City of Orillia Partners with Bell for Smart City Pilot Program

Last week, Bell announced its all-fibre broadband would next reach Orillia, Ontario, and now both parties have again partnered to make another announcement.

The City of Orillia says it is working with Bell for a Smart City initiative, which would further spread the Internet of Things (IOT) around the city. City council approved Bell Smart Solutions to lead the project at a meeting last night.

“This partnership with Bell enables us to explore cutting-edge technology and puts Orillia on the map as being one of the most innovative cities in Canada,” said Mayor Steve Clarke, in a statement to iPhone in Canada. “Economic development has been a key priority of this Council. Taking steps to develop Orillia as a Smarter City will certainly help to promote new growth opportunities.”

The one-year pilot project will include the likes of a public Wi-Fi network in the downtown area along the waterfront in Couchiching Beach Park—a key priority of city council—along with two multi-function touchscreen kiosks to help visitors and locals, plus promote local events.

Bell’s Smart City platform will help the city analyze collected centralized data, which will result in better informed decisions on city operations. For winter, there will be a fleet management app to track real-time snowplow operations, while another app will detect ground water volume in Orillia’s sewer system, to better project costs when it comes repairs of sanitary pipes.

Group Photo: Coun. Pat Hehn, Gary Semplonius, SVP-Business Sales and Marketing, Bell Canada, Coun. Ralph Cipolla, Mayor Steve Clarke, Coun. Mason Ainsworth, Coun. Jeff Clark and Tal Schierau, Director Direct Sales IoT, Bell Canada, stand behind drawings of the new digital kiosks that are a part of the Smart City initiative between the City of Orillia and Bell announced on May 14, 2018.

“We are proud to partner with the City of Orillia to demonstrate the many benefits the Bell Smart City platform can provide to communities of all sizes,” said Bell Senior Vice President Gary Semplonius, in a statement. “Orillia is clearly a leader in the adoption of innovative technology and is well positioned to take the lead as one of Canada’s Smart Cities.”

Orillia, according to Bell, is a “prime” partner due to the former’s recent growth and openness to adopt smart technologies. Other Smart City pilot projects by Bell include those in Kingston and St. Catharines.

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