Canary Wharf Group names latest smart city winners
Published on 16th Jul 2015
Three start-ups have been announced as the latest winners of Canary Wharf Group’s Cognicity Challenge, a smart city accelerator programme.
As more construction projects get the green light Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the smart exchange of data it creates is benefiting the industry through reducing the duplication of effort and enhancing working practices. It is exactly the type of collaborative smart city initiative we are supporting and we are delighted to see 3D Repo winning an award in the smart city accelerator programme.”
Philip Davies, Partner
The winners have all been working on new technology designed to address key challenges in future city development. Their developments will now be piloted by the Canary Wharf Group as part of its smart city programme.
Two firms tied in first place in the ‘Connected Home’ stream. The companies, BlockDox and Puckily, will share the £50,000 cash prize and will now work together to develop their connected devices for the smart home.
Puckily’s system allows a range of devices around the home to be connected and controlled remotely, while BlockDox has developed an app that enables residential tenants to perform everyday tasks, like contacting reception and arranging repairs.
According to Canary Wharf Group, by combining their technologies the two companies will greatly improve people’s ability to manage their homes through connected devices and become a true example of interoperability.
Another company, 3D Repo, took first place in the ‘Virtual Design and Construction’ stream after producing an open source Building Information Modeling (BIM) platform for better collaboration on construction projects.
Through Cognicity, Canary Wharf Group aims to demonstrate the potential of smart buildings, sensor networks and digital analysis software to create efficiencies and convenience in the development and management of cities.
Sir George Iacobescu, chairman and chief executive of the London property developer, said: “Collaborating with 36 startups has provided the opportunity to appraise our own processes and understanding of innovation in the smart cities arena, at the same time as helping shape their thinking and products. We are looking forward to the piloting phase and its outcomes.”
Claire Cockerton, chief executive and chair of ENTIQ, added: “This is just the beginning of an incredible journey for 3D Repo, Puckily and BlockDox. Their solutions will drastically improve the way we plan construction projects and interact with our homes.”
