CITY OF HAMILTON
“ We ’ ve gone from , historically , a mostly manufacturingbased economy to a mix of technology , life sciences , creative industries , goods movement , agribusiness and food processing , tourism and advanced manufacturing ”
CYRUS TEHRANI CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER , CITY OF HAMILTON operating hardware . “ We have a large footprint of buildings and infrastructure within the city – over 200 facilities that are connected across our infrastructure , whether that be wired or wireless . All of our public buildings are generally wifienabled , including recreation centers , senior centers , pools , arenas , libraries and civic buildings , where citizens would go to interact with citizen services . Cisco provides that backbone core network infrastructure for the city .”
There is a lot of innovation also occurring in the city including the McMaster Innovation Park . “ It ' s under development and continues to grow , but in terms of square footage , it will be one of the largest of its kind in North America ,” says Tehrani . The idea behind the park is in converting research projects into commercialisation . “ It will have conference space , hotel space , and room for a broad mix of startups , SMBs and more established companies . It ' s literally an entire city block .”
That ’ s very much in line with the city ’ s vision for the future , having historically been an industrial steel town . “ Hamilton has really diversified its economy ,” says Tehrani . “ We ' ve gone from , historically , a mostly heavy manufacturing-based economy to a mix of technology , life sciences , creative industries , goods movement , agribusiness and food processing , tourism and advanced manufacturing .” Hamilton has duly been recognised as among the Top seven Intelligent Communities of 2020 by the Intelligent Community Forum . “ That looks at several economic domains such as connectivity , work and innovation as well as social and cultural growth such as engagement , inclusion and sustainability . It ’ s with the idea of moving from a view of ‘ smart ’ cities , which might be a little bit more focused on the technology side of things , to a more holistic
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