Integrated design and technology firm IBI Group is setting up a smart city sandbox based at its Toronto headquarters to leverage its services and expertise around emerging technologies, such as 5G, robotics, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

The announcement was made during the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) held May 10 where IBI Group CEO Scott Stewart outlined the four streams of its strategic plan that infuses technology in all of the company’s business areas.

The plan includes the creation of a new Office of Innovation, which Stewart said will be able to “bring together collaborative capabilities from across the firm’s technology innovation and ideas.” It will be led by Deepak Darda, former director of IBI in New Delhi, India and an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School.

The smart city sandbox is open to SMEs and startups from around the world, and the first cohort is expected to be in place by September, with each cohort running for a term of three to 12 months. Participants can incubate their ideas around mobility, living, energy, health and other urban themes and develop something concrete that can be presented to potential investors. The technology hub will also offer other services, such as advice and networking opportunities, and events, including workshops, hackathons, meet-ups and other opportunities to collaborate.

In creating the smart city-themed accelerator, Stewart noted characteristics, such as curated services and software platforms, that make up innovation hubs from across the world — in Silicon Valley, Israel and the Ontario-Montreal corridor that’s known for AI. But Stewart also noted that IBI has domain knowledge and solutions in the urban environment, such as infrastructure, buildings and transportation.

“Armed with our unique domain knowledge around how cities operate, we are well-positioned to lead this exciting initiative,” said Stewart in a statement.

Stewart said the sandbox presents an opportunity to collaborate with accelerators and innovators, as well as other partners.

Working with IBI on the smart city sandbox are partners EllisDon, Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Microsoft, Slate Asset Management, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and The Weather Network.

Stewart noted that OCE has access to thousands of small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups. It also funds new major initiatives in the province, including the recent support for the 5G testbed along the Ontario-Quebec corridor, a project that Ontario is co-funding with the Quebec and federal governments and industry for $400 million over five years.

“OCE for us is access to all of these great technologies and other partners,” said Stewart.

Microsoft’s role in the partnership is as a technology provider that allows IBI to have access to AI and other technologies that can be embedded in the smart city solutions, said Stewart.

The smart city sandbox can tap into the historical data of The Weather Network, which has the single largest app deployed in Canada, said Stewart, with over eight million subscribers.

Aside from providing access to office space, Slate will provide access to some systems, such as electrical and mechanical, that will allow IBI to test specific ideas.

EllisDon will provide expertise in construction while OPG provides expertise in energy.

Also announced at the AGM was a suite of software-as-a-service offerings that will be rolled out throughout the year. The first of these is a smart city platform that was launched last March.

These smart city initiatives are included in the second parallel stream of IBI’s strategic plan focusing on transforming business models. The other parallel streams in its strategic plan are on catalyzing core growth, which focuses on BIMbot technology; prototyping the future, which focuses on virtual and augmented reality; and, urban innovation with a focus on asset management platforms.

In the company’s annual report, Stewart said what is “central to IBI’s strategic plan is a pivot to a technology-driven design firm.”

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