Toronto needs rules and regulations to govern the collection and managing of data from smart cities including the one Sidewalk Labs has in mind, says a city councillor who has launched a plan calling for a new policy.Councillor Joe Cressy, whose ward covers Quayside — the parcel of land Sidewalk Labs wants to turn into a tech-driven residential neighbourhood complete with sensors and other digital devices — wants to see a citywide public consultation launched to gather input on what the new “data governance principles” should look like and how they can be applied to the Quayside project.“I think the debates over Quayside have demonstrated the need for the city to lead on the overall file of digital governance, data sovereignty and smart cities,” Cressy told the Star in an exclusive interview Wednesday.“I see this as a policy framework to set the rules by which data can be collected in the public domain, and how it’s managed and how it’s used,” he added.His motion will be debated at city council next Tuesday. Read more:Waterfront Toronto officials to face grilling in Ottawa over Sidewalk Labs plansGoogle’s Sidewalk Labs plans massive expansion to waterfront visionCressy says he’d like to see the final policy formalized and in place by the end of this year or early next year.At the moment the city has no overall policy regarding data collected by smart city technology.Fairly new, this technology — intended to make urban life more efficient — includes for example, the Presto card system commuters use to get around on public transit, or sensors that have been used to measure traffic flow through signalled intersections in the King St. pilot project.Other cities like Markham plan to put sensors on water mains, hydrants, manhole covers and rivers to monitor water levels and water system conditions.The controversial project being put forward by Manhattan-based Sidewalk Labs — a si ...
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