Vaughan Becomes Canada’s First Smart Gigabit Community

May 5, 2019

Vaughan, Ontario is joining the Smart Gigabit Community Club. Vaughan is just north of Toronto and is Canada’s 17th largest city by population; it was Canada’s fastest growing between 1996 and 2006.

With the announcement of Vaughan joining the U.S. Ignite Smart Gigabit Communities (SGC) program, there are now two communities outside the United States. The other is Adelaide, Australia.

Glenn Ricart, Principal Investigator (PI) for the SGC effort, notes that “Vaughan is a great selection for us because they are committed to smart city success. For example, the new Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital (shown in photo) will be Canada’s first smart hospital and feature fully integrated ‘smart’ technology systems and medical devices. That makes it a great complement to our other SGC communities.”

Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua notes that “This new partnership (with US Ignite) will help Vaughan press ahead with our focused efforts to embrace the transformational benefits of smart city technology and initiatives. Our shared efforts will turn challenges into opportunities by improving the way data is collected, understood and utilized to safeguard and elevate the quality of life for citizens and to enhance the delivery of public services people and businesses rely on each day.”

Vaughan began its smart community journey in 2016 by becoming the second municipality in Canada to be platinum certified under the International Standards Organization (ISO) 37122 (Sustainable cities and communities). In 2018, Council established the Mayor’s Smart City Advisory Task Force. The group included citizens and accomplished professionals with extensive experience from industries such as healthcare, financial services and environmental sustainability.

Vaughan has also been active in Canadian-based smart city activities. The work undertaken by the task force led to a comprehensive submission for the City’s participation in the Government of Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge. The submission calls for the use of Smart city technology to create a Digital Garden. The Digital Garden concept is about breaking down barriers, improving social cohesion and enhancing engagement and civic participation through the creation of community kiosks, known as Local Gardens.

Kiosks would

    • include Internet of things (IoT) sensors to gather data on traffic, parking and air quality

    • provide administrative city procedures, such as online payments and digital deputations

    • offer a one-stop shop for government services, including Service Ontario offerings, among other innovative amenities

Photo source: Infrastructure Ontario