BY MICHAEL THOMAS
According to a report series from ICTC aka Information and Communications Technology Council, smart city initiatives have multiplied across Canada, and their success depends on attracting and retaining talent with the right technical and human skills.
First of all, here are some of the definitions of a smart city according to the ICTC documents.
“Smart cities I think refer to locations that are technologically advanced and remote work is available to employees. They are advanced when it comes to resources.
A city in which investments in human and social capital, traditional and modern communication infrastructure fuel sustainable economic development and a high quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory action and engagement.”
The Smart City idea is not new; it has been thrown around in many ways since the 60’s. That said, let’s have a look at some of the ideas Canada has for developing these so-called smart cities. First up are job descriptions: Health Technology, Augmented/Virtual Reality & Gaming, Smart Mobility, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Human-Computer Interaction, Business and Policy Analysis, Agricultural Technology (e.g., vertical farming) Urban Design & Sustainability, Clean Technology, Hardware Design and Development, Web or Software Development, IT Operations Cybersecurity, Data Science, Cloud Computing & Databases. These are just some of the terminologies you need to start becoming familiar with.
Here are some of the educational standards that will be required of you for future employment in these smart cities: Ph.D. / Masters, Undergraduate Degree, College Program, and Technical Institute Program degree. As I kept reading into this research I could not help noticing that maybe, just maybe, almost all of the manual jobs done by ordinary folks were non-existent.
It is important to note that Canada historically performed well on measures of e-government. For example, in 2005, Canada ranked first among 22 countries surveyed in North America, Europe, and Asia for “customer service maturity” in the e-government category. However, Canada’s position has dropped in the last decade.
In 2020, the Electronic Government Development Index ranked Canada a distant 28th, compared to third place in 2010.
According to this report, here are the top five in-demand job postings in Canada for 2022: Software Engineer, Project Manager, Business Analyst, Cyber Security Professional, and Full Stack Developer.
This document also discusses the choice between longer-degree programs and shorter competency-based credentials, for folks wanting to shorten some academic trips to successful employment.
As I looked through these documents a few questions came to me. What role would the elderly play in these smart cities, and how adaptable would these smart cities be for folks who are computer illiterate, because even as we speak there are millions of people living among us who have none of these tech skills, what would be their fate?
Will free enterprise be allowed to reign in these smart cities? Will the guy who sells coffee and toast from his truck to construction workers be left alone, and what will be the fate of the folks who are just not interested in all these tech-savvy things?
This document talks of considering digital literacy for folks, but that might just be easier said than done simply because it is not so easy to digitally educate someone who is in their 60’s and up, and who has no prior knowledge in the digital department.
As can be expected, not everything in the documents can be covered here, but as I said earlier, the more I read, the more questions come to mind. If you are interested in learning more you can click on the link below, and please share with us your thoughts on smart cities.
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