Showing posts with label Partnerships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Partnerships. Show all posts

Tuesday, 3 March 2020

WCCD Brings Together Cities of the MENA Region To Discuss Their Commitment to the Dubai-WCCD Local Data Hub, and City Data as a Universal Language

   
From L to R: Mohammad Jaljouli (Dubai), Sanjaya Bhatia (UNDRR), Mohammed Aseeri (Medina), Hajar Seed (Ajman), Patricia McCarney (WCCD), Shumous Bin Faris Al Sebaia (Dubai), Akram Khasrit (Amman), James Patava (WCCD)
Following the successful launch of the Dubai-WCCD Local Data Hub in November 2019, a group of data-driven cities from across the Middle East – including Dubai (UAE), Medina (Saudia Arabia), Amman (Jordan), and Ajman (UAE) - alongside long-standing WCCD Partner, UNDRR came together for a side event at the UN World Urban Forum. With a decided focus on the importance of city data in creating smarter, more resilient, sustainable and inclusive cities, the group spoke at length on how WCCD’s ISO 37120 Series of Standards is helping to transform how they look at their cities both internally, and compared to the 100 WCCD member cities, across 39 countries. Click here for more photos of the event on the WCCD's Facebook page. 

Click below for a short video highlighting the event! 


Friday, 19 July 2019

WCCD & OECD Launch New Partnership in New York - Supporting Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities Worldwide

   

July 19, 2019
New York, New York

On July 18th, at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, the WCCD President and CEO, Dr. Patricia McCarney, and the OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Masamichi Kono launched a new partnership between the two organizations. The event was hosted by Ambassador Louise Blais, Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations with special responsibility for Agenda 2030 and Development.

From L to R: Ms. Catherine Adam, Senior ADM, Employment and Social Development Canada, Head of Canadian Delegation; Dr. Patricia McCarney, WCCD President &CEO; Mr. Masamichi Kono, Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD

This WCCD-OECD partnership is born out of a shared recognition of the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but moreover, a very critical recognition of the need to effectively localize the Goals if the targets are to be achieved by 2030.  The success of each of the 17 SDGs rests with cities and regions where these goals and targets are truly being operationalized. City leaders, city planners, city designers, developers, city budget chiefs, mayors and citizens alike are on the front line of sustainability agendas and are operationalizing these goals “on the street” each and every day. Cities are leading – both in localizing the goals and in operationalizing them.

According to Mr. Kono: “Partnerships are key to deliver on the SDGs. This is particularly important for measuring progress, where several institutions are already working and developing indicators for SDGs. This is why we decided to join forces with the World Council on City Data, to better support cities - in OECD countries and beyond – to monitor progress on SDGs, to use data as a tool for policy dialogue and, ultimately, to improve their policies.”

The central need for high calibre and globally comparable data to measure progress on the SDGs and drive informed investment and policy to ensure the 2030 Agenda is within reach is a shared vision of the WCCD and OECD and a core value in this new partnership announced today in New York.  City and regional-level data to drive this progress is the starting point for the concrete next steps for which the partners are planning. With just ten years to reach the SDG targets, partnerships like this one, designed to support localizing and operationalizing the SDGs in cities, are vital to success.  

“From SDG localization, to driving public and private investment in cities worldwide, the WCCD-OECD partnership is truly a win-win,” stated Dr. McCarney. “ While our partnership initially focuses on the 2030 Agenda to localize and operationalize the SDGs in city halls across the world, it is even more ambitious. This WCCD-OECD partnership will be based on the centrality and importance of high-calibre, globally comparable and harmonised city-level data to support smart, sustainable and resilient city development worldwide.” 


From L to R: Ms. Catherine Adam, Senior ADM, Employment and Social Development Canada, Head of Canadian Delegation; Dr. Patricia McCarney, WCCD President &CEO; Ambassador Louise Blais, Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations with special responsibility for Agenda 2030 and Development

The WCCD-OECD partnership event also served as an opportunity to launch the City of Los Angeles’ “Voluntary Local Review.” Since 2014, the WCCD has been proud to count the City of Los Angeles as a  Foundation City of the WCCD  Earlier in 2018, the WCCD released it’s publication: “WCCD City Data for the Sustainable Development Goals 2018” with LA Deputy Mayor Miguel Sangalang. Los Angeles is a city that has truly embraced a culture of data and achieved the highest level of the WCCD ISO 37120 Cerficiation – Platinum and continues to embrace data as an essential element in its leadership.

For more information:

Please contact

James Patava
James.patava@globalcities.ca

Tuesday, 19 March 2019

#DataForIndianCities - Celebrating Pune, India

   
#DataForIndianCities is a special publication of the WCCD, in support of the Tata Trusts/WCCD "Data for Indian Cities Initiative." Each 3-page report highlights a data point from each of the WCCD, ISO 37120 certified Indian Cities – and, more importantly, shows how each city is harnessing standardized data to build the sustainable, prosperous, smart, resilient and inclusive cities of tomorrow.

Follow the WCCD across all of our social media channels to learn more about each city profiled! 

Every week a WCCD City will be profiled with a short, 3-page snapshot and promoted throughout the week with innovative visualizations across Twitter (#dataforcities),
Facebook and LinkedIn. 

A fully downloadable and shareable PDF of this profile can be found here. 

Previous reports can be found in the News and Updates section of the WCCD website.

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

WCCD and Nova Scotia Mayors endorse creation of the first ISO-certified smart and sustainable rural region

   
May 1st, 2018
For Immediate Release
The Mayors of seven towns in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada enthusiastically endorsed the message from Patricia McCarney, President and CEO of the World Council on City Data (WCCD), that their ISO certification would make the Annapolis Valley region a global model for rural sustainability and investability. The Mayors Executive Roundtable focused on demonstrating the Region’s attractiveness for investment, through the use of standardized, community-level data.

From L to R: Mayor Don Clarke (Berwick); Mayor Peter Muttart (Municipality of the Country of Kings); John Lorh MLA, Kings North; Mayor Sylvester Atkinson (Middleton); Mayor Sandra Snow (Kentville); Dr. Patricia McCarney, WCCD President & CEO, Mayor Anna Allen (Windsor); Mayor Jeff Cantwell (Wolfville), Mayor Bill MacDonald (Annapolis Royal); Keith Irving, MLA, Kings South; and Terry Dalton, President, i-Valley
“Creating a culture of data in communities and regions is the starting point for creating smarter and more sustainable communities,” stated Dr. McCarney. “For communities of all sizes to compete on the global stage, standardised, comparable and independently verified data will help to drive innovation and attract investment from both governments and the private sector. Once established, this model can be replicated in other countries around the world, and help to drive innovative growth."

Dr. McCarney (left) receives a hockey puck from Mayor Anna Allen
 of Windsor, Nova Scotia, the "birthplace of hockey."
In addition to the Mayors present, guests also included John Lohr, MLA for Kings North, and Keith Irving, MLA for Kings South. The Roundtable was hosted by Peter Muttart, Mayor of the Municipality of Kings and was chaired by Terry Dalton, President of i-Valley, with summarising remarks provided by Deborah Dennis, CEO of the Valley Regional Enterprise Network (Valley REN). Also in attendance was Acadia University’s Danny Silver, Director of the Institute for Data Analytics, who characterised the regional ISO 37120 certification program as "...not a project, but a fundamental shift in how communities track progress."

 For more information, please contact:

 James Patava
james.patava@globalcities.ca  

                                                                        

Wednesday, 25 April 2018

WCCD partners with i-Valley to create world's first Smart+Sustainable Rural Region

   
                                                                                                 
For Immediate Release
April 25, 2018 
                                                                              

 Mayors Gather in Roundtable with VIP Guest as Global 

First Beckons for Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

The mayors in Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada are gathering on April 30th to discuss the Valley’s certification as the world’s first ‘Sustainable and Smart’ rural region.  Dr. Patricia McCarney, President of the World Council on City Data (WCCD), is travelling from Toronto for the Executive Roundtable.  The WCCD certifies communities under ISO 37120, the first international standard for sustainable and smart communities.

The Executive Roundtable will focus on demonstrating the Region’s attractiveness for investment, through the use of standardized, community-level data in making communities prosperous, sustainable, resilient, smart and inclusive. “This initiative will help to create smarter, more sustainable, prosperous and inclusive communities,” said i-Valley President Terry Dalton.  “We will be compared to the most progressive global communities, through high-calibre, standardized and independently verified data.  This will be immensely attractive for global investors.”

“This mutual inquiry by our Valley Partners is an opportunity to inform our process and guide our future partnerships and collaborations,” said Peter Muttart, Mayor of the hosting Municipality of Kings.  “It crosses our artificial municipal boundaries and takes in the common needs and concerns of all of the citizens of the Valley.  We may well determine that positioning ourselves as being favourably, globally comparable through standardized ISO measurement, opens doors for other levels of government to partner with us, as well as enhancing and telegraphing our competitive position in the broadband-internet field – not just for our current citizens and businesses - but to future investors from all regions of the world.

“Globally comparable data is the starting points for smart and sustainable communities,” stated Dr. McCarney. “The WCCD believes that building a culture of data and having globally comparable, standardized city data enables communities to learn from each other and drive forward more prosperous communities. Standardized, globally comparable and independently verified community data is key to building the case for investment attractiveness. Gone are the days when companies were solely interested in tax and other incentives that communities were willing to offer. They increasingly want to know about air quality, the safety of citizens, and educational attainment in the community. ISO 37120 provides all of these measures in both a local and global comparative context.”

The Valley Regional Enterprise Network (Valley REN) has supported the project from the start.  Deborah Dennis, the newly-appointed CEO of the Valley REN explained, “We need to bring both rural and urban dwellers up to the best of global communications capabilities.  That is why we support the Smart Region initiative.”  Ms. Dennis, who is delivering the closing remarks at the Roundtable, added that “Data that is being gathered across major themes like economy, finance and education, will help with municipal management.  It will allow for informed decision-making based on analysis of evidence-based information and will benchmark areas for improvement that will support collective growth.”

Danny Silver, Director of Acadia University’s Institute for Data Analytics, added that he was pleased to bring his organization’s strengths to bear as a partner in the project:  “Digital technologies and data analysis make meaning out of the unprecedented amount of information available to managers today.”

About i-Valley, WCCD, ISO 37120
i-Valley is a not-for-profit movement to create Smart Regions and Communities in the Annapolis Valley and elsewhere in Nova Scotia. Smart Communities mobilize citizens to achieve faster economic growth, better health care and greater sustainability, through the use of advanced enabling technologies.
The Toronto-based World Council on City Data (WCCD) is leading the international and local implementation of ISO 37120 Sustainable Development of Communities: Indicators for City Services and Quality of Life, the first international standard; created by cities, for cities. ISO 37120 defines a comprehensive set of 100 standardized indicators that enables any city, of any size, to assess their performance and measure progress over time and also draw comparative lessons from other communities and cities locally and globally.
WCCD ISO 37120 Certification has a number of significant benefits for municipalities including the opportunity to demonstrate, through high calibre, independently-verified and comparable data the attractiveness of a city as a location for investment. A rapidly growing number of cities in Canada and globally are seeking and achieving WCCD ISO 37120 certification. For more information, please visit www.dataforcities.org.

For further information please contact Barry Gander, Co-Founder, i-Valley:  Barry.Gander@i-valley.ca or
James Patava, Vice President – Public Affairs, WCCD: james.patava@globalcities.ca


Monday, 5 February 2018

LA Mayor and WCCD CEO sign key agreement towards establishing LA-WCCD Local Data Hub

   
February 5, 2018
Los Angeles California

Today in Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Dr. Patricia McCarney, President and CEO of the World Council on City Data (WCCD) – located in Toronto, Canada - signed an MOU towards the establishment of the LA-WCCD Local Data Hub.

Patricia McCarney, WCCD President & CEO and Eric Garcetti,
Mayor of Los Angeles
“As a WCCD Foundation City, Los Angeles is part of a network of global cities committed to comparative high caliber city data. Los Angeles is a natural partner in helping to drive forward our shared agenda of harnessing standardized data to drive smarter, more sustainable, resilient, prosperous and inclusive cities. Locating one of the eight WCCD Local Data Hubs in Los Angeles City Hall, together with other leading cities from Dubai to Toronto to Buenos Aires, will help to drive forward progress on this key set of commitments,” stated Dr. McCarney. In addition to Mayor Garcetti, global city leaders such as Mayor John Tory of Toronto, the Secretary General of the Executive Council of Dubai, H.E. Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti and Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta of Buenos Aires have stepped up to launch WCCD Local Data Hubs.

Beyond highlighting the importance of data-driven decision making at the city level, as well as the importance of global comparability as cities rise in importance internationally, Mayor Garcetti underlined his commitment to driving positive change at the city level while simultaneously driving global progress against the SDGs:  “Los Angeles can, should, and will lead in building the healthier and more prosperous world that we dream of for our children and grandchildren,” said Mayor Garcetti.

First certified in 2014, Los Angeles has achieved WCCD ISO 37120 Platinum Certification every year since joining the WCCD global network of cities. The WCCD has led the development of ISO 37120, the first international standard ever published for city level data. The LA-WCCD Local Data Hub will work towards building high calibre city data to drive progress on key local, national and global agendas. In addition to demonstrating LA’s commitment to data-driven decision making and sustainability, one initial priority of the LA-WCCD Local Data Hub will be to support the United Nations sustainability agenda by catalysing city-level tracking of progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The LA-WCCD Local Data Hub will leverage the set of 100 city indicators within WCCD’s ISO 37120 standard, which have been mapped across all 17 themes of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in a major report launched at United Nations Headquarters in July 2017 at a session hosted by the Office of the UN Secretary General on localizing the SDGs. Alongside the WCCD, Los Angeles is embracing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is committed to serving as an example throughout California, the United States and globally.

For more information, please contact:
James Patava
james.patava@globalcities.ca


Tuesday, 12 December 2017

New Smart Cities Report Published by WCCD Foundation Partner Philips Lighting

   
Philips Lighting – a Foundation Partner of the World Council on City Data – has launched a new report: Future  of cities: Scenarios that show how people may experience cities in 2035. Offering an overview of scenario planning for smart cities, the report shares four scenarios that highlight the future possibilities within smart cities, as well as the driving forces that shape the city scenarios. According to Kees van der Klauw, Head of Research at Philips Lighting: “Digital transformation creates uncertainty. Scenario planning gives cities insights and a sense of direction, to make the future more manageable."



Earlier this year, at the WCCD Global Cities Summit (hosted by the Executive Council of Dubai), Philips Lighting and the WCCD launched: “The Citywide Benefits of Smart & Connected Public Lighting.” Recognizing the importance of smart and connected public lighting, the publication presents a measurement framework that can monitor and evaluate city level benefits from smart and connected lighting investments, utilizing the city-wide data collected under ISO 37120. Featured throughout are two of the Foundation Cities of the WCCD: Los Angeles and Buenos Aires.
From L to R: Dan Caroselli, Executive Officer, Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles; Matthew Lynch, Vice President – Global Partnerships & Initiatives, World Council on City Data; Harry Verhaar, Head of Global Public & Government Affairs, Philips Lighting; Facundo Marzano, Chief of Cabinet, Sub-Secretariat of Planning, City of Buenos Aires. 

Monday, 31 July 2017

WCCD CEO and Governor of Niger State sign MOU to establish the Minna-WCCD Local Data Hub

   

Patricia McCarney (front row, left) signs the MOU towards the establishment of the WCCD-Minna Local Data Hub with Professor Abdul Husaini (front row right), alongside His Excellency Abubakar Sani Bello, the Governor of Niger State, Nigeria (second row, second from left), the Nigerian Consul General (second row, third from left) and members of his Cabinet at the Nigerian Mission to the United Nations in New York.
On Friday, July 28th, the WCCD President and CEO, Dr. Patricia McCarney, was in New York to sign the initial MOU towards establishing the Minna-WCCD Local Data Hub with His Excellency Abubakar Sani Bello, the Governor of Niger State, Nigeria.

The Governor, alongside several members of his Cabinet and the Nigerian Consul General to New York, stressed that the establishment of the Minna-WCCD Local Data Hub was the beginning of a new phase of the WCCD’s longstanding relationship with Minna, and that the Local Data Hub would be pivotal in helping create a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive Niger state. “My presence here in New York this morning, with some of my cabinet members and technical staff, is to show our complete support and commitment to the selection of Minna as one of the first eight WCCD Local Data Hubs,” stated Governor Sani Bello. “I look forward to working with the World Council on City Data, and [its] sister organization, the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto, to improve the capacity of my staff and train our ever enthusiastic youthful population.” The Governor went on to state that beyond the Hub’s initial mandate to help cities and communities throughout Niger State create a culture of data based on WCCD’s ISO 37120 standard, that eventually the momentum would carry further throughout Nigeria and West Africa. He underlined the importance of data in helping to not just build more sustainable communities, but also more resilient communities in light of recent flooding that resulted in loss of life.

The WCCD Local Data Hubs – launched at the United Nations on July 17th – are a global initiative that will drive the consolidation and collection of high calibre, globally comparable and standardized city data throughout the world. Through the implementation of WCCD’s ISO 37120 standard globally, cities are better equipped to direct and inform investment, as well as localise global agendas such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr. McCarney not only highlighted the WCCD’s longstanding relationship with Minna, and Niger State, but spoke about the evolution of this relationship through the establishment of the Minna-WCCD Local Data Hub. “Minna and Niger State have been long-term partners of the WCCD. As a WCCD Foundation City, Minna was essential in the effort to pilot ISO 37120, and moreover, was one of the first cities to commit to this ambitious undertaking. The establishment of a WCCD Local Data Hub in Minna will continue to drive this cooperation, and further catalyse action throughout the City, the State, Nigeria and the African Continent. The high calibre, standardized and internationally comparable data that is generated through this Hub will help to drive infrastructure investment, while helping to build sustainable and more resilient communities throughout Niger State.”


Dr. McCarney presents Governor Sani Bello with WCCD City Data for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The WCCD President and CEO also presented Governor Sani Bello with a copy of "WCCD City Data for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals", which was launched at the United Nations in New York on July 17th. 

In addition to the WCCD and Nigerian delegations, the event was also attended by Mr. Amir Dossal,  Founder and President of the Global Partnerships Forum and Ms. Amy Gill, Local Governance Specialist - Responsive and Accountable Institutions Team, at the United Nations Development Programme UNDP.


Beyond Minna, Nigeria, the initial network of WCCD Local Data Hubs includes Johannesburg (South Africa), Makati (Philippines), Dubai (UAE), Los Angeles (USA), Haiphong (Vietnam), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Cambridge (Canada).  These cities are partnering with the WCCD to build ISO-certified city data to drive progress towards local, national and global agendas. The Local Data Hubs will focus on real action and results through four critical objectives: showcasing leadership, demonstrating results, catalyzing action and enabling city-to-city learning.



For more information, please contact:
James Patava

James.patava@globalcities.ca