Canadian telco Bell has partnered with geographic information system (GIS) provider Esri Canada to create the Bell Integrated Smart City Ecosystem. The new solution will bring together Bell’s 5G network and IoT capabilities with Esri’s real-time analytics and location intelligence capabilities. The aim of the partnership is to help cities of all sizes across Canada become connected communities and smart cities.

The Bell Integrated Smart City Ecosystem aims to support Canadian communities accelerate their digital transformations, enhance decision-making and streamline collaboration across municipal or regional departments.

The new smart city platform collects and integrates data in a single system, providing stakeholders with a shared view that provides broader and clearer context for all involved. Cities can customise the solution, building on top of their existing location intelligence investments, or access multiple pre-integrated IoT solutions with customised reporting and automation of processes.

Bell has a portfolio of IoT solutions aimed at Smart City requirements, designed to allow fast and secure collection of data from multiple sources for a diverse array of applications, including water leak detection, asset management, smart waste management and energy management.

Esri’s ArcGIS technology is a market leader and the most widely used GIS and location intelligence system for communities across Canada. ArcGIS Velocity is Esri’s cloud-native capability for real-time and big data analytics.

Cities can use ArcGIS Velocity to monitor and analyse sensors, observations, and IoT data at scale. With ArcGIS Velocity, cities can ingest live event data from multiple sensors, protocols, and formats. In addition to real-time, analytics can also be performed on historical data. Administrators can automatically send alerts and push data in response to triggers, populate dashboards, or publish maps and data services across the organisation.

“We’re proud to partner with Esri Canada to deliver this enhanced and comprehensive solution for municipal operations management to governments across Canada,” said Jeremy Wubs, Senior Vice President, Marketing for Bell Business Markets. “Combined with Bell’s leading 5G network and our proven IoT capabilities, this agreement with Esri Canada offers cities across the country a holistic platform to help them manage their critical infrastructure and services in real time.”

“A city is smartest when it is using accurate and up-to-date geographic data to make decisions that affect people’s lives,” said Alex Miller, President of Esri Canada. “The more timely that information is, the easier it is to make the right decisions. This partnership offers cities the tools they need to do that simply and easily.”