Executive Summary: Parkland, Brazeau, Lac Ste Anne and Yellowhead Counties, Alberta
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The first round of the Smart Cities Challenge is closed. The Government of Canada announced the four winners (City of Montréal, Québec; Nunavut Communities, Nunavut; City of Guelph and County of Wellington, Ontario; and Town of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia) on May 14, 2019.
As a group of four rural counties in Alberta, we are pleased to submit our proposal to Smart Cities Canada! We believe we have risen to your Challenge.
When awarded the Challenge prize, we aim to transform how rural Canada uses and accesses Information Communications Infrastructure for the common good. We will lever the benefits of connected technologies to improve rural lives, rural economies and rural environments. We will bridge the divide with urban Canada and better connect urban residents with their sustainable food supply.
We seek to create a region where internet connectivity, smart technologies, and innovative data trust applications are developed and used to increase rural prosperity and will attract citizens to an innovative and prosperous way of life.
We are about to embark on a path to tackle one of Canada's most wicked of problems:
Deliver decision-making tools, informed by hyper-local data and connectivity solutions, that benefit residents that, in turn, improves Canada's food production and distribution system, enhances rural safety and security, incents young families to become life-long farm operators, and, when fully implemented, increases the prosperity of rural Canada.
The challenge is large – our plan begins the process. It delivers upon the outline submitted in the Spring of 2018, and builds upon it in significant ways. A full strategic plan, with all the supporting details demanded through this rigorous application process, defines our way forward.
We propose a not-for-profit company reflecting our rural intent – AGora – be created to bring life to our strategy.
AGora: an internet enabled meeting and marketplace, based on the original Greek agora where people meet, discuss, research, resolve, profit and prosper.
True to the intention of the Smart Cities Challenge, we are focussed on delivering value that can be adopted nationwide. We intend to use state of the art technologies to create AGora so it can be used by others. And it has not and will not be created in isolation. Collaboration underpins our achievements so far, and will be core to our long-term success. Community members and partners of all types will work with us to deliver value.
Our proposal defines a common purpose and shared approach to tackle our 'wicked problem' head on, and not wait for events to overtake rural Canada. We see a positive future for all rural regions in Canada, with connected technologies at the core.
We ask that you step forward in partnership with us to bring about a new future for Rural Canada. Something that perhaps was not contemplated when the Smart "Cities" Challenge was announced, but something that will deliver fundamental value to Canada's urban and rural residents alike.
We invite you to join us!
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