The federal government recently launched the Smart Cities Challenge, which is a competition open to all municipalities, local or regional governments, and Indigenous communities (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) across Canada. The Challenge is aimed at empowering communities across the country to address local issues through new partnerships, using a smart cities approach. According to Infrastructure Canada, the Smart Cities Challenge asks local leaders to team up with pioneering businesses, academia, and civic organizations to design innovative solutions to their most pressing challenges using data and connected technologies.
Finalists will receive support to develop their smart cities proposals. Winning communities will be awarded with prize money to help implement them.
A smart cities approach encompasses the following principles:
- Openness – When communities make their data truly accessible, usable, and barrier-free, their decision-making processes become transparent, empowering citizens and strengthening the relationship between residents and public organizations.
- Integration – Data and connected technology empower communities to break down silos that exist within local governments and public organizations.
- Transferability – When tools and technological approaches are open-source, transparent and standardized, they can be used by communities across the country, no matter their size or capacity.
- Collaboration – Connected technology enables communities to bring traditional and non-traditional partners together to collaborate.
Each community will start with establishing a Challenge Statement, which is a single sentence that defines the outcome or outcomes a community aims to achieve by implementing its smart cities proposal. The Challenge Statement must be measurable, ambitious, and achievable through the proposed use of data and connected technology. Once their Challenge Statements established, applicants will develop the ideas and activities that will make up their preliminary Smart Cities Challenge proposal. More information is available in the Applicant Guide.
Applicants have until April 24, 2018 to complete and submit their applications on the Impact Canada Challenge Platform.
Key dates:
- Application deadline: April 24, 2018
- Announcement of finalists: Summer 2018
- Announcement of winners: Spring 2019
Who can apply? Municipalities, local or regional governments, Indigenous communities, groups of such organizations
Prizes:
- One prize of up to $50 million
- Two prizes of up to $10 million each
- One prize of up to $5 million