digital : In The News

How technologically sound a city is has quickly become the new standard for which cities are judged internationally. A smart city is a connected city, one that uses technology to find efficient solutions and services for its citizens. Everyone is eager to rate these cities against one another and Fast Company is the latest to have its say. The organization has named Toronto one of the 10 smartest cities in North America.

 

In an article that ran earlier this month, Fast Company reported that "by 2050, 70% of the world's population" will live in cities. It cites solutions to growing populations as a key component of the continent's smartest cities. 

 

Six key factors helped decide this year's winners. The study looked at smart people (21st century education, inclusive society, embrace creativity), smart economy (entrepreneurship and innovation, productivity, local and global interconnectedness), smart enviro (green buildings, green energy, green urban planning), smart gov (enabling supply and demand side policy, transparency and open data, ICT and eGov), smart living (healthy, safe, culturally vibrant and happy), and finally, smart mobility (mixed-model access, prioritized clean and non-motorized options, integrated ICT).

 

Here's what they said about Toronto:

 

"…Toronto continues to be a leader in Canada across several fronts. Like other major cities on this list, Toronto has continued its commitment to smart densification with its ongoing transformation of its previously contaminated waterfront area. In collaboration with IBM, Waterfront Toronto has launched phase one of newblueedge.ca to allow residents to have real-time web and mobile access to transit info and traffic congestion reports, public transit information, local weather and news reports as well as, in the near future, energy- and water-consumption data."
 

Seattle and Boston tied this year for the title of North America's smartest city. Seattle's startup scene and Boston's numerous universities were key factors.

 

For the full list of North America's smartest cities, click here. 

Original Source: Fast Company

For the second year in a row, the Intelligent Communities Forum (ICF) has named Toronto as one of the world's 21 smartest communities. ICF looks at communities around the world and grades them based on how broadband infrastructure and IT builds economies and improves the lives of local citizens. 

 

The list will be whittled down to seven finalists to be announced in January. The winner will be announced on June 6, 2014 at a ceremony in New York City.

 

Toronto secured a spot in the top seven last year, but it was Taichung, Taiwan that came out on top. 

 

"One of the major reasons for Toronto’s claim to the title is because of Waterfront Toronto, which has launched several intelligent community programs," said an article that ran on itbusiness.ca. The article cites Waterfront's various accomplishments including building a cloud-based community platform that allows businesses and residents access to data "they can use it to make decisions about daily commutes, residents' health, energy, and water use."

 

In addition to Waterfront Toronto, the City of Toronto also named digital programs such as Kids@Computers and Connected For Success, as well as the Centre for Social Innovation and the Digital Media Zone at Ryerson University in its application. 

 

Read the full story here. 

Original Source: IT Business

 

The Toronto-based Leading Edge Group, an international company that offers lean consulting among other things, has teamed up with the Durham-based University of Ontario Institute of Technology to offer online and instructor-led education Lean Thinking certification to organizations, businesses and individuals across Canada.

 

The programs are designed to "help strip wasteful activities and optimize resources in both the public and private sectors," according to an article that ran on durhamregion.com.
 

"The partnership will offer the first full suite of academically-certified Lean programs in Canada," it continues. 

 

"The Lean methodology has become hugely important as a core competency recognized and required across industry so being able to provide entire spectrum of Lean education programs -- from beginner to advanced -- means we will be able to meet the needs of all organizations and individuals, regardless of where they are on their continuous improvement journey," says Dr. Tim McTiernan, UOIT president and vice-chancellor, in the article. 
 

The agreement allows the two organizations to work together to provide education and certification. Leading Edge Group has offices in Toronto, the United States and the United Kingdom, but is based out of Ireland. This partnership will help Leading Edge Group continue to grow in the Canadian market. 

 

Read the full story here.

Original Source: Durham Region

 

The fifth annual TEDxToronto conference took place October 26 at the Royal Conservatory of Music. It's one of the largest independently organized TEDx events in the world and, according to a highlight report that ran in BlogTO, approximately 1,000 hand-chosen delegates attended. 

 

Among the highlights listed, a flash mob ukulele performance by the Ukulele Gangsters, which took place at the beginning of the conference.

 

Highlights that would be of particular interest to Yonge Street readers included Darrell Bricker, the former Director of Research for the Prime Ministers office. "Bricker has always tried to use numbers to tell the story behind the scenes. He spoke at length about the manner in which power is shifting from the 416 to the 905, which is redefining both our city and the GTA as a whole," BlogTO wrote. "Another key subject he discussed was the shrinking Canadian birth rate, which is going to make it extremely tough to support the aging population."

 

Also, Joel MacCharles, who has "been helping to foster the farmer's market movement in Toronto. By teaching people the benefits of preserving food and eating locally, Joel has altered kitchens around Toronto with some of his 1,700 articles on food-related topics," the article says. 

 

Also Steve Mann, considered the "father of wearable computers" for his Google Glass-like inventions dating back to the 1970s. "Mann is a believer in wearing personal cameras to ensure his own safety in what he calls sousveillance," BlogTO summarizes. "Mann combined his discussion on safety with the shooting of Sammy Yatim, stating that videos taken by people outside the streetcar were a strong factor leading to the officer being charged. He also believes everyone should be able to record their entire life, because if buildings and businesses are allowed to record us at all times, why aren't we allowed to record them in return?"

 

Not mentioned in the highlight reel was Gabrielle Scrimshaw's talk about how now, more than ever, is the time to pay attention to Aboriginal issues as more than half the Aboriginal population is under 25 and gearing up to enter the workforce. Background on Scrimshaw and her work can be found in this feature Yonge Street ran in Decemebr of last year.

 

The talks will be made available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the introductory video explaining Toronto's history is a must watch.

 

 

Read the full story here. 

Source: BlogTO

The new Humber River Hospital won't open its doors to patients until 2015, but it's already being touted as a potential global leader in innovation and technology. 

 

Healthcare Global reports that patients will be able to, control lighting, alter room temperature, video chat with nurses and use a bedside monitor to read medical records. These technologies are designed to cut down on the time it takes for nurses and doctors to walk to various parts of the hospital, something further research by CBC News indicates will make the hospital the latest digital hospital in the world. 

Both sources report that though Canada has made efforts to digitize its health-care system, it lags behind other countries. This is about to change. 

 

"The new Humber River Hospital sets the benchmark for hospitals in the future and will change the way patient care is delivered in Canada," Healthcare Global reports. 
 

The Humber River Hospital will become Humber's main acute care centre.  

 

Read the full story here. 

Original source: Healthcare Global

 

A new online tool created by Toronto design firm Teehan+Lax takes two places on Google Earth and creates a video connecting them through Google Street View images. Called Hyperlapse, the tool lets users pick two destinations and then weaves them together to create a smooth stream, a pseudo virtual road trip. 

 

"We aimed at making the process simpler by using Google Street View as an aid, but quickly discovered that it could be used as the source material. It worked so well, we decided to design a very usable UI around our engine and release Google Street View Hyperlapse," Jon Lax, a partner at Teehan+Lax, told travel website Gap Year. 

 

The online tool's website says it works best with long, straight and flat roads, especially highways and bridges. We tried to make one go all the way up Yonge Street, but it wanted to take the 404.

 

Lax told Gap Year he sees quite the future for this app.

 

"Now that we have made the software open source others will make more videos using footage from anywhere in the world."

 

Read the full story here.

Original source: Gap Year

 

A new app developed by Toronto company Bionym puts heartbeats at the centre of identification. In response to increased security protection concerns, tech security experts are looking to new and advanced ways of using biometric features in identification recognition technologies.  With technology usually reserved for military and government buildings, these companies hope biometric features will eventually be infiltrated into online security measures such as account passwords. 

 

Bionym's new product HeartID contains a security feature that is almost impossible to replicate, writes the International Business Times, and "definitely could not be hacked…unlike traditional passwords and pins."

 

The article explains: "The app analyses the pattern of a person's heartbeat, picks out the variation in the waves that create a biometric template distinct to that individual. The template remains distinct even if a person exercises or is stressed which causes the wave to compress but the shape remains the same."

 

"That means the system could recognize a person regardless of his heart rate, said Karl Martin, the president and chief executive officer of Bionym. He said the company is licensing the software to other companies and working to have the app placed directly in smartcards, tablets and smartphones."
 

These apps work by holding the devices near your heart where an embedded sensor then reads your heartbeat. 
 

Read the full article here.
?Original Source: International Business Times

 

Ontario is quickly becoming leaders in transforming our bodies into remote controls. On Monday, Kitchener-based startup Thalmic Labs announced its gesture-controlled armband Myo (yes that is a Star Wars reference) is available for pre-order. The armband is the company's experiment in seeing how it can "integrate technology into our daily lives and give people superpowers," Thalmic Labs co-founder Stephen Lake says in an interview with New Scientist.
 

The armband works by reading "electrical activity in a user's muscles as they contract or relax to make gestures with their hand and arm," an article in New Scientist writes. Signals are submitted wirelessly to software that "interprets the movements into commands."
 

"we really have this belief that technology can be used to enhance our abilities," Lake says. "This is a way of using natural actions that we've evolved to intuitively control the digital world."
 

A video demoing Myo's capabilities shows gamers using their bodies as first-person devices, corporate types and professors shifting through slides with the wave of an arm, and chefs scrolling through cooking instructions on their iPads, their chicken fingers far away from the screen. The armband will ship later this year and is expected to cost $149. The software is compatible with Apple and Windows platforms. 
 

The software builds on pre-existing technology, the most common example being Kinect. However, Myo does not use camera sensor technology. Thalmic Labs also announced a developer's API, allowing use of the hardware to build additional applications. New Scientist writes the team is already imaging ways to integrate its technology with Google's Project Glass, something computer scientist Shahzad Malik, co-founder of Toronto's CognoVision, said would be huge.

"Something like Thalmic's technology is super useful since you can do interactions in a subtle way, which is important in a public venue," he says. 
 

Read the full story here.
Original Source: New Scientist

The City of Toronto's website has been named one of the best municipal websites in the world, according to the Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide report released yesterday.

 

The City of Toronto's website ranked first in content and second overall behind Seoul, South Korea's municipal website. Toronto improved from tenth place to second in the 2009 report for digital governance. It was the third most usable municipal website in 2011, but did not make the top 10 cut in privacy and security or social engagement. 

 

The average score for digital governance in municipalities throughout the world is 33.76. In 2011, Toronto's score was 64.31. Toronto is now the top ranked city website in North America, switching places with New York City who dropped to ninth. 

 

"The ranking reflects Toronto’s efforts to improve its e-governance, particularly in content, usability, and services," the report says.

 

"For usability and services, it provides a consistent navigation bar system, font color, and formatting.  Clear forms and advanced search tools have made it easier to use; related information online helps residents pay taxes, tickets, and utilities; and guidance is available for users to apply for permits and licenses. Additionally, users can submit their feedback or complaints by email or phone to further improve the performance of government. These improvements make the usability and services areas of Toronto’s website more convenient and comprehensive."

The report is a collaboration between the EGovernance Institute at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey Campus at Newark and the Department of Political Science, Kent State University.

 

Read the full report here.

Original source: Digital Governance report

 

A group of Toronto software designers is receiving international attention after the $35 computer containing their software sold out within minutes of its release.

The computer—the Raspberry Pi—is a small, but powerful machine meant to equip classrooms in the developing world with affordable technology. The software for the computer was developed by Seneca’s Centre for the Development of Open Technology after the college partnered with the Raspberry Pi's Cambridge developers last August. 

"A $35 computer with Toronto-designed software stormed the tech world Wednesday, selling out in minutes, wrote the Toronto Star. Back orders hit "the tens of thousands," said Ebden Upton, executive director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

"'We’re absolutely blown away by the interest,' he said."

 

"Seneca College’s Chris Tyler used one of his fall semester software building courses to create and refine the software for the Raspberry Pi launched Wednesday."

 

"In fact, it was the release last Wednesday of the Raspberry Pi Fedora Remix software that potential buyers had to download that gave Tyler and Upton an inkling of the flood to come."

 

"'We had 120,000 views on the video,' said Tyler. 'The mailing list of people who wanted to be informed was over 100,000.'"

read full story here
original source Toronto Star

"Hundreds of applications were received from across the country, and the finalists hail from the Toronto area, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, St. John's and Waterloo. The selection committee was made up of experts from corporations, as well as entrepreneurs and investors. The companies were judged on a number of key factors, including the product or service offering, the depth of management, market opportunity and business model."

 

"The Dec. 1 event gives each business the opportunity to showcase their innovative concepts to a CIX audience of Canadian and international venture capital firms and corporate investors. A winner from each of the two categories will be chosen through a 'virtual stock exchange,' where event attendees buy, sell and trade virtual shares."

see full list of winners here
original source Globe & Mail

Business Review Canada recently interviewed Toronto-based entrepreneur Mike McDerment. McDerment is chief executive of the successful online bookkeeping service Freshbooks. He is also the co-founder of Toronto's annual Mesh Conference, the can't-miss-event for the city's online media and tech community. An excerpt from the interview:

"BRC: How's Freshbooks?"

"MM: Things are really good. We've continued to grow—like a weed. We're trying to hire a whole bunch of people and it's always hard to find the right people. We work really hard at that. We have our heads down trying to hire about ten people. We are only forty-some-odd people. Growth is good, which speaks to the pace of change and some of the things we're up to here."

"BRC: 5th anniversary of MESH… Did you envision it getting this big?"

"MM: No, absolutely not. We just wanted to do it for all the right reasons. When I say labour of love, I'm not kidding. We all have day jobs. We meet Wednesday nights throughout the year to pull it all together and send a whole heck of a lot of emails in between. The reason we all do it is the joy from five years ago, which is still alive. The story is… a bunch of guys get together and decide we should meet up and have a beer because we're all blogging in Toronto ,and it doesn't seem like anyone is getting together to talk about the stuff. We met, and two hours later we were gonna start a conference. Now, what can happen in a situation like that is absolutely nothing. Everyone goes home, sleeps on it, and nothing comes of it. In our case, a month later we had a website up. We were selling tickets a month later. Two months after that we sold out and were putting on the conference. It was a crazy ride, but we pulled it off. It's been rewarding. It's still very fun and exciting for us, the guys I organized MESH with. We finished off the conference this as excited and giddy as we were year one. To keep that going, it's not about the money, and if we were looking at this as a money thing there is no way we would have the love. Focusing on the stuff that matters keeps it alive. We are proud of what MESH has become and the role it is playing in the Toronto community."

read full story here
original source Business Review Canada