News release: City of Guelph announces rebate program for Alert Labs' Flowie water sensor kit
Guelph, Ont., August 17, 2016 – The City of Guelph’s Civic Accelerator, which turns the City into a research, development and commercialization lab for civic technology, has closed its first round with a Demo Day held at the University of Guelph.
Alert Labs and Milieu Technologies showcased products that won each a spot in the Civic Accelerator for their unique ability to solve challenging City issues.
“The Civic Accelerator turns local government into the first customer, and a vital partner, for innovation,” said Cam Guthrie, Mayor of Guelph. “This new way of partnering with startups will play a big role in future economic development along the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor.”
“The Accelerator helps the City of Guelph stay at the cutting edge when it comes to the quality of the services it delivers to residents,” said City of Guelph Chief Administrative Officer, Derrick Thomson. “I’m very pleased this collaborative process between the companies and our Water Services and Planning divisions has created such great results.”
Alert Labs proceeding to formal pilot program
Alert Labs’
“We are thrilled to bring technology to Guelph residents to help them reduce wasted water, and to avoid unnecessary costs and damage in their homes,” said George Tsintzouras, CEO of Alert Labs. “Working with the City of Guelph’s Water Services professionals has enabled Alert Labs to bring a more robust product to a broader market. We’re grateful and excited by the opportunities offered by the Civic Accelerator program.”
Milieu Technologies’ online community engagement platform for city planning will also be used on a trial basis by the City’s development planning team. This will allow residents to:
- sign up for automatic notifications if a new development application consultation opens within a selected geographic area;
- easily access detailed information on any development project;
- engage in dialogue with fellow residents, members of City staff and Council about the issues.
"The Civic Accelerator has been a great opportunity for our company,” said Lee-Michael Pronko, co-founder of Milieu. “We look forward to continuing our work with City of Guelph staff and residents over the coming months to support real-time citizen participation and data-driven city building."
Next round of Civic Accelerator in development
City staff are also planning the next round of the Civic Accelerator, targeting challenges that have potential for significant operational impact. Applications are expected to launch in the summer and winners are expected to start the embed period in September 2017.
About the Civic Accelerator
The Civic Accelerator is a partnership between the City of Guelph,Innovation Guelph, Canada’s Open Data Exchange, the Guelph Lab the University of Guelph’s CBaSE and the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. The Accelerator enables the City to work with entrepreneurs, startups, students and companies to create innovative solutions for complex municipal challenges.
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Media Contacts
Andy Best
Advisor for Service Design and Innovation
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Phone 226-820-3986
Ruth Casselman
Vice President, Operations
Alert Labs Inc.
Phone 519-573-6518
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