The Colorado Smart Cities Alliance has launched its C² Challenge looking for innovative, technological solutions for specific problems faced by Colorado communities. The challenge is managed by the Alliance and run through UrbanLeap, a government procurement platform.
The four problem statements include: housing stability – supporting communities in finding more affordable housing; community resilience – maintaining quality of life in the face of shocks to community systems and/or infrastructure; safe streets – improving the safety, convenience, and comfort of active mobility; and civic engagement – providing the ability of residents to communicate and interact with their government.
Last year, The Alliance’s Revive! Civic Innovation Challenge received 40 solutions. Revive! sought smart city technology solutions for transportation and economic development as communities recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Six winners were chosen, whose solutions included:
- inCitu – an app that employs augmented reality to help viewers see how development fits within the built environment, and then collects feedback;
- mySidewalk – helps decision makers by examining housing and other related databases to better understand the community composition;
- SPOT Parking – provides for the digitization of street curbs;
- Kuhmute – provides universal charging and locking locations for micro-mobility devices;
- Active Commute Solutions – an app that finds the best commute route; and
- Mastercard with its City Possible Inclusive Growth Score technology.
“The C² Challenge is a model for civic innovation that manages the risk of smart cities investment through collaborative partnerships. It offers a distinct opportunity for governments, business and academia to learn from one another by testing new ideas through practical application,” said Alliance Executive Director Tyler Svitak. “We hope the solutions that come through the Challenge help improve Colorado’s quality of life, and that the process fosters smarter government across Colorado.”
Proposals will be accepted until August 5thof this year. Winners of the C² Challenge will have the opportunity to demonstrate their solution in at least one Colorado community.