Dr. Todd Sands takes home 2008 Orion Leadership Award
By Sheena Brennan
Lance Writer
November 26, 2008
 Dr. Todd Sands, executive director for the Centre for Smart Community Innovation (CSCI) at the University of Windsor, received a signed certificate from Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty when he was awarded the 2008 Orion Leadership Award for his research accomplishments in supporting advanced computer networking within the region.
The certificate from the premiere read: “You have truly earned this honour. The Research and Education community has been instrumental in putting Ontario on the map of global innovation.”
“I am proud to celebrate the R&E community’s stellar achievements. Your accomplishments in advanced networks and collaborative technologies have made a significant and lasting impact on the research and education.”
“A leadership award like this requires a team of people,” said Sands. This project required working with a team of individuals in the Center for Smart Community Innovation, and others at the provincial and national level.”
“Every computer that connects on the campus uses the network infrastructure affiliated with CSCI’s activates to get outside,” Sands explained.
The CSCI is working to provide an official information source for people in Windsor and Essex County who live, learn, work, play, and invest.
Smart Communities globally try to consolidate the information resources that people access within those main areas. They would like to see individuals visit and use the advanced web portal infrastructure. These portals are for part of the continuum of life-long information management, which is why virtual portals have been established for immigrants, seniors and more recently youth by CSCI.
The websites which have been created provide information for the Windsor and Essex County area, from events to showing where to find the lowest price for gas.
“What Smart Communities do in relation to that technology is to look at how people live, work, invest in the community,” said Sands.
They are looking at how technological innovation impacts safety, wealth, health, happiness, knowledge or skills, and connectedness are affected by the use of technology, and working with computers alone will not do that.
A knowledge of business, education, law, sociology, engineering and many other disciplines come into play when researching Smart Communities.
“In the same way our parents built roads, bridges and sewers, as part of the necessary infrastructure, we are working today with fibre optic networks, applications, and the electronics,” said Sands, “because certain aspects of the advanced technology will become part of our everyday infrastructure in our years to come.”
It is important to work with this technology to stay competitive in the global market, because there are other people all over the world who will continue to advance regardless of whether we do or not.
Clubs on campus can use this technology to post information about upcoming events and fundraising they would like to make known to the general public. There is a mechanism whereby you can obtain a digital identity in order to post freely. To be able to provide information on this website you must be approved to use resources, but they do not restrict anyone. “We encourage individuals to provide announcements and events,” said Sands.
Anyone interested in getting involved is encouraged to contact the department at csci@uwindsor.ca.
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