This year’s theme for the Innovation Alley Awards was smart infrastructure – highlighting companies that embody technology which strengthens community infrastructure including energy, water, transportation and public buildings. Companies were also evaluated based on the following criteria: contributes to improving quality of life, health and/or conservation of resources; supports transparency of information, decision making and policy; and promotes economic opportunity and inclusion.
“We are so pleased that we can showcase some of these pioneering companies and their inspired efforts to promote more livable, workable and sustainable communities,” says Smart Cities Council Chairman Jesse Berst. “Their initiatives will help to move the smart cities industry forward, streamline operations for cities, and positively affect the lives of many citizens.”
Start-ups participating in the Innovation Alley showcase were judged by a panel which included Dominie Garcia, Smart Cities Program Lead, Battelle Memorial Institute; David Heyman, Founder, Smart City Works; David Ihrie, Chief Technology Officer, Virginia Center for Innovative Technology; and Kip Tew, Partner, Ice Miller LLP.
Judges honored Belgium-based CommuniThings for their innovation in the measurement and diffusion of information from IoT Parking sensors. CommuniThings is a Turnkey Smart-Parking service provider. Its platform includes LPWAN (mainly LoRa and NB-IoT) sensors on the ground, and a parking session management layer which provides parking availability information for residents, a dashboard on parking occupation for controllers and statistics on parking usage patterns to municipalities.
“We are delighted to be honored for our efforts by the Smart Cities Council,” says CEO Etay Oren. “Our primary focus is on alleviating the congestion associated with lengthy searches for parking. We do so by first addressing each of the stakeholders in the city – and providing a tailored mobile application for commuters allowing guidance to available spots in real-time, a management dashboard for parking stewards, and reporting tools for better urban planning by the municipality.”
California-based LimeBike was the other Innovation Alley Award winner. LimeBike was recognized for their mission to revolutionize mobility and empower residents in cities and colleges nationwide. By utilizing modern mobile and wireless technologies, LimeBike’s dockless “smart bikes” are used conjointly with the LimeBike app which allows the rider to unlock the bike with their phone. LimeBike is flexible and responds to each city’s specific needs.
"LimeBike is honored to be the recipient of the Smart Cities Innovation Alley Award, as it is a testament to our dockless bikeshare model and team’s hard work," says Maggie Gendron, LimeBike's Director of Strategic Development. “LimeBike will add to a city’s ecosystem of mobility options and we are committed to ensuring that our service is truly affordable, convenient, and equitable for all."
About CommuniThings
CommuniThings is an enabler of Smart-City solutions, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Founded in 2014, CommuniThings is a multi-technology provider of wireless Smart- Parking solutions, with extensive track record of LPWAN (Low Power Wide Access network) deployments across Europe. Leveraging the emerging IoT networks, its turnkey solution includes wireless sensors and application management layer catering to commuters, parking stewards, municipalities and retailers. Learn more at www.communithings.com.
About LimeBike
LimeBike is the leading US-based dockless bikeshare service provide. It aims to improve urban mobility in cities and campuses by empowering residents with a greener, more efficient, and affordable transportation option. By collaborating with local key stakeholders and systematically deploying a fleet of smart-bikes that are enabled with GPS, wireless technology, and self-activating locks, LimeBike will dramatically improve urban mobility by making the first and last mile faster, cheaper, and healthier for riders. Funded by Silicon Valley’s leading VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, LimeBike is based in San Mateo, CA. Learn more at www.limebike.com.
About Smart Cities Council
Launched in 2012, the Smart Cities Council is the author of the internationally recognized Smart Cities Readiness Guide, which provides guiding principles and best practices for an integrated, cross-cutting smart city. The Readiness Guide was developed based on discussions with hundreds of cities and solution vendors, and has been applied all over the world. The Council is comprised of more than 120 partners and advisors who have generated $2.7 trillion in annual revenue and contributed to more than 11,000 smart cities projects. Learn more at www.smartcitiescouncil.com.
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Media Contact:
Sarah Blanchard
Smart Cities Council
Sarah.Blanchard@SmartCitiesCouncil.com
