OTTAWA – The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance) is calling on Canadian policy makers to adopt a U.K. best practices model to support the development of ‘smart cities’ here at home.
The high-tech association launched a campaign Friday on the heels of a new U.K. report that values the smart cities industry at more than $400 billion globally by 2020. A smart city uses intelligent technology to enhance quality of life in urban environments, for example, by minimizing waste, measuring water usage and managing transport routes.
CATAAlliance CEO John Reid and i-Canada chair Bill Hutchison took to YouTube to generate support for the adoption of a new initiative to support smart cities in Canada.
“This whole issue of smart cities and intelligent communities is tremendously important for Canada”, said Hutchison in the YouTube post. “It’s all about transforming our cities, towns and our rural areas and our remote areas to be able to really live in the 21st century and to become winners in terms of building new companies… and making life great for people based on the use of technology.”
Hutchison also advocated for a "cities fund" that will allow Canadian businesses to eventually capture a 5 – 7% share of the “massive” smart cities global market.
