Finland-based telecommunications firm and digital solutions provider Nokia is bringing General Electric (GE)’s smart city platform, CityIQ, to Canada.
An Internet of Things (IoT) platform developed by GE’s Current startup division, CityIQ allows municipal IT staff to augment outdoor street lighting with a digital monitoring system that can support initiatives such as parking and traffic management, public safety enhancements, and weather and air quality monitoring.
“Responsive, flexible technology is key to creating smarter cities while enabling a safer and more sustainable environment,” Nokia head of Canada enterprise sales Shawn Sparling said in a July 24 statement. “There is tremendous interest in smart city technology throughout Canada, and this partnership will offer Canadian municipalities a scalable method to quickly respond to demographic and economic shifts.”
For GE’s part, Current general manager Austin Ashe said his division was “excited” to bring its smart city technology to cities across Canada.
According to Nokia, any CityIQ system installed in Canadian municipalities will use Nokia’s own “safe and secure” telecommunications network to collect data and distribute the platform’s artificial intelligence (AI)-generated insights.
It’s also worth noting that the platform itself uses an open design that allows other ecosystem developers to build apps on top of it.
To that end, Nokia itself is promoting the CityIQ system as one part of a networking solutions portfolio designed to connect municipal and utility infrastructure to the internet.
The company also recently announced a $2 billion fund, developed in collaboration with Florida-based venture capital firm Smart City Capital, to support smart city projects throughout Canada.