The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has caused Sidewalk Labs, a Google affiliate, to withdraw from the Toronto waterfront development partnership.
If governments can’t get something like Quayside right, that bodes ill for Canada’s digital future. The election gives us a chance to see where the parties stand on vital data governance issues.
A report based on public consultations conducted by Sidewalk Labs has still not answered many pressing concerns about privacy and consent in Toronto’s Quayside development.
As cities aspire to be smarter, technologies are only part of the answer. No utopia on the horizon but we need hostistic answers more than ever before.
Toronto’s Quayside smart city project needs a new, truly consultative process. An innovative method used by Brazil to develop its landmark Internet Bill of Rights may be the answer.