The City of Cape Town is one of 21 global cities partnering with various organisations for the Living Labs Global Award for 2012.
The project will see 21 cities across four continents partnering with Living Labs Global, The World Bank, Oracle, CityMart.com and The Climate Group to find innovative solutions to improving the living standards of more than 100 million people. International technology and service solution providers will compete for 21 winning spots which will allow them to pilot and test the efficacy of their solutions in each respective city.
“The City of Cape Town is an Opportunity City and this collaboration will unlock innovative ideas which will help us improve connections with the business community in order to share challenges, review new ideas and determine solutions that will improve the living conditions of our residents. We are therefore honoured to continue our collaboration with Living Labs Global,” says the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Alderman Belinda Walker.
Living Labs Global is a non-profit association which promotes new technologies and services in cities. They will be working with each city to select the providers and the solutions that will best tackle key urban challenges such as social inclusion, intelligent transport, urban service automation, urban lighting, open data systems, smart living and healthcare. Participating cities include: Barcelona, Birmingham, Caceres, Cape Town, Coventry, Derry, Eindhoven, Fukuoka, Glasgow, Guadelajara, Hamburg, Lagos, Lavasa, Kristiansand, Mexico City, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Sant Cugat, Santiago de Chile and Terrassa.
Sascha Haselmayer, General Director of Living Labs Global said: “We are delighted to be partnering with such an important group of world cities. It is their vision, their leadership, their understanding of current and future challenges and their belief in the power of innovation that is making the Living Labs Global Award not only possible – but a blueprint for the future of cities everywhere.”
The last edition of the awards attracted 562 entries from 41 countries. Winners included a smart real-time peer-to-peer parking system in Stockholm and an open data citizen participation platform in San Francisco. Oracle Corporation has been named as the lead corporate partner for the Living Labs Global Award 2012, with CityMart.com providing the technical and social networking infrastructure through its urban technology marketplace. The Climate Group (an international NGO) is a strategic partner, incorporating the Living Labs Global Award into its flagship “Clean Revolution” campaign.
The 21 award categories will be presented and entries reviewed by international experts against criteria such as climate and community impact, innovation, market relevance and ease of implementation. The award categories were defined together with decision-makers in cities around the world. Behind each category lies the commitment of a city to piloting the winning showcase, with full institutional support to evaluate the impact that the solution can have on reaching the community’s objectives.
Applications to qualify for the Living Labs Global Award can be submitted until 17 February 2012. A shortlist of the top five showcases will be presented by each partner city on 5 March 2012. The final award winners will be announced at the award ceremony in May 2012 in Rio de Janeiro on the occasion of the Rio Summit on Service Innovation in Cities.
