As a proposal to build a high tech neighbourhood on Toronto?s waterfront slowly progresses, policy-makers from the municipal and provincial governments are mulling new data legislation and frameworks to prepare for the age of so-called ?smart cities.?
The Quayside project, led by Alphabet Inc.-backed entity Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto, has been a lightning rod for data and privacy concerns due to the vast amounts of information it could collect through phones, sensors and other devices used in neighbourhood.
The Ontario government and the City of Toronto are working on developing new governance strategies in the wake of concerns about Sidewalk Toronto?s Quayside project. Image via Sidewalk Labs.
Those concerns were still lingering when the Ontario government quietly launched a three-phase consultation process earlier this month to develop a data strategy for the province that it hopes will create economic benefits and increase public trust and confidence. The province did not say if the Quayside project had spurred the consultation, but the process began with an online survey seeking feedback on at least one issue Sidewalk will encounter: who should control how businesses use public data and how government ministries should be allowed to share data.
Following the survey, the government will begin province-wide roundtables in the spring and then refine and finalize a strategy in the fall. It is also considering the creation of a data task force.
Meanwhile, at Toront...