Kurtis McBride | Building Smart Cities with Agile, Data-Based Solutions

Entrepreneurship is usually focused on solving problems and the story of Miovision does not stray from that mentality. As a co-op student from the University of Waterloo, Kurtis McBride spent weekends manually counting cars at intersections. The common entrepreneurial phrase eventually crept through his mind – “There needs to be a better way.” Now, over a decade later, Kurtis’ company Miovision has reached global success in smart cities by creating agile solutions on top of city data.  Alan and Kurtis discuss smart city concepts – from top-down, large vendor solutions to bottom-up, little-point solutions.

One of the keys to Miovision’s success has been developing a balanced team with complementary skills and personalities. Kurtis also credits the Region of Waterloo and their pay-it-forward culture that allowed Kurtis and his team to receive the advice they needed to keep growing.

“Being naïve as an entrepreneur is actually an asset,” Kurtis states when asked his advice for emerging entrepreneurs. “The fact that you don’t know that the thing you’re going to do is impractical and challenging … gives you the confidence to go out and do it.” Kurtis also shares what’s next for Miovision as they continue their world domination.

About Our Guest

Kurtis McBride is the co-founder and CEO of Miovision Technologies Inc. located in Kitchener, Ontario. Miovision develops video- and web-based technologies to help traffic consultants and municipal governments reduce the cost of collecting, analyzing and reporting accurate traffic data. Kurtis holds a Masters of Systems Design from the University of Waterloo with a specialization in computer vision.  In 2013, Kurtis received the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.