Dentons

Infrastructure & Strategic Innovation Chat

Business EN ↓ 28 episodes

Dentons Infrastructure & Strategic Innovation Chat is a podcast that aims to help cities, communities, and stakeholders modernize digital, physical and social infrastructure to take advantage of technological developments that enable the integration of essential services. We share stories on the latest technologies and smart city development from industry professionals and legal thought leaders. What makes a community ‘smart’? Why is everyone obsessed with data? How do municipalities integrate 5G infrastructure into their urban design, and how do carriers ensure that local concerns are address...

Author

Dentons

Category

Business

Latest episode

Dec 15, 2025

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Episodes

Redefining “Smart” in an Age of AI, Connected Systems & Data, panel at the Smart Cities Expo World Congress in Barcelona 15.12.2025

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...

The Basque’s Intelligent Gem 12.12.2025

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 de...

Exploring the Advantages of Private Smart Cities and the Path to Efficient Urban Innovation 07.11.2024

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 cost...

Smart cities & data insights: How universities shape the future of urban planning 05.11.2024

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 transformati...

Why are public-private collaborations important to smart cities? 24.08.2023

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.

What comes first for implementing a smart city; The chicken and egg problem in broadband 10.07.2023

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 p...

Why every smart city needs smart density 09.05.2023

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.

Bridging the digital divide 22.02.2023

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.

How geothermal energy systems contribute to sustainable development 18.10.2022

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.

Bringing communities along on the smart city journey 22.08.2022

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.

Dentons joins IBI Group-led Smart City Sandbox 30.03.2022

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.

Using technology to improve the development process 31.01.2022

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.

Expanding high-speed internet across Canada 10.01.2022

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.

Smart sustainable communities from the ground up 10.12.2021

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.

Waterfront Toronto and what makes a city "smart"? 04.10.2021

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....

Proptech, smart buildings, and digital twining 09.09.2021

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 a...

Top 5 Things Privacy Officers need to know about the CPPA 08.07.2021

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 p...

From autonomous vehicles to smart cities: privacy implications 10.06.2021

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.

A fireside chat with AirMatrix: How drones fit into the smart city ecosystem 05.04.2021

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 technolog...

Intellectual property issues at the heart of smart cities 30.03.2021

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

Smart cities roadmap to recovery 15.03.2021

Cities have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis. Online shopping and teleworking are now the norm, and digital infrastructure is more important than ever. The pandemic has highlighted the massive equity challenge faced in our Cities and across the country. From a socio-economic standpoint, what does the future hold for Cities? Chris Murray (City Manager, City of Toronto) joins Michael Led...

The power of data for smart cities 04.03.2021

The Smart Cities space moves fast. Intelligent infrastructure is becoming essential. Data is helping to innovate in the Smart Cities space, but also gives rise to new legal issues which need to be handled with care. In this episode, Jody Becker (Chief Strategy Officer & EVP Infrastructure Services & Technology) joins  Kirsten Thompson  (Dentons Canada LLP) and  Karl Schober...

Smart mobility 11.02.2021

As zero emission and autonomous vehicle technology becomes increasingly commonplace, how can transit agencies and governments use these technologies to move more people via low carbon, smart modes of transportation? Where does Canada fall among early adopters of these technologies? 

Communities from the ground up 01.02.2021

What makes a community ‘smart’? How do planners, developers, and municipalities leverage smart technologies to plan for and create communities based on principles of healthy, sustainable development? In this episode, Agnes Koc (Manager, Marketing and Communications, Dorsay Development Corporation) and Mary Ellen Bench (Dentons Canada LLP) discuss Veraine, the smart, healthy and sustainable communi...

5G Network deployment - Enabling an essential driver of smart city solutions 15.01.2021

In this episode, Shawn Slack (Director, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, City of Mississauga) and Paul Cowling (Senior Vice-President, General Counsel & Regulatory Affairs, Shaw Communications Inc.) join Monica Song (Dentons Canada LLP) to discuss the challenges and opportunities that 5G networks present to municipalities. How do municipalities integrate 5G infrastructure...

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