Canary Wharf Group unveils smart city accelerator initiative for start-ups
The Cognicity Challenge is aimed at finding the best products and innovations across six sectors; integrated transportation, connected home, virtual design, construction, integrated resource management, and automated building management.
After a selection process, six start-ups in each sector will be chosen to participate in a 12 week programme with the goal of helping bring their products or services to market.
The project is backed by the minister of state for culture and digital economy, Ed Vaizey, and will allow the successful start-ups to have free access to specialist mentoring and training, shared support services and workspace.
Mr Vaizey said: “Four in five people in the UK live in towns and cities, so it is crucial that government and industry continue to support businesses developing new technology that will improve the quality of life in these areas.
“The Cognicity Challenge launched today aims to help talented tech companies to develop revolutionary new solutions to the challenges facing modern cities, from creating sustainable buildings to building homes that are more digitally connected.”
The best designs will then be granted a £50,000 cash prize, while six of the most promising companies will be offered the opportunity to pilot their technology within the Canary Wharf Group estate.
Group chairman and CEO for the group, Sir George Iacobescu, said: “The launch of this ambitious series of international competitions is an important milestone in delivering our future vision for Canary Wharf as one of the world’s most technologically-advanced and innovative destinations.
“Canary Wharf was the original smart city in London, designing services and systems into the fabric of the built environment from the outset. We want to continue this evolutionary process to become a globally-renowned smart cities innovation cluster.”
At Royds we are committed to helping a wide range of start-ups, to find more about the services our commercial law team can provide, please contact John North and Claus Andersen.