Wednesday, 22 February 2023

Markham Receives WCCD Platinum-Level ISO Data Certification for Fourth Consecutive Year

   


The following is a link to the original release

MARKHAM, CANADA – February 21, 2023 – The City of Markham has received the ISO 37120 (Indicators for Sustainable Cities) Platinum-level certification from the World Council on City Data (WCCD) for the fourth consecutive year.

Markham joins more than 30 Canadian - and 100 cities globally - within the WCCD network that collect, share and use data to make effective and transformative decisions. This Platinum Certification is the highest level of recognition by the WCCD and underlines Markham's commitment to high-calibre, globally standardized and independently verified city data.

"The City of Markham is proud to continue its long-standing partnership with the WCCD and to be awarded the highest level of WCCD ISO 37120 certification," said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. "Through the data-driven insights that we obtain through our annual WCCD ISO certification, Markham can benchmark itself against other leading municipalities around the world and monitor our strategic priorities while implementing policies that will improve the quality of life for residents while attracting new investment."

"Through its commitment to standardized city data, Markham stands out as a leader in Canada and globally," said Dr. Patricia McCarney, WCCD President and CEO. "With its four years of WCCD ISO data, Mayor Scarpitti, Council and City staff are well-positioned to continue focusing on improving Markham's residents' quality of life while attracting new and diverse talent and investment. It is a pleasure to congratulate the City on this important accomplishment."

A Canadian-led, global innovation, ISO 37120 is the first international standard for city data. With 104 fully numeric indicators across 19 themes, it helps to measure city services and quality of life, underpinned by standardized definitions and methodologies.

The WCCD was founded in 2014 and helps communities of all sizes worldwide embrace standardized, independently verified and globally comparable city data to become more sustainable, resilient, prosperous, inclusive and smart.

Wednesday, 8 February 2023

City of Doral is Recognized by the World Council on City Data (WCCD) and Announces Participation in Joint WCCD/United Nations Project

   

 

The following is a link to the original release


Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Doral, FL – Today, the City of Doral achieved recognition for implementing ISO 37120 for the sixth consecutive year. Dr. Patricia McCarney - President and CEO of the World Council on City Data (WCCD) - recognized Mayor Christi Fraga, the Council and City Staff for Doral’s implementation of ISO 37120 (Indicators for Sustainable Cities) for the years 2020 and 2021 at the highest Platinum Level.

Receiving this important, data-driven achievement for six consecutive years builds on Doral’s similar data-driven successes in the past. Beyond its multiple WCCD ISO 37120 certifications, Doral is the first city in the United States to be awarded WCCD’s “Early Adopter” Certification for implementing the WCCD’s newest standards, ISO 37122 (Indicators for Smart Cities) and ISO 37123 (Indicators for Resilient Cities). Doral’s continued participation as a leader in the WCCD’s global network of over 100 cities across more than thirty-five countries supports Council’s dedication to building a more prosperous, smart, sustainable, and resilient future for residents.

“The City of Doral has been a long-standing partner of the WCCD,” stated Mayor Fraga. “Now equipped with over six years of data, City leadership is well positioned to harness this information to understand where we’ve been and to determine the best path forward through the high caliber data we collect annually with the support of the WCCD.”

In her remarks, Dr. McCarney congratulated the City of Doral, its leadership, staff, and important partners in Miami-Dade County for this accomplishment. “The WCCD is privileged to work with cities around the world in helping them to harness high caliber, globally standardized and independently verified city data to drive prosperous change, and Doral is at the top of that list,” stated Dr. McCarney. “Through the WCCD’s partnership with Mayor Fraga, Council and the dedicated teams within Doral and Miami-Dade, we look forward to continued WCCD-Doral cooperation for many years. Congratulations to Mayor Fraga, Council, and all involved in this partnership, highlighting Doral as a leader in Florida, the United States, and globally.”

Beyond the opportunity to recognize Doral for its dedication to data-driven prosperity, Dr. McCarney also announced Doral’s inclusion in a new joint United Nations and WCCD Pilot on City resilience. “Through a long-standing partnership with the United Nations, the WCCD is working with a select group of cities worldwide to harness the data within ISO 37123 to drive a more resilient future for cities worldwide. Doral was an immediate candidate for inclusion in this important pilot initiative. Doral will be a strategic member of this global conversation on making cities more resilient, and the lessons it shares with other cities will be as important as the lessons it learns. Alongside our UN Partners, we are pleased to work with Doral, Mayor Fraga, Council and Staff.”

Responding to Dr. McCarney, Mayor Fraga underlined Doral’s commitment to driving a more resilient future for the city. “With the continuing changes that we see all around us, becoming more resilient in response to extreme weather events is extremely important to Doral. However, we also know that cities face economic challenges beyond extreme weather – especially as we take Doral’s economy to even greater heights following the challenges presented by COVID-19. Participating in this UN/WCCD Pilot Project will allow us to learn from other cities worldwide and share with them what we have learned in our commitment to making our city more resilient.”

Working with the WCCD, the Pilot initiative will be implemented in partnership with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the UN agency tasked with supporting city-level resilience.

About the WCCD
The World Council on City Data (WCCD) was founded in 2014. It exists to help cities and communities of all sizes globally embrace ISO-standardized, independently verified, and globally comparable city data to make data-driven decisions. The WCCD team of professionals has led the development and implementation of three international standards on city data published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva – now globally recognized as the ISO 37120 Series on City Data. The ISO 37120 Series includes ISO 37120 - Indicators for Sustainable Cities, ISO 37122 - Indicators for Smart Cities, and ISO 37123 - Indicators for Resilient Cities. WCCD is now working with 100 cities in over 35 countries, helping these cities to implement the ISO 37120 Series on City Data.


Wednesday, 28 September 2022

​Vaughan achieves Platinum and Smart Cities Early Adopter certifications from the World Council on City Data

   
Mayor Bevilacqua and Vaughan City Council received multiple certifications from the WCCD President and CEO, Dr. Patricia McCarney

The following is a link to the original release

During a ceremonial presentation at the Sept. 28 Council meeting, Mayor and Members of Council announced the City of Vaughan has achieved three International Organization of Standardization (ISO) certifications from the World Council on City Data (WCCD) – a Platinum ISO 37120 certification for 2020 and 2021, and the ISO 37122 Early Adopter Smart Cities certification.

Platinum is the highest certification offered by the WCCD, a global leader in standardized data that helps create smart, sustainable, resilient and prosperous cities. ISO 37120 is the first international standard for cities. The platinum certifications are the sixth and seventh that Vaughan has received. Each is a testament to the City's commitment to advancing purposeful Smart City initiatives that align with the organization’s goal of achieving the highest standards.  

To attain WCCD platinum certification, cities report key performance indicators across 19 themes that measure City services and quality of life. Year-over-year benchmarking establishes a baseline that will allow Vaughan to assess service delivery and drive decision-making and data-driven policies forward.

In addition to the platinum certifications, the City has also become an early adopter of ISO 37122 – Indicators for Smart Cities. Vaughan is among the first cities in the world to be certified under this new Smart City standard, joining an early adopter cohort of 10 cities globally.

The City of Vaughan has a robust Smart City agenda that contributes to the WCCD’s ISO indicators such as:

  • the LED streetlight retrofit program that replaced 24,000 lights and includes Smart City technology integration, giving improved control and saving $1 million per year.
  • a digital portal that allows citizens and industry professionals to apply, track and pay for building permits online.
  • the introduction of electric vehicles into the City fleet and the development of charging infrastructure at public facilities, with more coming soon.
  • the City's commitment to creating an accessible community by 2025 by undertaking 57 initiatives – with six completed, 16 in progress and 35 ongoing.
  • the City's support for innovation, with an impressive number of new patents per 100,000 residents per year; new ventureLAB space at Pierre Berton Resource Library; the student entrepreneurship program; Activate!Vaughan innovation challenges and more.

These Smart City initiatives and many others are improving the quality of life for residents across the city.

Soon Vaughan will begin collecting data for ISO 37123 – Indicators for Resilient Cities – becoming a global early adopter of that certification as well. More importantly, the City will be among only a handful worldwide that have obtained a "triple certification" under the ISO 37120 Series. 

These accomplishments reflect the City's commitment to a culture of knowledge and continuous improvement. In 2018, Vaughan established the Smart City Task Force to create enhanced opportunities by improving how data is collected, understood and utilized to safeguard and elevate the quality of life for all citizens. The task force provided suggestions to increase economic competitiveness, advance data initiatives, foster innovation, and improve engagement with stakeholders, community groups and citizens. Following careful research, consideration and dedication to this mandate, the appointed members developed the Smart City Task Force Report, which was presented to Council on June 28, 2022.

Vaughan is ambitious and transformative. The City is committed to finding new and meaningful ways to incorporate Smart City solutions into ongoing city-building efforts while ensuring it continues to put citizens first through Service Excellence.

Friday, 9 September 2022

City of Yellowknife Receives Platinum World Council on City Data Certification

   
From L to R: Mayor Rebecca Alty; City Manager, Ms. Sheila Sheila Bassi-Kellett; Director of Corporate Services, Ms. Sharolynn Woodward 
The following is a link to the original release. 

City of Yellowknife Receives Platinum World Council on City Data Certification

YELLOWKNIFE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES | September 9, 2022

The City of Yellowknife will receive their 2020 & 2021 World Council on City Data (WCCD) ISO 37120 platinum certifications at the September 12 City Council meeting.

Yellowknife first joined the WCCD in 2019 as part of the Federal Ministry of Infrastructure-supported “Data for Canadian Cities Project”. The City's first certification was celebrated in the fall of 2020. This certification marks the third and final year of this initial project.

“On behalf of the WCCD, it is my pleasure to congratulate Yellowknife on three consecutive years of  WCCD ISO 37120 Certification at the highest, Platinum level. With its focus on prosperity, inclusivity and a strong sense of pride in its history and culture, Yellowknife stands out as a leader throughout the WCCD network in Canada and globally,” said Dr. Patricia McCarney, WCCD President & CEO. “As we turn towards our next three years of work together and beyond, I look forward to working with you all to explore how the WCCD’s annually reported data can be put to work in further supporting Yellowknife as a data driven and prosperous community.”

With three years of data, and the City's commitment to continuing its work with the WCCD, the City is now poised to begin examining trends that have emerged over the past three years, in addition to being able to benchmark with over 30 Canadian cities, and 100 cities globally. With applications from COVID recovery, economic development and attraction, and strategic monitoring of the City's priorities, Yellowknife's WCCD ISO certification is also a critical tool to continue driving forward key city policies and priorities.

“We are now able to examine the three-year data trend across the 104 Key Performance Indicators within ISO 37120 and begin to build back to previous - and increased - levels of prosperity and investment attractiveness through data-driven insights,” said Mayor Rebecca Alty.

Tuesday, 23 August 2022

City of Doral Receives WCCD’s Triple Certification on Data for Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities

   

  (Please visit the following link to view the original release on the City of Doral's website)   


August 9, 2022

The World Council on City Data (WCCD) has awarded the City of Doral with the International Organization for Standardization’s newest (ISO) 37123 (Resilient Cities) certification. Beyond Doral’s most recent ISO 37120 certification (jointly received today), and last year’s ISO 37122 (Smart Cities) certification, Doral is the first city in the United States and Canada to achieve WCCD certification under all three standards within the WCCD administered ISO 37120 Series of Standards. This achievement further solidifies the City’s commitment to harnessing standardized city data to drive a citizen-focused approach to smart service delivery.

“This significant certification further confirms our status as an international model city that is focused on transparency and data-driven decision making that yields results, “said Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez. “By investing in these initiatives, we cultivate a safer more sustainable community for our residents and businesses.”

The City of Doral has been a long-standing World Council on City Data member, first obtaining ISO 37120 certification in 2017 and annually in subsequent years. The certification process was spearheaded by Doral’s Information Technology Department, with support from the City’s Planning & Zoning, City Clerk, Parks & Recreation and Finance departments, as well as Miami Dade County Fire, Environmental, Solid Waste, and Water and Sanitation. All of these entities played a key role in gathering the data for reporting, which was instrumental to the success of the certification process.

"On behalf of the WCCD, I am pleased to recognize Doral's most recent ISO 37120 and the WCCD'S newest ISO 37123 (Resilient Cities) certifications," stated the WCCD President and CEO, Dr. Patricia McCarney. "Having already received ISO 37122 (Smart Cities) certification last year, Doral has become one of only a handful of cities worldwide that have received WCCD certification under the entire ISO 37120 Series. Doral is also the first American city to achieve this important triple certification. This truly impressive accomplishment would not have been possible without Mayor Bermudez and Council's leadership and the dedicated, data-driven City staff. I look forward to our continued work, exploring how we can use Doral's year-over-year data trends to support the City as a data-driven community while driving forward Doral's continued prosperity and success."

About the WCCD
The World Council on City Data (WCCD) was founded in 2014. It exists to help cities and communities of all sizes globally embrace ISO standardized, independently verified, and globally comparable city data to make data driven decisions. The WCCD team of professionals has led the development and implementation of three international standards on city data that have been published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva – now globally recognized as the ISO 37120 Series on City Data. The ISO 37120 Series includes: ISO 37120 - Indicators for Sustainable Cities, ISO 37122 - Indicators for Smart Cities, and ISO 37123 - Indicators for Resilient Cities. WCCD is now working with 100 cities in over 40 countries, helping these cities to become certified under the ISO 3712- Series on City Data.


Tuesday, 2 August 2022

County of Brant receives WCCD Platinum Certification for the Third Consecutive Year

   

  (Please visit the following link to view the original release on the County of Brant's website)   



August 2, 2022

The County of Brant is thrilled to receive the ISO 37120 Platinum-level certification from the World Council on City Data (WCCD) for the third consecutive year.

With three years of data and the County's commitment to continuing its work with the WCCD, the County of Brant is now poised to begin examining trends that have emerged, in addition to being able to benchmark with over 30 Canadian cities, and 100 cities globally. The certification also serves as a critical tool to continue driving forward strategic priorities such as infrastructure investment.

“The County of Brant is honoured to be awarded the highest level of WCCD ISO 37120 certification for the third consecutive year,” said Mayor David Bailey. “This tool allows the County to assess and build a more livable, resilient and vibrant community. We are proud to join a distinct list of world cities who have achieved this certification which supports sound decision making.”

A few highlights from the WCCD’s ISO 37120 Certified data include:

  • Brant leads in WCCD's Canadian and global network with 250 kilometres of bicycle paths and lanes per 100,000 population
  • Brant has recorded an annual decrease in crimes against property every year since 2018
  • Brant continues to observe an annual increase in the Percentage of Persons in Full-Time Employment

ISO 37120 is the first ISO standard developed especially for municipalities. It contains 104 indicators across 19 themes, and measures County services and quality of life using a common international standard.

“On behalf of the WCCD, it is a pleasure to congratulate the Country of Brant on its third consecutive WCCD ISO 37120 Certification at the highest Platinum level. As an active and prominent participant in WCCD’s Canadian and Global Network, the County of Brant stands out as a leader in harnessing high-caliber data to create a more prosperous, resilient, sustainable, inclusive and smart future for its residents and visitors,” said Dr. Patricia McCarney, WCCD President and CEO. “As the WCCD continues its work with the County of Brant, I look forward to exploring how this three-year trend of data continuity can be put to work in supporting Brant as a data-driven community. Our next three years of work together will continue to drive crucial insights for the County of Brant.”

The County of Brant originally joined the WCCD Canadian and Global Network of over 100 cities as part of the Data for Canadian Cities Pilot Project, supported by the Federal Ministry of Infrastructure and Communities. This certification marks the third and final year of this initial project.

Thursday, 14 July 2022

MARKHAM RECEIVES WCCD PLATINUM-LEVEL ISO DATA CERTIFICATION THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR

   

  (Please visit the following link to view the original release on the City of Markham's Website)


July 14, 2022

The City of Markham is thrilled to receive the ISO 37120 Platinum-level certification from the World Council on City Data (WCCD) for the third consecutive year, as part of the three-year Data for Canadian Cities Pilot Project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Infrastructure and Communities.

With three years of data, and the City’s commitment to continuing its work with the WCCD, Markham joins more than 30 Canadian cities and 100 cities globally – who are collecting, sharing and using data to make effective and transformative decisions.

Having established a baseline of data for the past two years, the City of Markham will be able to start assessing service delivery and quality of life to drive forward key policies.

“The City of Markham is honoured to be awarded the highest level of WCCD ISO 37120 certification for the third consecutive year,” said Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “We are proud to join a distinct list of world cities that share information to build more resilient, vibrant and livable cities. We look forward to continuing to use the data to support decision making and collaborate.”

ISO 37120 is the first ISO standard developed especially for cities. It contains 104 fully numeric indicators across 19 themes, and measures City services and quality of life using a common international standard.

“On behalf of the WCCD, it is a pleasure to congratulate the City of Markham on its third consecutive WCCD ISO 37120 Certification at the highest Platinum level,” said Dr. Patricia McCarney, WCCD President and CEO. “Working with Council and Staff, I look forward to exploring how this three years of data continuity can be put to work and propel Markham forward as a data-driven city. As an active and prominent participant in WCCD’s Canadian and Global Network, the City stands out through its dedication to harnessing high caliber data to create a more prosperous, resilient, sustainable, inclusive and smart future for its residents and visitors.”

Markham originally joined the WCCD Canadian and Global Network of over 100 cities as part of the Data for Canadian Cities Pilot Project. This certification marks the third and final year of this initial project.

The WCCD was founded in 2014 and helps communities of all sizes worldwide embrace standardized, independently verified and globally comparable city data to become more sustainable, resilient, prosperous, inclusive and smart.