For the first time ever, Sarnia-Lambton has been named among the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities. The designation was announced by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) at Université Laval in Quebec City, Quebec this evening. Sarnia-Lambton’s candidacy was reviewed by an international academic team of analysts and was evaluated for its best practices in broadband deployment and use, workforce development,…
Sarnia is the largest city in Lambton County, which extends from the shores of Lake Huron in the north to the Lake St. Clair in the south. Nearly 60% of the county’s population is concentrated there, with the remaining 40% distributed across 2,800 square kilometers (695 sq mi) of the rest of the county. The sparsely populated county was,…
January 25, 2018, Lambton College and the Bluewater Technology Access Centre hosted the 2nd Manufacturing Summit, along with partners Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP), the Sarnia-Lambton Industrial Alliance (SLIA) and the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park. The one-day event welcomed 71 attendees, some of which traveled from as far away as Toronto to the Lambton College Event Centre to participate in…
The Intelligent Community Forum says smart communities are marked in part by their ability to understand challenges, identify opportunities for change, and their willingness to advocate for that change. In Sarnia-Lambton, community agencies have rallied around the understanding that the average age of the local population is more than four years older than the provincial average, and the provision…
Sustainability is one of the criteria the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) considers when evaluating what makes an Intelligent Community. ICF describes sustainability as an Intelligent Community’s ability to improve current living standards, while maintaining the ability of future generations to do the same, and reducing the environmental impact of that growth. For decades Sarnia-Lambton has been at the centre of…
The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) considers digital equality when evaluating what makes an Intelligent Community. The organization says Intelligent Communities promote digital equality by creating policies and programs that provide offline citizens with access to computers and broadband, by providing skills training and by promoting a compelling vision of the benefits that the broadband economy can bring to their lives. In…
Innovation is one of the six measuring sticks the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) uses to assess the technological and communications intelligence of a community. It says intelligent communities pursue innovation through the triple helix of relationships between business, government, and academic, which helps keep the economic benefits of innovation local. In Sarnia-Lambton, the business, government, and academia sectors have come together in…
Knowledge workforce is one of the six key indicators The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) uses to measure the technological and communicative intelligence of a community. An intelligent community exhibits the determination and demonstrated ability to develop a workforce qualified to perform knowledge work at any level. Extensive community consultation with industry, academia and government organizations revealed significant gaps in digital…
The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) says access to broadband is one of the six key indicators it uses in measuring the technological and communicative intelligence of a community. There are a number of initiatives underway among local private internet service providers (ISP) to extend broadband to rural homes and businesses in Lambton County. Of the 30 southwestern Ontario communities identified…