Downtown Edmonton’s real estate market has bounced back as the oil and gas industry recovers from its recent slump, but the glow could fade in coming months.

The office vacancy rate at the end of June dropped to 12.5 per cent, down from 15.3 per cent in 2017 and far below the crushing 26 per cent vacancy rate in downtown Calgary, figures from Avison Young real estate show.

New Taipei City, the largest municipality in northern Taiwan, has been selected by Intelligent Community Forum, an international organization, as one of the global top-7 smart cities for three consecutive years due to its achievement in promoting application of smart city solutions to its administration and services, deputy mayor Yeh Hueh-ching said during a recent interview by Digitimes.

The large population of nearly four million people of diverse background and the big gap in urban and rural developments have been motivating the government to enlist smart city solutions to tackle its problems and provide services, Yeh explained.

It’s no secret that finding an empty parking spot can sometimes be a rough ride in downtown Ottawa – but the city’s online traffic map can now let you know in real time what your prospects are like in its five parkades.

Before arriving and checking the signs at the entrances, an individual can search the map to see how many parking spaces, including accessible spots, are up for grabs in the two garages in the ByWard Market, the two in Centretown and the one in the Glebe.

Dallas-based seed fund and venture capital retail accelerator RevTech has announced the companies that will participate in this year’s cohort.

RevTech said it selected four companies — two of them from Dallas — that show strong entrepreneurial experience and ability to solve retail’s biggest challenges.

By being chosen for the cohort, the companies will participate in a 12-week program, getting access to RevTech’s mentor network and industry resources.

Waterloo-based startup Communitech has launched the Waterloo Regional Technology Development Site, an innovation hub that will help develop high-definition 3D maps for autonomous vehicles.

As part of Ontario’s $80 million Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN) initiative, the new hub will work alongside the University of Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research, the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation and Canada’s Open Data Exchange on various 3D mapping technologies, according to the Record.

Sidewalk Labs has revealed its first peek at a plan to convert a slice of Toronto’s waterfront into a hyper-connected, sustainable neighborhood of the future.

Almost a year ago, Sidewalk Labs chose an 800-acre tract of land along Lake Ontario to prototype a brand-new community in partnership with local redevelopment agency Waterfront Toronto. The plan is to invest $50 million in smart city solutions—“mixing people-centered urban design with cutting-edge technology”—to create a place where anyone can live, work, or visit.

Waterloo — Rob Corrigan feels lucky to be alive.

A decade ago, the Kitchener native suffered a serious scare when he was rocked by an opponent while playing hockey for Ridley College, a private school in St. Catharines.

"I was hit in open ice," the 27-year-old said. "Apparently, I did a back flip in the air and was unconscious for about 30 seconds. It was a pretty big hit."

"Honestly, if it wasn't for the (safety) protocols that they had in place … I think my story would be very different today."

The Canadian startup InOrbis transports travelers between Calgary and Edmonton using Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles — echoing the business models of similar startups such as Tesloop and Tesla Shuttle. The company was founded by Rosario Fortugno, who answered some questions for CleanTechnica.

How many electric vehicles are in your fleet?

The fleet is small but growing. We have 8 Teslas in service right now, hopefully up to a dozen by the end of the year.

WATERLOO, Ontario, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Plum today announced that the University of Waterloo will pilot its predictive hiring platform to help better connect its 21,000+ students with the 6,900 employers that recruit from the university each year. The Plum platform marries artificial intelligence and machine-learning with Industrial Organizational Psychology to give hiring managers an additional, distinct dimension by which to predict candidates' on-the-job performance: talent. This pilot aims to enhance service to students and employers, and increase success for campus career service counselors.

Connected vehicle technology is coming to Columbus, Ohio, in the hopes of making a large swath of the city safer for motorists as well as pedestrians and cyclists.

The city is moving forward with a demonstration project to connect up to 1,800 private and public vehicles, as well as upgrade some 113 signalized intersections with technology to better manage traffic as well as improve safety.