Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday, June 10, 2015

What a pleasure it is to return to this hub of innovation in Toronto—the 2014 Intelligent Community of the Year!

This truly is one of the world’s great cities, and that didn’t happen by accident. So let me congratulate everyone who was involved in the effort to have Toronto recognized as a global Intelligent Community.

I know how much work is involved, but as I often say of such worthy efforts, the cause and the company are very good.

Cities are such important centres of knowledge and creativity, and this is particularly true today, when hundreds of millions of people around the world are on the move from rural to urban areas.

This shift is already having far-reaching impacts on our lives and societies. As Doug Saunders of The Globe and Mail has written, “The last time humans made such a dramatic migration, in Europe and the New World between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries, the direct effect was a complete reinvention of human thought, governance, technology and welfare.”

This being the case, it is vitally important that our communities adapt and evolve in intelligent ways. And as this forum has so keenly recognized, the broadband economy can help provide a foundation upon which to build a smart and caring community, while catalyzing better societies and countries overall.

I’d like to talk briefly on three main themes today before we get into a discussion. I’ll focus my remarks around the question, “What is the chemistry of an intelligent community?”

I believe the three major elements are:

1. Leadership;

2. Collaboration;

3. Innovation.

Let me start with leadership.

I had the great pleasure of being co-chair of Waterloo’s successful bid for Intelligent Community status in 2007, and the leadership shown throughout Waterloo on that occasion was truly remarkable. Leaders stepped forward from within the city government, the private sector, post-secondary institutions, the local school boards, the public library and non-profit groups.

We had some true champions on that organizing committee, each of whom was able to convince and mobilize their own colleagues and partners to get behind the bid.

They all realized one of the great secrets of success: you can accomplish pretty much anything you want in this world if you always insist on never taking credit for it!

Leadership, of course, means having a vision and the ability to articulate it, but it also means recognizing your utter dependence upon the people who surround you.

Most goals in life are indeed 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, so leaders need to reach out and bring in as many people as possible.

Indeed, when it comes to community building, this is a must.

This brings me to my second theme: collaboration.

It's critical not just because of the need for support from key partners and to share tasks, but for another reason entirely: the creativity that often occurs when people of different talents and perspectives come together.

For example, consider the 16th century development of the printing press—one of the precursors to broadband!

The printing press would never have seen the light of day were it not for collaboration between three key actors: Johannes Gutenberg, Martin Luther and Frederick III, Elector of Saxony—John, Martin and Fred, I’ll call them.

John actually first invented the printing press around 1450, and promptly went bankrupt. It took Martin’s translation of the Bible three quarters of a century later, as well as Fred to shield him from the oppression of Rome, to truly bring the printing press to Western Europe’s attention by launching the Protestant Revolution.

Let me move to my third and final theme before our discussion: innovation.

I don’t think anyone in this room needs to be convinced of the role that innovation plays in success today. But something I do want to emphasize is that, as we look for new and better ways of doing things, we need to recognize that there is no cookie-cutter approach.

This is especially true when it comes to our communities, which are home to unique strengths and weaknesses. There really is no place like home.  

Our challenge is to build on the strengths in creative ways, to amplify and leverage them to create new possibilities. Differentiation is emerging as a key ingredient for success in today’s world, whether you’re talking about an individual, an organization, a city or a country. What attributes does your community already possess that are unique and valuable?

The answer rests with the people who live in our communities, their unique talents and the rich cultures and histories that are their heritage.

Let me also add how important it is that we encourage and celebrate our innovators. And in fact, just yesterday, I announced the creation of a new accolade, the Governor General’s Innovation Awards, to do just that.

These awards will celebrate individuals, teams and organizations whose innovations are exceptional and transformative, and have had a positive impact on society and on humanity.

And of course, those innovators live and work in our communities—our innovation hubs.

Even in an age of instant, global communication, people still need a place to call home. Whether that place is called Toronto or Waterloo or Singapore or Bangalore, there is always potential to draw on people’s talents to innovate and improve the way we do things.

An intelligent community is one that maximizes the talents of its people, and welcomes the contributions of others to achieve even greater heights.

I wish you an enlightening and productive gathering.