$6.5 million Small Business Innovation Challenge to develop technologies in “Vehicle Occupancy Detection” and “Digital Identity”

Funded by the Ontario Government, the Small Business Innovation Challenge is helping companies develop new technologies in Vehicle Occupancy Detection — used to detect how many people are in an automobile for high occupancy toll roads (HOT) — and Digital Identity to help secure government services. To date, $6.5 million has been allocated, with $3.76 million for “Digital Identity” projects and $2.7 million for “Vehicle Occupancy Detection.

Brad Duguid, Ontario’s minister of Economic Growth and Development, explained, “These exciting challenges help some of Ontario’s best and brightest innovators and entrepreneurs develop leading solutions to everyday problems. The results of these challenges will be innovative technologies ready to commercialize and export globally.”

Through the Small Business Innovation Challenge, companies will be responsible for developing technologies in two areas:

Digital Identity

Through “Digital Identity” businesses will develop, test and demonstrate technologies that will allow people to prove their identity when they interact with government services, such as when applying for social assistance or OSAP via a common, secure and user-friendly method. The successful Ontario small businesses that will develop these technologies are:

• Bluink Ltd.
• Simeio Solutions Canada Inc.
• 2Keys Corp.
• Nuco Inc.
• IDENTOS Inc.

Vehicle Occupancy Detection

businesses will develop, test and demonstrate technologies that will detect how many people are in vehicles using high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes to ensure that vehicles with more than one occupant are not inadvertently billed or fined. The successful Ontario small businesses that will develop these technologies are:

• Miovision Technologies Inc.
• Laipac Technology Inc.
• Ienso Inc.
• Smats Traffic Solutions Inc.
• Invision AI Inc.
• Strategic Mapping Inc.
• The Working Group
• Futurebound Corp.
• A.U.G. Signals Ltd.
• uConekt Inc.
• Fortran Traffic Systems Ltd.
• The Sky Guys Ltd.

Experience gained through real-world testing will help these companies be better positioned to market their innovations globally and continue to grow their businesses in the province.