INTELIGHT partners with Innisfil on $2.2 million project to develop smart city connectivity solution
Summary
INTELIGHT Innovations has received approximately $2.2 million CAD in public and private funding to support the development of its smart, lighting-based infrastructure platform. The funding consists of about $737,000 CAD from the Government of Ontario through the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), and industry contributions of $1.47 million from Microsoft, Arrow ECS, and other private sources. The company is currently building a IoT software and hardware solution that leverages LED tech, adaptive control, and integrated communication in streetlighting networks, and is designed to assess and respond to real-time events in public spaces. Before these applications can be realized, Lightfoot said there are a handful of common challenges that need to be addressed related to access to power, connectivity, vantage point, disparate systems, and right-of-way, which concerns when the ideal location for INTELIGHT’s platform is private property not owned by the client. “And as part of that, we’re going to get first-hand feedback.” The town’s mayor, Lynn Dollin, said “[the project] will produce some real benefits for our community – namely, increased connectivity, better management of our resources and creating safer roadways and sidewalks.” Innisfil has piloted a number of innovative initiatives over the past four years, including a partnership with Coinberry to accept cryptocurrency, a ridesharing transit pilot with Uber, and the launch of a virtual incubator program with DMZ.