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.