DETROIT – The deadline to apply for the $80,000 NextChallenge: Smart Cities competition is just two weeks away. Innovators should submit an online concept proposal by 11:59 pm EDT on July 28.
The competition is co-hosted by NextEnergy, DENSO, DTE Energy and Wells Fargo – both at the individual innovator and organization level – to find hardware and software technology solutions within one or more of the following categories: smart parking, smart transportation, smart infrastructure, and smart buildings. Innovations should be connected, interactive and data driven (i.e., “smart”), contribute to safer and more efficient places for people to live and work, and have low environmental impact.
The winner of NextChallenge: Smart Cities will be awarded up to $80,000 in grant funding from Wells Fargo to demonstrate and validate their solution at the NextEnergy Center in Detroit, or an applicable site that meets the needs of the selected solution. An additional combined total of $20,000 will be awarded to as many as four finalists. Monetary awards and programmatic support are funded by a $650,000, three-year grant from Wells Fargo to support NextEnergy’s efforts to drive investment in advanced energy and transportation technologies that address needs in urban communities.
“Urban populations are on the rise, which is leading to challenges related to safety, mobility, emissions, accessibility, and congestion,” said Jean Redfield, president and CEO, NextEnergy. “This challenge is designed to identify new innovations to address those issues, with added benefits of identifying technology opportunities that can create new business models and drive economic development.”
Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges including representatives from all four companies based on the following objectives: innovation, qualifications, competitive advantage, and scalability. The most compelling solutions will be supported by measurable metrics, address data analytics and information sharing, and open application programming interface (API) capabilities. Semi-finalists will be selected and required to submit a full proposal by Oct. 4. Selected finalists will be expected to present their proposals on Dec. 8. Awards will be announced in January 2017.
For more information about the challenge or to apply, visit nextchallenge.org.
