On Tuesday (February 20) afternoon, Airdrie's city council voted in favour of the city's application for the government of Canada's Smart City Challenge.

The Smart City Challenge allows municipalities to identify an outcome that will improve the lives of Airdrie's residents through the innovative use of technology.

After reviewing a variety of initiatives, the city has chosen to partner with the Airdrie and Area Health Benefits Cooperative for a submission to become the healthiest community in Canada.

The proposal, which is due on April 24, 2018 will focus on the digital infrastructure necessary to connect data about factors in our community that have an impact on health with an individuals health information and the resources (public, private and not-for-profit) in the community to empower them to make healthy choices for themselves and their families.

There are two possible categories that Airdrie can submit the application to;

1. $50 million - one prize open to all communities

2. $10 million - two prizes, open to communities under 500,000 people

At this time, the city has not yet determined which category the application will be submitted to. 

Once all applications have been received, an independent jury will review the applications and select five finalists for each awards category that will be announced this summer.

If Airdrie is selected as a finalist, the city will receive $250,000 to aid in developing the final proposal that will be due sometime at the end of 2018.

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