Durham Region has been named one of the top Smart21 Communities of the Year for the second year in a row.
There are six Canadian communities on the 21-strong list.
Smart21 of 2022
- Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Alexandria Lakes Area, Minnesota, USA
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
- Binh Duong Smart City, Vietnam
- Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
- Durham Region, Ontario, Canada
- East Central Region, Minnesota, USA
- Elefsina, Attica, Greece
- Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
- City of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
- Markham, Ontario, Canada
- New Taipei City, Taiwan
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Prospect, South Australia, Australia
- Rochester, New York, USA
- Seat Pleasant, Maryland, USA
- Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
- Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
- Whanganui, New Zealand
The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF)’s Smart21 Communities program recognizes the world’s leading municipalities that are successfully leveraging data and digital assets to develop inclusive and prosperous communities. It’s about using modern technology and innovative thinking to improve economic competitiveness, engage citizens, and increase connectivity to support smarter, healthier, more equitable and sustainable communities, said a region statement.
Through its Intelligent Communities Plan, the Region of Durham is undergoing digital transformation and leading the way in innovation. Notable projects include:
- Being the first regional municipality in Canada to bring Regional services to smart home devices—thanks to the myDurham 311 Smart Home Device Voice Service project.
- Opening the doors for innovative local businesses to pitch new ideas to the Region through the Business Showcase Event.
- Piloting the Whitby Autonomous Shuttle Pilot (WAVE), the first autonomous electric shuttle in North America, using smart infrastructure to support the transit and transportation industries to explore sustainable solutions for our future and address our collective challenges in a smart, connected way.
- Engaging with small business to optimize road maintenance and pothole patching work through artificial intelligence.
- Continuing to build capacity for innovation through programs such as CityStudio Durham, a program that builds partnerships among local post-secondary institutions, municipalities and Durham Regional Police Service.
“Durham Region is leading the way on the world stage. We are eager to capitalize on our legacy as builders in a new economy that features autonomous and electric vehicles, clean technology and innovative service delivery. Being named as one of the top Smart21 Communities of the Year is a wonderful recognition of the important work being done to create the Durham of tomorrow, today,” said John Henry, Regional Chair and CEO.
Durham Region wins Smart 50 Award
For the second year in a row, Durham Region was presented with a Smart 50 Award for Mobility. This year, the region, in partnership with technology provider Visual Defence, has won the award for using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize road maintenance.
The region identified an opportunity to improve its road patrol program and pothole patching work program through partnering with the technology provider Visual Defence on the development and use of its AI solution.
The solution, an app called Rover, is installed on a smartphone that is mounted to the windshield of the region’s road patrol vehicle and uses the camera of the smartphone to automatically detect, identify and capture images of potholes using AI, while simultaneously uploading the incident information to a cloud server. The technology is both efficient and safe as it scans the roads for deficiencies. Rover then analyzes and processes the images captured by the camera and the incident data is logged so sorting through the data is quick and efficient by regional staff.
Durham is the first regional municipality to implement Rover AI for pothole detection in Canada. This project is one of the many examples that demonstrates the Region is implementing its Intelligent Communities Plan, and leading the way in innovation.
“We saw an opportunity in improving the road patrol program and pothole patching work program through partnering with technology provider Visual Defence, on the development and use of its AI solution. As a result, our work has been greatly simplified, our roads are better maintained and citizen complaints have greatly dropped,” said Eric Lamain, Manager, Maintenance Operations & Fleet Services.
Quick Facts
The following outcomes were achieved for Durham Region:
- Improved productivity: The technology has helped to identify 6,250 potholes over 1.5 years on the region’s roads, resulting in a significant improvement in pothole reporting.
- The number of calls received from members of the public has decreased significantly.
- Improved efficiency in the pothole repair program.
- Better compliance with Ontario Minimum Maintenance Standard: By having access to records of pothole locations and being able to prioritize them effectively, potholes can be repaired in compliance with provincial standards with digital records.
- Reduced risk exposure: By using the platform to identify priority incidents and respond to them, the Region reduces its exposure to claims.
- Digitization of data: Having the data available in a digital format makes it easy to measure the number of potholes precisely and accurately on regional roads.
The Smart 50 Awards, in partnership with Smart Cities Connect, Smart Cities Connect Foundation and US Ignite, annually recognize global smart cities projects by honouring the 50 most innovative and influential projects. To learn more about the Smart 50 Awards, visit Spring.SmartCitiesConnect.org/Smart50Awards.