Dentons Smart Cities Chat Series

In this episode, Kat Sliwa, Partner in Toronto and leader of the Dentons Municipal Planning, Land Use and Development Law group, moderates a dynamic discussion from the Smart Cities Expo World Congress in Barcelona with Todd Daubert, Partner in Washington, DC and head of the Dentons US Technology Privacy & Cybersecurity team. The panel also features:Taj Forer — Chief Product Officer, H&S Ventures and LitehouseMegan Higgins — Partner and Data Intelligence Leader, PwC UKJacqueline Lu — CEO and Founder, Helpful Places, and Urbanist-in-Residence at the School of Cities at the University of TorontoTogether, they explore how the concept of a “smart city” has evolved from a focus on automation and efficiency to a landscape shaped by AI, machine learning and pervasive connectivity.In an era of rapid innovation, ensuring that AI-driven systems serve people first is key to building sustainable, connected and inclusive communities. Success also depends on maintaining a focus on real-world challenges and selecting technology that is appropriate for the task, rather than being sidetracked by every new capability emerging tools present.The panel emphasizes that successful smart cities are not built on technology alone. Public trust, transparent governance and meaningful community engagement are central to creating urban environments that serve people first. They also examine the challenges of navigating increasingly interconnected systems that span public and private domains and discuss strategies for applying technology thoughtfully to solve real-world urban problems.

Dentons is proud to share this special episode in partnership with the Intelligent Community Forum. Lou Zacharilla, ICF co-founder, speaks with Iñaki Gaztelu, the new Director of Modernization for the City of Bilbao, about the city’s remarkable journey from post-industrial decline to international recognition as a model smart city.They explore how Bilbao’s digital modernization initiatives and deep citizen engagement have driven sustainable human-centered urban transformation and discuss the strategies that will guide the city’s next chapter. This episode offers valuable insights for anyone interested in creating inclusive connected and technologically empowered communities.

In this episode, Todd Daubert dives into the concept of "private smart cities" and how they’re transforming urban spaces through technology. Unlike traditional smart cities, which rely on multi-departmental coordination, private smart cities benefit from centralized decision-making, allowing a single network to support everything from security to public transit. This streamlined approach cuts costs, boosts efficiency, and enhances access to services like Wi-Fi, education, and healthcare. Todd discusses how these cities could set new standards for innovation and social equity, showcasing the potential for tech-driven solutions to address urban challenges in powerful ways.

Explore the pivotal role of universities as key partners in building smarter, more sustainable cities. This episode dives into how universities provide critical research capacity, acting as community anchors and supporting municipalities with innovative solutions like housing accelerators. We’ll discuss the benefits of university-municipality partnerships, from data-driven insights to transformative urban planning, as well as the unique challenges these collaborations face. Featuring real-world examples, such as C4C’s work with the Municipality of Lakeshore, this episode uncovers how these partnerships are shaping the cities of tomorrow.

In this episode, Amer Pasalic speaks with William Muller, Vice President of Business Development at Seoul Robotics, to explore emerging traffic technologies smart cities are using to enhance efficiency and safety for their communities.

In this episode, Monica Song has a policy discussion on broadband with Ian Scott, former Chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). They discuss barriers, opportunities and topics like how well prepared Canada is for scaling up to seamless online access across cities and metropolitan regions. If you would like to watch the video recording of this podcast, please click here.

In this episode, Diana Doracin speaks with Naama Blonder who is an architect and urban designer and the co-founder of the architecture firm Smart Density, about how smart density contributes to smart mobility.

In this episode, Katarzyna Sliwa speaks with Larry Williams, President and CEO of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), about some of the key challenges in bridging the digital divide between urban and rural cities, with a focus on Georgia.

In this episode, Diana Betlej speaks with Kevin Beaudette, Director of Mid-Rise at Caivan Communities, to discuss the benefits of implementing geothermal energy into new development projects from a developer and consumer perspective.

In this episode, Katarzyna Sliwa speaks with Shannon Brushe, Partner at Dentons Global Advisors, to discuss the communications challenges companies and consumers are facing in the transition to smarter cities and the forward thinking needed to ensure key stakeholders are engaged throughout the process.

In this episode, Kat Sliwa speaks with Rahul Mehra , Director, Senior Practice Lead Intelligent Systems at IBI Group to speak about Dentons becoming the newest member of IBI’s Smart Cities Sandbox. They touch on some of today’s hot topics like gas prices and electric vehicles, broadband requirements for a smart city and digital twinning.

In this episode, Dentons counsel, Mary Ellen Bench sits down with Arash Shahi, CEO at AECO Innovation Lab and Ralph Kaminski, CBO at the Town of Oakville to talk about using standards, policy and technology to reduce red tape and improve the development process.

In this episode, John Casola, CIO of Canada Infrastructure Bank joins Dentons Partner, Michael Ledgett to discuss how rural municipalities and indigenous communities are partnering with private sector telecom developers and investors to build and operate fiber optic cable backbones to bring high speed internet to public and private users.

In our latest episode, Kat Sliwa sits down with Tim Cane, Director of Growth, Mike Melinyshyn, CFO/Director of Corporate Service at the Town of Innisfil and with Nathalie Waelbroech, Project Designer at IBI as they discuss Canadian municipalities changing the way things are done.

In this episode, Katarzyna Sliwa sits down with Chantal Bernier, National Practice Leader Privacy and Cybersecurity, Dentons, and Kristina Verner, Vice President, Innovation, Sustainability & Prosperity, Waterfront Toronto to discuss what makes a city 'smart'. On the Sidewalk Labs Quayside project, Chantal acted as privacy counsel to Waterfront Toronto, alongside Kristina, who led the project. They provided an overview on how they worked together to design Waterfront Toronto while ensuring privacy rights are respected.

How will proptech impact the future of construction? How can a digital twin assist with identifying and optimizing the static and active assets within a building? What is a digital twin? How is construction technology reinventing the relationship between the physical space and unseen assets. Learn more about these questions and more as Katarzyna Sliwa (Dentons Canada LLP) discusses opportunities around smart building with Terry Olynyk (President and Managing Director, Multiplex Canada).

The introduction of Bill C-11, the new Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA), could change the privacy landscape in Canada leaving many chief privacy officers wondering what the next steps are and should be. In this episode of Smart Cities Chat Series podcast, Chantal Bernier, National Practice Leader, Privacy and Cybersecurity, outlines the top five considerations every privacy officer needs to know about the CPPA.

Description: In this episode, Karl Schober and Kelly Osaka sit down with Mary Ellen Bench and Anca Sattler and discuss how smart cities harness advances in sustainable technology and give rise to autonomous vehicles, as well as exploring the privacy implications of modernizing digital, physical and social infrastructure.

Drones offer the ability to go where people aren’t, and do things that people can’t. This gives rise to countless opportunities to increase connectivity and modernize infrastructure in urban environments. In this episode, Bashir Kahn (Founder and CEO, AirMatrix) joins Kathryn McCulloch (Dentons Canada LLP) to discuss some of these use cases, as well as the regulatory and technological challenges to driving drones forward in Canada.

IoT as well as third party collaboration and co-development are central to Smart City technologies.