Digital Main Street Lab

The Digital Main Street Lab is focused on building collaborations between technology companies and communities to pilot innovations that encourage transformational change along main street.

Lab Applications are currently closed. For any questions or clarification please reach out to [email protected]

DMS support involves project advice, expertise and funding. We're able to fund up to $25,000 to pilot solutions to main street challenges. Project funds can be used to purchase technology and/or hire staff/consultants to implement the proposed pilot project. Visit sur ce site pour en savoir plus.

Program Criteria

Pilot projects proposed under the Digital Main Street Lab must adhere to the following criteria:

Must include at least one of the following partners – a BIA, SBEC, chamber, municipality or RIC.

Must have an identified end-user collaborator (i.e. a BIA, RIC or group of main street businesses).

Pilot must be applicable and scalable to other businesses, events and main street communities.

Must help enable the economic viability of main street.

Additional Program Resources

In addition to receiving a project support, successful pilot projects would also have the option to leverage the following additional resources:

Digital Service Squad Teams – pilot projects can use one of the Digital Service Squad teams to assist with implementation. The team could be used to engage with local businesses on the pilot project, assist with marketing, or refining the technology for the pilot’s local requirements.
Project Advice – pilot projects can leverage their local RIC (if not already a partner) to get further insight and ideas into their plans.
Pilot Marketing – pilot projects will be profiled as case studies and shared on the Digital Main Street website and distributed via program partners.

Pilot Project Examples

The following are examples of potential pilot projects:

Traffic Mapping – piloting of platforms that track people traffic along main street (see - https://digitalmainstreet.ca/case-study/peopleflow-pilot-keep-tabs-on-returning-shoppers-in-bloor-west-village/)
Digital Market Research – piloting of platforms to do digital market research in BIAs to determine market needs (see - https://potloc.com/)
Community Data Mapping – piloting of platforms to analyse local business and demographic data (see - https://urbanlogiq.com/)
Community App – testing of a community app that supports local businesses, such as those focused on health and safety, or marketing.
Digital Marketplace – piloting ways to do community marketplaces (see - https://digitalmainstreet.ca/case-study/bellevilles-downtown-district-goes-digital-amidst-coronavirus/)

Lab Applications are currently closed. For any questions or clarification please reach out to [email protected]

The Digital Main Street Lab is focused on building collaborations between technology companies and communities to pilot innovations that encourage transformational change along main street.

Program Criteria

Additional Program Resources

Pilot Project Examples

Partenaires du programme

On commence?