Shanghai dazzled the South Island Prosperity Project (SIPP) during the the 2018 World Artificial (AI) Intelligence Conference with its deep technical know-how and its consumer-ready technologies, including self-driving cars, robots, data visualization tools, and voice and facial recognition software. The SIPP team recently returned to Victoria from the conference that featured speakers from China’s leading technology giants—Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, China’s “Google”, “Amazon”, and “Facebook”—the high-security conference is considered one of the world’s most prestigious AI gatherings.
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Emilie de Rosenroll, SIPP CEO, spoke during the international conference, focusing on how Greater Victoria plans to create a more sustainable, convenient and affordable transportation network through the use of technologies, like single points of payment for different forms of transportation from bikes, to buses, to carshares.
“New advances in technology will impact countless aspects of our lives including the new ways governments can deliver services to citizens – it encompasses everything from how we move around our cities and regions to how we improve health outcomes, how we work, and even the work we will do,” de Rosenroll said. “This is why SIPP’s work around smart mobility isn’t just about planning for convenient ways of getting around in the short-term, it’s about preparing our region for a different future.”
Greater Victoria is among 20 national finalists in Canada’s first-ever Smart City Challenge led by Infrastructure Canada, Greater Victoria is getting national and international recognition for its smart city work, and will have a chance to win $10M in the Federal challenge to be announced in the summer of 2019. SIPP’s winning initial proposal was selected by a national jury.
Dallas Gislason, SIPP’s director of economic development, participated in a panel discussion alongside Dr. Raymond Tavares, United Nations Industrial Development Organization; Luis Gomez Fernandez, Barcelona’s Commissioner of Economy Promotion; and Cathy Skelly, Investment Manager, of Liverpool Vision. The panel discussed issues related to smart cities governance and the importance of international cooperation for creating ethical AI standards to guide industry and governments.
“China – with its 800 million internet users (of which 98% are on mobile devices), is leading the world on a number of fronts in AI and big data,” says Dallas Gislason. “Greater Victoria can bring an important perspective to the international smart city dialogue, particularly around how we excel at partnerships and collaboration between the private and public sectors.”
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