Smart Cities: U of T signs MOU with Pune, India

November 23, 2017

signing document
Professor Mark S. Fox (seated, left) signs on behalf of University of Toronto. Manojit Bose (seated, right), Chief Knowledge Officer, signed for Pune Smart City Development Corporation. Looking on are Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains (standing, left) and Jordan Reeves (standing, right), Consul General for Canada in Mumbai.

UTTRI-associated faculty Professor Mark S. Fox has been in India this week and recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of University of Toronto, entering into partnership with IIT-Bombay and the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd.

As reported November 21 by U of T News:

“U of T, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay and the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd. will focus on finding solutions to urban problems by tapping into technology-based “smart solutions” that aim not only to improve economic growth for the city of approximately six million but also to create a more sustainable and resilient region.

Last week, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in India between the two institutions and Pune’s smart cities initiative, with Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains on hand.

For U of T, the venture comes out of a trip to India two years ago when President Meric Gertler and U of T engineering professors participated in a roundtable discussion on sustainable urbanization at IIT-Bombay, visited think tanks and met with government officials in Mumbai and Delhi. Since then, Mark Fox, Distinguished Professor of Urban Systems Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, has worked with U of T’s Office of the Vice-President, International on developing the partnership.”

group of three
(L-R) Professor Mark S. Fox; The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development; and Manojit Bose, Chief Knowledge Officer, Pune Smart City Development Corporation.

 

Read more about the two-day Smart Cities workshop delivered in Mumbai, India, May 2017 by University of Toronto, IIT-Bombay, Tata Trusts and the Government of Ontario.