2020 Smart City Annual Report for the City of Mississauga
Overview of Mississauga's Smart City Master Plan implementation
Welcome to the 2020 Smart City Annual Report!
The City of Mississauga is already an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certified Smart City, with the Early Adopters certification awarded to us by the World Council on City Data. In addition, we have recently been named one of the Smart21 Intelligent Communities in the world by the Intelligent Community Forum.
Mississauga’s Smart City program aligns with the City’s strategic pillars of move, belong, connect, prosper and green, and allows us to remain a leading municipality on a global scale when it comes to innovation and technology.
We will continue to embrace innovation, work and collaborate with other government organizations, and ultimately benefit our citizens and businesses continuing to make Mississauga an attractive place to live work and play.
Discover and learn about how we are already a Smart City in so many different ways by reading through our annual report, the first of its kind. Enjoy, get involved and get engaged with our Smart City Team. Help to make us an even better Smart City!
Introduction
Approved by City of Mississauga Council on July 3, 2019, the Smart City Master Plan directs the City’s Smart City program, including the creation of this annual report.
A Smart City is defined by the British Standards Institute as
“…the effective integration of physical, digital and human systems in the built environment to deliver sustainable, prosperous and inclusive future for its citizens"
Within this annual report, we intend to showcase that the City of Mississauga is a Smart City for everyone, report on existing Smart City Assets, and tell the story of our Smart City.
Within the past year, Mississauga has been certified as a Smart City by the World Council on City Data (WCCD). After undergoing an independent auditing process by WCCD, the city was awarded the Early Adopters certification, recognizing us as one of the world’s leading Smart Cities.
In addition, Mississauga has also been named one of the Smart21 Intelligent Communities of 2021 by the Intelligent Community Forum.
The Public Sector Digest in collaboration with Canada’s Open Data Exchange have ranked us as number 8 out of all North American cities who applied. Through an appraisal framework used to gauge the level of openness in cities, the ranking of 8 certifies that the City of Mississauga has one of North America’s most effective Open Data programs. In addition, the Public Sector Digest ranked Mississauga number 10 out of all participating North American cities for the Geospatial Maturity Index for Mississauga's incredible Geospatial Program.
To conclude, we must mention the largest disrupter to daily life that our world will likely see for many generations to come, the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this pandemic, we have had to pivot the way we deliver services to our citizens. To learn about how we have adapted to this new world, please read our COVID-19 Corporate Report to City Council .
Where We Are Now
The goals within the City’s Smart City Master Plan are to focus on people, economy, living, mobility, the environment, and government. To learn more about these goals, take a look at the Smart City Master Plan .
Measuring Mississauga's Smart City
Mississauga Smart City by the numbers
Building a Smart City
The City of Mississauga has a total of 83 Official Smart City Assets. You can learn more about each asset by clicking the button below.
The examples below help tell the story of digital in the built environment in the context of Mississauga. To interact with these, please visit the 3D map .
Economy
Innovation Corridor
Mississauga is located in the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor and is leading the way in innovation by investing in people and driving long-term economic success. Focused on having the right infrastructure in place for innovation and growth, Mississauga has the potential to become one of the world's top innovation ecosystems. For example, Mississauga is home to the Xerox Research Centre Canada , a 27,000 sq. foot innovative Centre at the Sheridan Science and Technology Campus that houses the Research Innovation and Commercialization (RIC) Centre & Green Centre of Canada and the Ontario Centre of Excellence (OCE), who are dedicated to helping start-ups bring their concept to commercialization and for engineers to test and develop advanced technologies to address climate change, medical devices, advanced manufacturing and connectivity.
Click here for more information.
Business to Business (B2B) Platform
Mississauga’s new Business to Business platform was developed in 2020. It is a new method for the City's Economic Development Office (EDO) and Mississauga Business Enterprise Centre (MBEC) teams to communicate with business professionals in a virtual setting that is safe during COVID-19 and will remain a continued form of communication after the pandemic.
For more information, please contact Mississauga's EDO .
Digital Main Street
Digital Main Street is a program that helps main street businesses achieve their digital transformation goals. This program is built around an online learning platform, structured training programs, and our Digital Service Squad, a team of digital experts who help main street businesses grow and manage their operations through digital tools and technology.
Click here for more information.
Connectivity
Public Sector Network (PSN)
Established in 1996, this fibre optic network, labeled the Public Sector Network (PSN), is designed to meet the Region’s growing need to provide an instant flow of data communications between facilities across Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. This network involves the effort of the four municipal agencies operating within the Region of Peel (Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon and the Region of Peel). Through years of planning and collaboration, a communications infrastructure capable of providing cost effective, high-speed telecommunications has been developed.
This communications network supports services such as Wireless Mississauga (free public wifi), internet services for city staff, connectivity for local hospitals and the Eduroam network at Mississauga’s Post secondary Institutions. In addition, it provides a backbone for a variety of digital infrastructure including the IoT network that allows for a wide variety of connected tools such as the 5G, Automated Traffic Management System (ATMS), security cameras, air quality sensors and more.
The PSN project now has over 828 kms of fibre optics cable (47,459 strand kms) in place and 102 facilities connected to the network. In addition, City infrastrucutre now has dependencies on PSN in 346 sites and nodes. It is anticipated that another 40 to 50 additional facilities will be added to the network over the next 3 years.
*Note: graphics are not a true representation of where the PSN is located
Wireless Network
Mississauga has an extensive wireless network that spans the city. It was built on existing infrastructure including 780 connected intersections and 1000’s of wireless nodes creating an unparalleled Internet of Things (IoT) network. This wireless network is used for public facing services such as Wireless Mississauga and also to support city services.
Currently this system supports connected traffic intersections; emergency services; the public Wireless Mississauga network; MiWay Transit including Transit Hubs; digital parks; city buildings such as Community Centres, Libraries, Arenas, Culture Facilities, and more.
This kind of digital infrastructure is rare for cities in North America and we are looking forward to seeing all the incredible ways it can be used to continue support Mississauga.
Click here for more information.
*Note: graphic does not represent the true location of wireless network access points.
Home Internet Speed
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) provides residents and businesses the opportunity to test their internet speeds. Using this data, which has been published on the City’s Open Data Portal , we can see that in Mississauga, the quality of internet connectivity is relatively strong. The average internet download speed in Mississauga is 58.16 Mbps while the average upload speed is 11.96 Mbps, which are both considered to be good internet connection speeds.
5G
5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. This generation will include higher speeds, lower latency, and greater connectivity - thereby becoming an enabler for emerging technologies and services.
Click here for more information.
Citizen Experience
Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS)
All 777 City managed Traffic intersections are IP connected which means they are connected to the city network. This enables real-time communication to all intersections in the city. ATMS provides a means to meet the operational needs and expectations of the public.
Click here for more information.
*Note: graphic does not represent the true location of ATMS infrastructure.
Smart LED Streetlight
Mississauga has converted approximately 50,000 municipal streetlights to LED technology with integrated adaptive controls. Along with many other benefits, this conversion has lead to a 55% savings in electricity and 50% savings in maintenance.
Click here for more information.
*Note: graphic does not represent the true location of streetlight infrastructure.
iParks
The iParks Pilot Project began in 2018 to help understand how Mississauga parks are used through data collection and analysis. In addition, the pilot helped to expand free public Wi-Fi services in Mississauga parks, promote a healthy lifestyle, and deliver new technologies and services.
Lakeview Development
Lakeview Village will transform 177 acres of former industrial lands into a vibrant waterfront destination that will serve as a global model for sustainable mixed-use development. This new 177-acre community features a range of housing options, space for education and office, an Innovation District, multicultural and year-round recreational programming, an extensive parks system including access to the nearby 64-acre Jim Tovey Conservation Area, and a network of trails, pathways and direct access to local transit. In addition, Lakeview Developments will have smart city elements such as District Energy and others.
Click here for more information.
Brightwater Communities
Brightwater is a comprehensive large-scale preconstruction project located lakefront at 70 Mississauga Road South, Mississauga. The project is proposing a total of 2,500 condo units and 400 townhouse units. The occupancy time is scheduled towards 3-5 years depending on property types. This development will have a number of smart city elements throughout.
Click here for more information.
Downtown Oxford Properties
Oxford Properties has proposed a development around Mississauga’s Square One mall. This proposed development will transform the area into the largest mixed-use development in Canada.
2D Map of Smart City Assets
Also, explore a few more Smart City Assets by visiting this 2D map of Smart City Assets.
Data Makes a Smart City, Smart
Data is at the core of a Smart City used to drive decision making. Data provides insights, historical context, allows for prediction, unravels relationships between different business elements, discovers patterns, enables storytelling and campaigns to drive meaningful change.
Open data allows the public to explore information about Mississauga. With over 200 open datasets, the public can discover various aspects of our city such as businesses, land use, demographics, and the environment.
The City is taking a more aggressive approach to moving open data forward. We are planning to open up key datasets such as parcels, addresses and street centrelines and we plan to connect live datasets by the end of 2021.
To explore open data, please visit the Open Data Portal.
We are also introducing a Smart City Policy that includes Data Governance. In simple terms, Data Governance establishes processes and standards that ensure information is utilized in the most effective and efficient manner.
The City has developed a Data Governance Strategy which is for internal review along with a Data Governance Working Group
Centre for Civic Curiosity
Part of Mississauga’s Smart City program is engaging with the public through our Centre for Civic Curiosity. The Centre is a virtual and physical space where the public can explore, learn, connect, and contribute to the future of Mississauga.
In previous years, the City has hosted hackathon events and idea jams.
2020 Smart City Open Data Challenge
In 2020, the Smart City Open Data Challenge was launched, the City’s first virtual hackathon. To learn more about this event and to see the winners, please go to the Smart City Open Data Showcase .
Congratulations to the winners of the 2020 Smart City Open Data Challenge:
Rishi Keny, Viktoriya Tkacheva, Tohammel Sarowar, Andrew Plummer, Brendan Clutton, Keith Paul, Boris Vassilev, Timur Hamzaev, Dhiren Khattra, and Rida Pasha!
Future-Proof Mississauga
The next 10 years are going to be about disruptive change and Mississauga is preparing for those changes. The current research, focus areas, and work lays the foundation for a prosperous future for the City of Mississauga.
In order to usher in change in a smoother and more collaborative fashion, the City of Mississauga is actively researching the following items:
- 3D Digital Twin
- Ethical Artificial Intelligence
- Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality
- Autonomous Vehicles, Mobility as a Service
- Robotics
- Drones
While these leading edge technologies will fundamentally change our city, many will come with ethical challenges that will need to be discussed as a community through a rigorous citizen engagement process.
Key Partners
We would like to sincerely thank our partners who helped make this possible
- Microsoft
- Esri
- Parsons
- Dimonoff
- Hastus
- Tableau
- 311 Provider
- University of Toronto Mississauga/UTM
- Sheridan College
- Ric Centre
- Region of Peel
- Government of Canada
- Other municipalities
