21 World Cities Reveal The Winning Solutions To Improve Lives Of 110 Million Citizens

May 3, 2012 - PRLog -- The Award presented major urban challenges faced by cities such as Barcelona, San Francisco, Cape Town, Mexico City, Birmingham, Rio de Janeiro or Lagos, to which 555 companies from 50 countries responded by presenting their innovative solutions. Cities spend EUR 3.5 Trillion annually in public procurement, and technologies promise major efficiency, accessibility and service quality gains.

During the first world meeting in Latin America on the smart use of technologies and services, public leaders from 21 global cities have revealed the winning innovative solutions that best meet strategic challenges like Affordable Housing Units for Lagos (Nigeria), Data to Help Fight Obesity in Eindhoven (The Netherlands), Changing Private Car Use in Lavasa (India), Wireless Control of Urban Systems in San Francisco (USA), a Knowledge Square to enhance digital inclusion in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Participation in Service Design and Delivery in Sant Cugat (Spain), Digital Public Transport in Mexico City (Mexico) and Engaging Visitors Experience in Barcelona (Spain). Winning solutions of the LLGA 2012 will now be piloted in the 21 participating cities over the next 12 months, to evaluate their impact to meet the pressing challenges.

The winning solutions are:

City of Barcelona (Spain): Contactless tags to bridge real and physical worlds, by Connecthings
City of Birmingham (UK): Composting on-site in Green Communities, by Susteco AB
City of Cáceres (Spain): Sustainable Cities. Motion is Energy, by OTEM2000 - Green Solutions & Management S.L.
City of Cape Town (South Africa):  Cape GeniUS!, by SCY
City of Coventry (UK): HLG SYSTEM, by GLASS COVER Europe S.L.
City of Derry~Londonderry (UK): Contactless tags to bridge real and physical worlds, by Connecthings
City of Eindhoven (The Netherlands): The App that gets teenagers moving, by GGD Brabant-Zuidoost
City of Fukuoka (Japan): Smart PathFinder, by Where 2 Get It, Inc.
City of Glasgow (UK): SmartCity Málaga, by Endesa
City of Guadalajara (Mexico): Guadalajara: Keeping Road Surfaces in Top Condition, by Falcon Road Maintenance Equipment
City of Hamburg (Germany): Contactless tags to bridge real and physical worlds, by Connecthings
City of Kristiansand (Norway): City Direct, by Innovation Center Iceland
City of Lagos (Nigeria): Lagos state Housing Solution, by TEMPOHOUSING NIGERIA LIMITED
City of Lavasa (India): SKYBUS, by Skybus
Mexico City (Mexico): Modern Urban Transport Information, by Clever Devices
City of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil): Contactless tags to bridge real and physical worlds, by Connecthings
Rome - Lazio Region (Italy): Get on board and play with bUS, by Placemaking srl
City of San Francisco (USA): From Street Lighting Management to Advanced Smart City Services, by Paradox Engineering
City of Sant Cugat (Spain): MindMixer, by MindMixer.com
City of Santiago de Chile (Chile): SFpark - A New way of managing parking, by San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
City of Terrassa (Spain): CityWalking, by UPC BarcelonaTech

In a unique global effort, 555 technology solutions from about 50 countries submitted to the Living Labs Global Award 2012 in February, while 109 were shortlisted in March. Winners have been selected after an international two-round jury process involving 147 jurors, under the auspices of Living Labs Global, a non-profit association based in Copenhagen and Barcelona working with 50 cities and 1,000 companies around the world to promote service innovation in cities. The Living Labs Global Award is a unique global process providing full accountability in the evaluation through independent experts. The LLGA 2012 was promoted by 21 global cities in partnership with Living Labs Global, Citymart.com, Oracle and The Climate Group.

The LLGA 2012 Ceremony of 2 May was attended by 200 participants from 22 countries in Rio de Janeiro as part of the Rio Summit on Service Innovation in Cities.

“Today we have witnessed a major commitment towards meeting some of the world’s pressing urban challenges, with the goal of improving the lives of more than 50% of the world’s population by using clean technologies, smart services and better accessibility. The winners will now have the opportunity to implement their solutions in real-life, and work together with stakeholders in the 21 partner cities to prove their impact,” said Sascha Haselmayer, Co-Founder of Living Labs Global.

“The Living Labs Global Award 2012 has been an important event for the City of Rio de Janeiro, which will soon host the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games. We thrive upon knowledge and innovation and this Summit exchanges experience and cutting-edge solutions. It has been a very successful event. Through the Living Labs Global Award 2012 we received 109 solutions that will help us to develop our Knowledge Square, which is being implemented in 6 areas of the city and aims to enhance digital inclusion across Rio de Janeiro,” said Franklin Coelho, Secretary of Science and Technology of the City of Rio de Janeiro, host city and partner of the LLGA 2012.

“The cities will be considered at the cutting edge of innovation and progress, as contactless technologies and associated mobile services are about to revolutionize mobile usages. They will also enjoy a new two-channel interactive communication tool, visible and accessible to everyone which is particularly important for an emerging global city. Connecthings will be glad to benefit from such prestigious international references and to demonstrate that its solutions are flexible and adaptable to cities’ diverse challenges,” said Damaris Homo, Business Development Manager at Connecthings, winner of four LLGA 2012, including the categories of Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.

On the second day of the meeting, May 3, during the Rio Summit on Service Innovation in Cities, 200 delegates from 22 countries, including public leaders from 30 international cities and pioneering entrepreneurs driving social and technological innovation are engaging in matchmaking activities to foster partnerships and dialogues on the investment priorities of participating cities: Urban Systems & Services, Health & Wellbeing, Open Government & Accessibility, Clean and Green Cities, Tourism & Mobility.

On May 4, delegates join LLGA 2012 local immersion programme to experience some of the ground-breaking projects, such as the Change through Digital Inclusion programme in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, now adopted by 717 communities in 14 countries.

About the Living Labs Global Award (LLGA)
Living Labs Global is a non-profit association based in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Barcelona (Spain), working with 50 cities and 1,000 companies and research centres in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas with a mission to open the market for service innovation in cities and overcoming key technology, organisation and trade barriers. The Living Labs Global Award is an annual process over 8 months in which cities present their challenges and provide guidance to the business and technology community on future investment plans and needs. Solution providers respond by submitting existing technologies as entries for evaluation by an international jury.

Previous LLGA winners
Some of the winners of LLGA since 2010 include SOCRATA, whose solution has been implemented by San Francisco to power the city’s new cloud-based Open Data site, URBIOTICA’s intelligent waste management sensors for recycling containers and WORRLDSENSING’s cutting-edge urban smart parking solution.

More information on www.llga.org
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