Ontario City Partners with RIM to Arm Staff with BlackBerry PlayBooks

The City of Cambridge in Ontario has partnered up with two technology giants, IBM and Waterloo's Research In Motion. Cambridge unveiled a "first of a kind" system that will see city staff equipped with BlackBerry PlayBooks, according to The Cambridge Now.

“Staying on the cutting edge of technological advancements is key to the success of running a municipality,” Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig said. “Private sector firms have recognized the value of research and development for many years, and we are taking it into the public sector in ways that are brand new.”

BlackBerry PlayBook tablets will help the City deploy and retrieve information in a timely manner. Bringing mobile technology to crews in the fields will dramatically enhance their access to relevant information, improve accuracy and significantly reduce administrative overhead.  Collectively, these changes will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the City’s Transportation and Public Works Department.

“The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet provides an ideal mobile computing platform that allows governments to increase productivity and response times,” said Peter Fortune, Director, Strategic Alliances, Software and Services at RIM.  “RIM is excited to be working with the City of Cambridge on this important project.”

“Combining IBM research innovation in predictive modeling and geo-spatial analysis with our business analytics software is helping unify city asset and service management for Cambridge ,” said John Longbottom, Smarter Cities Leader, IBM Canada. “Applying these kinds of technological advances allow smarter cities like Cambridge to be more intelligent as they use all sources of data to measure and influence more aspects of their operations.”