Final report from Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) on the Canadian Smart City Mission to Europe

Earlier in the year, we participated in the Canadian Smart City mission to Europe, we blogged about the event here.

The Mission was organized by the Candian Research Council (NRC) and they have recently released their official mission report. You can read the full report here: EUREKA Canada Smart Cities Mission April 2016_Mission Report

Highlights

Mission Objectives

  1. Establish new EUREKA projects in Smart Cities with European partnersRESULTS: Many business contacts were made over the five-day mission, including between the delegates, resulting in a good number of project ideas and opportunities in the works.
  1. Showcase Canadian expertise and role of NRC in the field of “Cities of the Future”RESULTS: Canada was very well represented with the officials at the appropriate senior level, contributing to our overall standing within the EUREKA Network
  2. Gain intelligence on European Smart Cities initiativesRESULTS: Canadian delegation was very impressed with the breadth of initiatives in Europe, particularly in London, raising questions on what Canada can do to better seize opportunities in this emerging smart cities sector.

As we discussed in our previous Blog post, an Urban Opus partner company, SenseTecnic was one of the companies who successfully negotiated a Eureka project with Swedish partner Automat to develop a visual programming tool for Smart Cities and wearable devices.

 

Some statistics from the mission

  • 29 Canadian officials from 19 firms and organizations.
  • Over 900 participants from 33 countries attended.
  • More than 800 matchmaking meetings, or which 134 were with Canadian delegates.
  • 75 attended the UK Partnering Event from 48 organizations including 28 from the UK.
  • 125 at the Stockholm Partnering Event featuring the Mayor of Canada’s 2nd largest city, Montréal.
  • 141 guests partook in the warm hospitality at the Canadian Embassy Reception in Stockholm.
  • 91% satisfaction rate in the Mission Organization, 90% expressing it met or exceeded expectations.
  • 85% indicated a positive change in their awareness of EUREKA and Canada’s role.
  • 82% reported partnership opportunities of which 50% indicated three or more possibilities.
  • Partnership countries include: Sweden, U.K., Turkey, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, Denmark.
  • 61% of those indicating potential partnership with other Canadian delegates.
  • 95% would participate in future EUREKA missions.

The full report is worth a read, as it gives a useful perspective on Canadian government thinking on Smart Cities and its view of the key issues that need to be addressed as Canada attempts to develop a Smart City strategy. EUREKA Canada Smart Cities Mission April 2016_Mission Report