4 MINUTE READ
Executive Summary
Building Data-Smart City Solutions
Consultant: STEERING
Copyright: SSMIC
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The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) is a non-profit organization in Ontario, Canada that exists to catalyze growth in the sectors of science and technology. The organization facilitates research projects, provides expert support to start-ups and existing businesses, and commercializes innovation. SSMIC also hosts programs to attain their mission of developing an active innovative science and technology hub.
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SSMIC was conceived by municipal community leaders in 1999 as a means to diversify Sault Ste. Marie’s struggling resource-based economy. The goal was to create a shift towards growing the city’s knowledge-based economy. Born from this effort was SSMIC’s first market development project - the Community Geomatics Centre (CGC), a data-smart city solution that leverages a shared service Geographic Information System (GIS) and multi-enterprise data to benefit the community. The CGC was rebranded as Acorn Information Solutions (Acorn) in January 2018.
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Acorn is dedicated to promoting and establishing the means to share data, knowledge and tools among organizations to create healthier, safer and more prosperous communities. In 2006, Steve Nichols of the Canadian Urban Institute recognized The City of Sault Ste. Marie as the first Community Information Utility (CIU) – a community-based organization, governed by a public board, that provides essential information products and services to the public and other public service agencies. Acorn is the driving force that enabled Sault Ste. Marie to become one of the world’s smartest cities by leveraging public data for public good.
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The study
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This case study provides the best practices of Acorn Information Solutions, highlighting how the organization operates as a Community Information Utility (CIU) in Sault Ste. Marie. The study tells the story of the five-year implementation process of the CIU including early challenges of the most ambitious public data capture attempted in Canada, and highlights the development of intelligent data modelling to create the community’s digital twin - an information-based, spatial representation of Sault Ste. Marie that:
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Generates economic development for the community,
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Improves health and human services for citizens,
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Increases public safety, and;
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Creates equitable and efficient delivery of municipal services to residents.
The goal of the case study is to share best practices and provide a roadmap to implement a CIU in other communities.
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The substance of the study and its use cases are based on interviews conducted with staff, municipal partners, and SSMIC founders. Additional historical research was conducted using SSMIC archival documents.
People
Data
Key Findings
The case study established that the successful implementation of the CIU as a data-smart city the solution hinges on the connection of two equally weighted primary factors: data and people.
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Regarding data, the accuracy and currency of the information collected and stored in the CIU along with data intelligence (engineering, database relationships and connectivity rules between assets and features) are essential to Acorn’s ability to create data-driven solutions. Constructing a true digital twin of the community allows CIU users to analyze the real world in a digital environment.
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Central to the success of the CIU as a data-smart city solution is Acorn’s approach to data privacy. Acorn approaches privacy by anonymizing data through the use of physical addresses as readable, spatial reference points. This measure combined with comprehensive data-sharing agreements, privacy policies, and privacy impact assessments are the key elements to Acorn successfully developing data-driven solutions for the community while safeguarding the privacy of citizens.
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Finally, Acorn acts as a third-party data trust that filters raw, public data into open solutions that benefit the public. As a neutral third-party, Acorn safeguards public data privacy while maintaining data standards, access and quality control.
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The results of the study reveal that community vision is critical to implementing a CIU. Municipal leaders must understand that this solution is not only complex but adopting it means a shift in how a community operates based on data-driven solutions.
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Acorn is successful because of the partnerships they’ve created. The CIU relies on trusted relationships to collect, aggregate and analyze multi-enterprise data - starting with initial partnerships between Acorn, the City of Sault Ste. Marie and Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and then progressing to partnerships with over sixty local and regional organizations. Costsharing between partners also play a role in the viability of project implementation.
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Acorn recognized early on that values and work culture are key to building trust. Today Acorn serves the community as an outward focused solutions provider that empowers employees through servant leadership. The result is a collaborative and trusted approach that enables public data to be used for public good in ways never seen before.
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