San Francisco, Nov. 25,2015: SIGFOX, a leading provider of Internet of Things (IoT) network connectivity, today announced the four winning projects in the ‘Smart City IoT Hackathon in San Francisco’, earning them the chance to pitch their concepts to city officials.
Hosting the event along with the City of San Francisco’s Office of Civic Innovation and the Department of Technology, Texas Instruments, Microsoft Corp., Plasma, Accenture and other technology leaders, SIGFOX brought together 150 developers and makers to build prototypes of connected hardware that can be used in the IoT for civic impact.
The SIGFOX network, which is dedicated to the IoT, has been rolled out across San Francisco, and will be deployed in nine other major US cities by Q1 2016.
During the Nov. 20-22 #connectyourcity hackathon, 150 developers and makers created prototypes to make San Francisco smarter on topics such as air quality, water usage, intelligent lighting, traffic and transportation, said a SIGFOX statement.
“Becoming smarter as a city means setting up the right infrastructure and creating an environment that invites community participation,” said Miguel A. Gamiño Jr, San Francisco’s Chief Information Officer and Executive Director of the Department of Technology. “We established the network and invited developers to the hackathon as a way to engage this creative community to help us discover the potential for using this new network. I’m impressed by the level of creativity demonstrated over the weekend and see potential for meaningful real-life application.”
“This weekend’s hackathon was a validation that the City of San Francisco is the right place for companies that want to be on the leading edge of technology, and that SIGFOX is the right choice for highly cost- and power-efficient connectivity for devices requiring low levels of data,” said Allen Proithis, President SIGFOX North America, in a statement.
Participants of the 48-hour event competed for US $200,000 in prizes and built applications using the latest Texas Instruments booster pack certified on the SIGFOX network, as well as Microsoft Azure IoT technology and the Plasma Connect2me IoT Platform.
The hackathon also marked the first collaboration between SIGFOX and Microsoft, as the participants of #connectyourcity used the Microsoft Cortana Analytics Suite, a cloud service for data scientists and developers using predictive analytics in applications. More information on SIGFOX’s collaboration on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform will be announced in the near future.
The four winning teams that will pitch their smart city concepts to San Francisco city officials are:
Best Startup Project
Audio Argus, a predictive-maintenance solution created by David Sykora, Merrick Clark and Joel Brinton, to keep the city running on time and under budget. “Using acoustic waves, we can determine if your fleet of vehicles, air-conditioning units, medical devices, or any device with a mechanical component, is working properly or needs service,” the team said.
Best Civic Innovation Project
WaterSaver, developed by Nick Pera and Ben Morse, optimises smart green-area watering during California’s severe drought. Based on live metrics (weather, humidity and temperature), forecasts and machine learning, connected valves and sprinklers turn on when needed and allow the city to conserve the resource.
Best Technical Project
DryWater, developed by Nicolas Triballier, Pascal Boudier, Pierre Guillot and Julien Brette, is a connected fight-water-waste solution. It monitors public green-area moisture to water them only when necessary. Machine-learning algorithms and network coverage across wide areas allow to optimized resource usage in public parks, fields, etc.
Best Smart City Project
Better Bike is a GPS tracker and distance sensor for bicycles to ensure a safer commute. Created by Shimolee Nahar, Boyd Lever and Mudit Mittal, the Better Bike team received a free Plasma Connect2.me access and Cloud service for one year.
Image Credit: SIGFOX