On June 1, Edmonton was named a finalist for Canada’s $50-million Smart Cities Challenge. We’re proud to be a partner in this exciting and one-of-a-kind proposal to transform how municipalities can have an impact on social, economic and health outcomes through smart data and innovative technologies. We know that a connected individual is a healthy individual – through smart spaces and digital tools we can enhance individuals’ connectivity to health services (clinicians and practitioners) and to neighbours and family. Health City is an economic development organization that encourages and enables health innovation by local companies and partners that solve health challenges in our communities that can be marketed globally. We have partnered with the City of Edmonton on the “Healthy City” Smart Cities proposal because we are already working with traditional and non-traditional partners, large organizations and startups, as well as non-profits and communities to create and deploy innovative services, digital tools and infrastructure to help citizens better manage their health. One of our major initiatives leverages Edmonton’s world-class assets in artificial intelligence to help us pull together health, social and municipal data using artificial intelligence and machine learning to see patterns in that data. It gives data the power to be predicative – allowing us to be smarter about how we make investments in infrastructure, health services and and technologies to focus on better social, economic and health outcomes. We’re going to use community-driven projects to show what can be done in Edmonton at the municipal level, with a vision to scale this model nationally and globally. We are calling on all Edmonton innovators and entrepreneurs to help us and our partners achieve this vision. To find out more about the Smart Cities proposal, check out the City of Edmonton Smart Cities Challenge site.