Miovision named CIX 2020 ‘Innovator of the Year’

The first graduate of the Accelerator Centre is transforming the way cities manage traffic

CIX (Canadian Innovation Exchange), announced today that Miovision has been named CIX’S 2020 Innovator of the Year.

The CIX Innovator of the Year Award is given annually to a Canadian company that disrupts and transforms an industry in profound ways. Past recipients of the Award have included Shopify and Desire2Learn.

Miovision, which was founded by University of Waterloo graduates Kurtis McBride and Tony Brijpaul, was the first client and graduate of the globally renowned Accelerator Centre located in R+T Park. The company was established in 2005, bringing to market a portable product that accurately gathers and analyses traffic data. In 2017, Miovision launched a smart traffic platform that modernizes existing analog traffic signals by adding connectivity and video-based, multimodal traffic measurement and analysis. These cutting-edge tools help cities and towns to better understand, manage, and optimize traffic, enabling them to reduce traffic congestion and emissions, and improve safety.

“Traffic management and planning has traditionally relied on traffic studies which might only provide data every three to five years, focusing on vehicle traffic,” explains Kurtis McBride, CEO and co-founder of Miovision. “That’s not much data on which to base decisions, especially in fast growing communities. Our tools can give traffic experts access to continuous, 24/7 traffic data that reaches beyond measuring cars and trucks to include pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooters. That provides the kind of timely, relevant insights traffic experts need to make traffic to flow efficiently and safely.”

For Miovision, this award recognizes what it values: innovation.

The recent pandemic has demonstrated how valuable this data can be.

“Customers have become very interested in seeing how traffic volumes across the city compared year-over-year as they put measures in place to encourage people to limit contact and work from home,” said McBride. “Most customers saw a significant drop in peak traffic, quantifying the impact of their public health efforts. They discovered that traffic data can be valuable across city departments.”

For Miovision, this award recognizes what it values: innovation.

“We pride ourselves on finding new and better ways to help cities and towns meet some of their most pressing challenges,” said McBride. “Being recognized as the Innovator of the Year is a huge honour for all of us at Miovision.”

“We are proud to select Miovision as the 2020 recipient,” said Lauren Linton, Executive Director of CIX.

“The data that Miovision provides to city planners has significantly impacted their ability to improve safety and reduce greenhouse emissions.”

Lauren Linton, Executive Director of CIX.

“Miovision is experiencing tremendous growth as its products have now processed more than 23 million hours of video and 9 billion vehicles”, said Whitney Rockley, Co-founder and Managing Partner at McRock Capital. “The power of Miovision’s machine visioning and AI software to reduce traffic congestion, reduce vehicle emissions, improve traffic safety and create more livable cities is revolutionary”.

McRock Capital is an investor in Miovision and Whitney Rockley sits on the board.

Kurtis McBride will accept the award on behalf of Miovision and share Miovision’s story as the opening keynote speaker with Whitney Rockley on October 20 at CIX Digital Summit. Minister Bains, who usually presents the CIX award, has been invited to present the award virtually.