakeholders can draw together to help make a successful city. Read more: http://www.itworldcanada.com/slideshow/technicity-the-connected-city-photo-highlights#ixzz3zrk8FecZ or visit http://www.itworldcanada.com for more Canadian IT News

1. Technicity: the connected city
photo highlights

2. • The day’s opening keynote speaker, Gary
Semplonius, vice president of business at Bell
Mobility, outlined one of the urban
challenges we are all too familiar with. “We’re
spending too much time stuck in traffic,” he
said. IoT could help solve this – load more
people onto public transit by reducing wait
times with vehicle location tracking and
display information at the shelters, and
provide WiFi on buses.

3. • During the first panel, Gabriel Woo (left),
vice president of innovation at RBC, spoke
to how using mobile technology allowed the
bank to learn more about its customers.
“You really don’t know how clients will react
and where they will find utility,” he said.
Learning about that new customer
behaviour through their interaction with
mobile banking has helped RBC chart its
future strategy.

4. • In the mining industry, IoT isn’t just a
trend, it’s a game changers, says Mark
Gelsomini, the CIO of Dundee Precious
Metals. “It’s not just a trend, it’s an
evolution,” he said. While commodity
prices are dropping, IoT is helping
Dundee analyze data to find new
opportunities to operate more efficiently.

5. • When the conversation turned to open data,
the panel discussed privacy issues at length.
Consider how much personal information you
entrust the government with, said Brian Fior
(right), director of policy and partnerships open
government, Office Treasury Board Secretariat,
ON. “How do we have an assessment approach
to releasing that information?” De-identifying
data to make it useful at a mass level should
also be done with caution.

6. • Tracy Fleming CTO, Avaya reflected that
the digital discussion behind held isn’t
being guided by technologists, but by
business leaders and political
leaders. “You figure out what the thing is
you’re trying to solve for and you apply
to it,” he said. “It’s amazing where the
opportunities are emerging.”

7. • At the luncheon keynote, Kathryn Willson,
director, Microsoft CityNext, listed many
communities around the globe that are
benefitting from IoT. She also had examples
of how businesses are reaping value from
it. ThyssenKrupp is using IoT to predict
when its elevators need maintenance to
avoid downtime entirely, she says.

8. • During the innovation spotlight panel,
Robert Montgomery (left), CEO, Achilles
Media, pointed out Toronto has to focus
if it’s going to succeed. “There’s only
one Silicon Valley and that’s not here,”
he said. Too many different innovation
initiatives can prevent critical mass, so
it’s time to move past the politics of
innovation and focus on where an
impact can be made.

9. • The realities of running a government were
showcased during the final panel of the
day. “The expectations of the public is very,
very high. But what people are prepared to
pay for is really, really low,” said Jennifer
Keesmaat (centre left), chief planner and
executive director, City of Toronto. The
tension for city staff is to improve citzens’
quality of life while keeping an eye on the
bottom line.