Mentorships ● Grants ● Community
Tourism + Tech InitiativeOne of our goals is to cultivate and propel collaborations between the tourism and tech sectors to spark new innovations, offerings, and product delivery - an endeavor that is more important now than ever for tourism businesses and organizations to be competitive and resilient.
C3TechIn February 2022, our parent organization Hackforge launched C3Tech in collaboration with The City of Windsor Bicycle Committee, the County Wide Active Transportation System (CWATS), and local technology consulting firm Parallel 42 Systems. The Tourism Innovation Lab is excited to support and collaborate on this initiative that will create digital tools to enhance cycle tourism development, planning and navigation in our home region of Windsor Essex.
Short for “City-County Cycling Technology,” C3Tech aims to leverage open source software to create digital tools that will make navigating Windsor and Essex County by bike safer, easier, and more fulfilling. The starting points for these tools are currently available at WindsorEssexCycling.ca, and are based on CyclOSM and BRouter.
Crowd-Sourced Ideas In addition to open source software, C3Tech is utilizing the knowledge and expertise of the Windsor and Essex County cycling community to build a product that residents and visitors will want to use. Through an online survey and a virtual town hall meeting, C3Tech has consulted with cyclists of various ages and experience levels to get a few ideas on potential app features, including: ● A-to-B navigation indicating the safety level of various routes ● Pleasure-ride routes based on estimated time to accomplish ● Suggested routes between local businesses (e.g. brewery/winery routes) ● All city and county trails represented on a single map ● Bike lane/path issue reporting to municipalities and publication for other cyclists Development Events Starting May 1, 2022, Hackforge is hosting a month-long hackathon, during which individuals and teams will develop proof-of-concept versions of their ideas. Experts in various disciplines will be available to assist and advise teams as they complete their projects. Hackathon Registration is now open! Complete this form to express your interest in participating! There will be other community- and technology-building events offered throughout the year as well, including: ● Workshops on contributing to OpenStreetMap ● Community rides to test the tools being developed ● Group discussions on writing and managing C3Tech code ● Data management and analysis workshops Register for the monthly C3Tech newsletter to receive information on events and project updates. Business Benefits To help ensure the region is represented as accurately as possible, C3Tech is collecting information from local businesses for inclusion on OpenStreetMaps. Details being gathered include not only the business name and address, but also specifics of their offerings - for example, cuisine type for a restaurant, and the sale of new or used goods for a retail shop. This work will improve not only the WindsorEssexCycling maps, but all other map services based on OSM - services like Facebook and Foursquare. 
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The Tourism Innovation Lab has partnered with WEtech Alliance to launch Sparking Tourism 4.0, a Community Collaboration Project as part of the Digital Main Street Future Proof Program in Southwestern Ontario.
Leveraging the Lab’s "Spark" Program, Sparking Tourism 4.0 aims to connect tourism businesses and entrepreneurs with technology experts and providers to create and develop new and/or enhanced tourism opportunities, experiences and partnerships in the region to support the futureproofing of the region and the tourism industry.
"Spark" Program finalists in participating regions will be eligible to receive a digital services package valued at up to $10,000 to support technology development and adoption of their project.
Finalists will be asked to provide a response to the question below after the pitch sessions, and then interviews will be held to select one from each participating region to receive the package.
How could technology support the development, implementation, future-proofing, and possible expansion of your idea? If so what kind of technology, and how would you leverage it?
Participating Regions:
Chatham-Kent (Round 2) - 2 "Spark" Program finalists will be selected to receive the Digital Services Support Package valued at up to $10,000
Windsor Essex (Round 2) - 2 "Spark" Program finalists will be selected to receive the Digital Services Support Package valued at up to $10,000
To learn more about the Digital Main Street Program go to www.wetech-alliance.com/dms.
Leveraging the Lab’s "Spark" Program, Sparking Tourism 4.0 aims to connect tourism businesses and entrepreneurs with technology experts and providers to create and develop new and/or enhanced tourism opportunities, experiences and partnerships in the region to support the futureproofing of the region and the tourism industry.
"Spark" Program finalists in participating regions will be eligible to receive a digital services package valued at up to $10,000 to support technology development and adoption of their project.
Finalists will be asked to provide a response to the question below after the pitch sessions, and then interviews will be held to select one from each participating region to receive the package.
How could technology support the development, implementation, future-proofing, and possible expansion of your idea? If so what kind of technology, and how would you leverage it?
Participating Regions:
Chatham-Kent (Round 2) - 2 "Spark" Program finalists will be selected to receive the Digital Services Support Package valued at up to $10,000
Windsor Essex (Round 2) - 2 "Spark" Program finalists will be selected to receive the Digital Services Support Package valued at up to $10,000
To learn more about the Digital Main Street Program go to www.wetech-alliance.com/dms.
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Digital Shift Virtual Workshops for the Tourism Sector
The workshops are aimed at supporting sustainable digital adoption for hard-hit tourism businesses in Ontario planning for COVID-19 recovery. Each one-hour workshop includes a Zoom-side chat with a “Shift Expert” in addition to a run-through of WEtech Alliance's Digital Shift tools and templates.
Each virtual workshop features:
ZOOM-SIDE-CHAT – Leveraging the incredible depth of expertise found within the Ontario Tourism Innovation Lab network, each workshop will conclude with a conversation with Ontario “Shift Experts” who have made digital pivots to their own business, and can share the tangible learnings and potential pitfalls of finding new ways to deliver value online.
REACT – Immediate response opportunities to the current situation, a deep dive into data, stories, and success in their industry from a global perspective – Learning how to use the WEtech Alliance SHIFT business experiment template, which aims to help businesses create low cost experiments to test out new markets, models, and customers.
PLAN – Using a 3-month milestone tracker, businesses will learn the fundamental skill of re-assessing their value proposition, and exploring what needs to change, stay the same, or stay fluid in order to push forward.
RECOVER – Building on the first two tools, businesses will learn how to assess their experiments to determine if they have long term and sustainable changes they can make, or assess the need to go back to the innovation well for more ideas.
WEtech Alliance's custom Digital Shift workbook and calculator are sent to registered participants prior to the virtual workshops.
The Digital Shift Series has been made possible with the support of the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, and is open to small businesses in Ontario.
There is no cost to attend but space is limited.
ZOOM-SIDE-CHAT – Leveraging the incredible depth of expertise found within the Ontario Tourism Innovation Lab network, each workshop will conclude with a conversation with Ontario “Shift Experts” who have made digital pivots to their own business, and can share the tangible learnings and potential pitfalls of finding new ways to deliver value online.
REACT – Immediate response opportunities to the current situation, a deep dive into data, stories, and success in their industry from a global perspective – Learning how to use the WEtech Alliance SHIFT business experiment template, which aims to help businesses create low cost experiments to test out new markets, models, and customers.
PLAN – Using a 3-month milestone tracker, businesses will learn the fundamental skill of re-assessing their value proposition, and exploring what needs to change, stay the same, or stay fluid in order to push forward.
RECOVER – Building on the first two tools, businesses will learn how to assess their experiments to determine if they have long term and sustainable changes they can make, or assess the need to go back to the innovation well for more ideas.
WEtech Alliance's custom Digital Shift workbook and calculator are sent to registered participants prior to the virtual workshops.
The Digital Shift Series has been made possible with the support of the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, and is open to small businesses in Ontario.
There is no cost to attend but space is limited.
STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ON OUR NEXT DIGITAL SHIFT SESSIONS.
WATCH PREVIOUS SESSIONS:
WATCH PREVIOUS SESSIONS:
Session 1 Shift Experts:
Adriano and Pina Cioloti, WindsorEats
Adriano and Pina Cioloti, WindsorEats
Session 2 Shift Experts:
Marijo Cuerrier and Kelsey Moniz, Belleville Downtown District BIA
Marijo Cuerrier and Kelsey Moniz, Belleville Downtown District BIA
Session 3 Shift Expert:
Lara Fielding, Science North
Lara Fielding, Science North
Session 4 Shift Experts:
Kevin Eshkawkogan, Indigenous Tourism Ontario
Melissa Hardy-Giles and Paul Giles, ORIGIN
Kevin Eshkawkogan, Indigenous Tourism Ontario
Melissa Hardy-Giles and Paul Giles, ORIGIN
Learn more about the Tourism Innovation Lab
- Home Base -
Tourism Innovation Lab
c/o University of Windsor - EPICentre
2455 Wyandotte St W, Windsor, ON, Canada N9B 3B3
info@tourisminnovation.ca
1-844-455-0325 toll-free / 416-712-8819
We respectfully acknowledge that our home base at the University of Windsor sits on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, which is comprised of the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi Peoples. We will honour that by collaborating with Indigenous-led organizations and businesses to support the advancement of Indigenous tourism in the region and across Canada.