The City celebrates World Wi-Fi Day

Today is World Wi-Fi Day, a day to recognize and celebrate the significant role Wi-Fi is playing in connecting cities and communities around the world. It is hard to believe that the Internet has been around since 1969 and last year the Internet got its very own global day of recognition.

Did you know that The City has a Public Wi-Fi program that provides Wi-Fi service to over 65 City facilities and locations using the Shaw Go WiFi network? Since last year, when Mayor Nenshi acknowledged June 20 as World Wi-Fi Day, over 8,200,000 guest connections have been made using the Shaw Go WiFi network.

The public Wi-Fi service started in 2013 and is available to all members of the public at no charge. Below are some interesting facts about The City’s public Wi-Fi program.

The top LRT Stations where Calgarians use public Wi-Fi are:

• Chinook LRT Station 
• Marlborough LRT Station 
• City Hall LRT Station 
• Rundle LRT Station 
• Whitehorn LRT Station

The top City facilities where Calgarians use public Wi-Fi are:

• Southland Leisure Centre 
• Calgary Soccer Centre 
• Village Square Leisure Centre 
• Devonian Gardens 
• Henry Viney/Stew Hendry Arenas 

The City has been working with Shaw to expand its public Wi-Fi program to make it easier for Calgarians to stay connected while travelling around Calgary. Coming in early July all LRT stations in Calgary will have public Wi-Fi access using the Shaw Go WiFi network. Learn how you can connect to this free service by visiting the Public Wi-Fi program.

City celebrates Open Data Day with Regional Hackathon

Over 150 people packed into City Hall this weekend to celebrate International Open Data Day with a Hackathon hosted by The City of Calgary and the Calgary Regional Partnership. Over the course of the weekend, thirty five teams put their heads together to create apps and websites using open data from municipalities across the Calgary region.

"This event gives citizens the opportunity to be innovative, challenge the norms, and use the resources that we already have available in new and thoughtful ways," says Walter Simbirski, Open Data Strategist with The City of Calgary.

“We believe that in opening up government data, we can achieve increased efficiency, increased innovation, and increased transparency – with the goal of making the community better and serving citizens better every single day.”

Teams were judged on a number of criteria including citizen value, a score that assessed the product’s ability to show economic, social, or environmental benefits to the community. After three days of intense brainstorming, programming and pitching, three teams came out on top as this year’s Hackathon winners.

CycloConnect: Ellyn DuMont, Linh Duong, and Maha Jamil

1. CycloConnect
A crowd sourced app for bicyclists to plan their routes and monitor the availability of bike storage around the Calgary region.
Team members: Ellyn DuMont, Linh Duong, and Maha Jamil

2. Plugin Calgary
A citizen engagement tool for municipalities to provide challenges based on their environmental, social, and economic programs and participants would collect points for completing challenges.
Team members: Jill Langer, Ireti Fakinlede, and Stella Lee

3. Transit Krowd
A near-time data collection app that allows bus riders to see how full their upcoming bus is, and share information about the condition of buses, trains, and transportation shelters around the region.
Team members: Teddy Seyed, Abhishek Sharma, Alaa Azazi

The Calgary Region Hackathon was an opportunity to promote the use of open data, and encourage citizens to create innovative solutions to deliver City services in a more efficient and effective manner. Open data refers to data that is available to the public at no cost, and can be used for any purpose including commercial use.

For more information on The City of Calgary’s Open Data Catalogue, visit data.calgary.ca.

The CRTC surveys Canadians about broadband Internet Services as part of ongoing study

Reliable, affordable and modern broadband Internet access is essential for accessing services online, such as health care, banking, education and government programming.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is inviting Canadians across the nation to share their views on telecommunications services, especially broadband internet by filling out a short questionnaire online.

Those who wish to complete the survey over the phone can call 1-877-249-2782, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EST)

“It’s important for Calgarians to share their personal experience with broadband internet services with the CRTC,” said Heather Reed-Fenske, The City of Calgary’s Chief Information Technology Officer. “The information collected will help influence how you connect to internet services in the workplace, at home and while you’re on the go, for many years to come.”

The survey is open until 8 p.m. (EST) on February 29, 2016 and will provide the CRTC with insight to better understand which telecommunications services Canadians consider necessary to participate in the digital economy.

The results will also determine the areas in Canada that don’t have adequate access to telecommunication services.


What is the CTRC?



Quick facts about the CRTC’s Internet Broadband review:

• The CRTC initiated a review of basic telecommunications services in April 2015. Since then, more that 25,000 comments have been received.
• The CRTC is reviewing the telecommunications services available in Canada in order to be in step with Canadians’ current and future needs.
• Currently, basic telecommunications services include:
• capability to connect to the Internet via low-speed data transmission at local rates;
• individual line local touch-tone service;
• access to the long distance network, operator/directory assistance services, enhanced calling features and privacy protection features, emergency services, voice message relay service; and
• a printed copy of the current local telephone directory upon request.
• The CRTC is holding a public hearing on these issues starting April 11, 2016, in Gatineau, Québec.

The City of Calgary is more "open" than you might expect

Earlier this week, the Public Sector Digest ranked The City of Calgary among the top 10 “Open Cities” in Canada! The City scored top marks for demonstrating excellence in open data, but we’re not stopping there.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to innovate and improve access to our data for citizens” says Lisa Sierra, Manager of Innovation, Data, & External Access at The City of Calgary. “And we have a number of projects on the books for 2016 to enhance our open data program at The City.”

Open Data Projects:

1. An Open Data Strategy is currently in development, which will serve as a roadmap to further improve your accessibility to our data. The City's Digital Strategy (approved by Council in July 2014) will guide us along the way.

2. We've heard feedback from Calgarians that our Open Data Catalogue could use some improvements to the user experience, so that's exactly what we're doing. Platform upgrades are in the works and will allow users to better analyze and visualize data by the middle of this year.

3. There’s no better way to make use of open data than at a Hackathon! You're invited to our upcoming annual three-day competition (March 4-6, 2016) that pairs open data and local talent to create software solutions such as mobile apps, websites, and mapping products. Register now at calgary.ca/hackathon

Fast facts about open data:

• “Open data” refers to data that is made available for free, without restrictions (anyone can use it) and can be used for any purpose, including commercial use
• The City of Calgary’s Open Data Catalogue first launched in 2010 to provide centralized and easy access to City data
• Today, the Open Data Catalogue receives an average of 14,000 downloads and 7,000 unique visitors every month
• 22 mobile apps have been created and brought to market using The City’s open data, and combined have over 750,000 downloads

Announcing the winners of The City of Calgary Hackathon

After three days of intense brainstorming, programming and pitching, three teams have come out on top at The City of Calgary Hackathon.

The event, which kicked off on Friday with enthusiastic opening remarks by Mayor Nenshi and his first ever "selfie-stick selfie", wrapped up on Sunday with even greater excitement. Over the weekend, fourteen teams used their expertise in programming, business modeling and research to create technology-based solutions to make the lives of Calgarians better. The groups then pitched their ideas to the panel of judges for the chance to win $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place, and $500 for third place.

The winners of the 2015 City of Calgary Hackathon are:
1. Calgary Alerts
A notification website and app that will alert users of City events, traffic and transit updates, voting reminders, emergency alerts, and parking restrictions based on their interests and location.
Team members: Anthony Lukach, Edward Keeble, Lewis Sobotiewicz, Peter McCaffrey, Jeromy Farkas, and Justin Bumstead

2. My Lamp Post
A website that provides all community-related information in one place.
Team members: Guy Obrecht, Scott Blenkhorne, Ardalan Naghshineh, Matthew Koepp, Brian Halsey, and Nathan Lau

3. Open Data Analytics
A website that provides open spatial data to inform important public policy decisions.
Team members: Jeremie Blais and Barend Dronkers

“It has been an incredible weekend with amazing amounts of talent and creativity shown by all participants,” said Walter Simbirski, Open Data Strategist with The City of Calgary. “The goal of this hackathon was to engage citizens and provide incentives to use The City’s Open Data for solving problems at the grass-root level. I think we have definitely achieved that!”

The Hackathon was an opportunity to promote the use of open data and encourage citizens to create innovative solutions to deliver City services in a more efficient and effective manner. Open data refers to data that is available to the public at no cost, and can be used for any purpose including commercial use.

“This is about facilitating conversations, supporting the tech community and encouraging people to think collaboratively,” said Simbirski. “Our hope is that the participants have had a chance to network during this event and potentially leverage those relationships to further develop their ideas and concepts so they can be implemented.”

For more information on The City of Calgary’s Open Data Catalogue, visit data.calgary.ca.

The City's IT department says goodbye to one of its most pawsitive employees

You may have seen him walking around City Hall, or the Andrew Davison Building. He’s not hard to miss, though you have to look down to see him. The City of Calgary Information Technology’s very own mascot and Stephen Dawes' guide dog, Alfredo, will be retiring this September after seven and a half years of service.

Fondly referred to as Alfie or Fredo, Alfredo has worked with Stephen Dawes, IT management systems analyst for The City of Calgary, since 2007. At the time, Alfredo was only two years old, but was fully trained as a guide dog. “Alfredo is the smallest dog guide I’ve ever worked with, each dog has their own technique, getting adjusted to that takes time and training,” says Stephen.

In order to become a qualified guide dog, Alfredo had to pass extensive training at Guide Dogs for the Blind. Guide Dogs for the Blind breeds their own dogs (most of which are Labradors) in California. In addition to the breeding center, they have two training centers located in California and Oregon respectively, where they teach the dogs everything they need to know about being a guide dog.

“During the introduction phase I learned how to work with Alfredo and identified techniques to work together as a team. I also learned about caring for Alfredo and how to detect any health issues he might have during our time together,” says Stephen. "The hardest lesson to learn is how to completely trust the dog, especially in dangerous scenarios.”

In addition to his every day job, Alfredo and Stephen are also busy volunteering with a number of different organizations, with the most enjoyable being speaking and answering questions from kindergarten and grade one students. “The kids love to hug him, pet him and ask questions like, can Alfredo drive?” says Stephen. “Alfredo brings joy to everyone he meets; he’s more like a co-worker than a dog. He’s really become part of IT.”

Visiting with Alfredo is a great stress reliever for staff. “Alfredo puts a smile on everyone’s face. Some people don't have a dog or pets so getting to spend five to ten minutes with Alfredo makes people happy; I will sadly miss him,” says Tracy Johnston, administrative assistant, Information Technology.

So what does Alfredo have planned for his golden years? Once he retires he will transition from working dog to the family pet. “He likes to be around people, making sure everyone is accounted for at home,” says Stephen. “He’s integrated into everything we do, he comes camping and for walks with the family."

As for Stephen, he will be heading off to Portland, Oregon on September 14, 2014 to start training with a new guide dog.

Find out more about diversity at The City and current job opportunities at calgary.ca/careers.