CivTechSA Residency Demo Day Team, Tempugo, Set To Present Solution For City Of San Antonio's Construction Communication Challenge

Press release from the City of San Antonio:

October 18, 2021

CONTACT: Giovanna Berrocal, 210-207-2098
giovanna.berrocal@sanantonio.gov

SAN ANTONIO (October 15, 2021) —

At a Glance:

• Tempugo, the 2021 CivTechSA Residency company, will present its solution to the civic challenge related to communication during construction next Wednesday, October 20 at the Dry Goods Building at 107 N. Flores.
• The company has been working alongside the City of San Antonio's Public Works Department during the 12-week Residency program to develop a solution.
• CivTechSA Demo Day will be a part of the greater San Antonio Startup Week that is now in session through Friday, October 22.

CivTechSA has announced its upcoming Residency Demo Day for this year's Residency company, Tempugo. The CivTechSA Residency program will culminate with a special presentation during San Antonio Startup Week on Wednesday, October 20, from 3:45-4:45 p.m. at the Dry Goods Building (107 N. Flores, 78205). There will be a happy hour and celebration immediately following, from 5-6 p.m.

During the Demo Day, the team from Tempugo will answer the question: How can businesses communicate vital information to customers during periods of construction so customers know that they are open, and can navigate any physical barriers? They have been working to solve this civic challenge during the 12-week Residency program, alongside the City of San Antonio Public Works Department.

"Over the past four years, the companies who have participated in our CivTechSA Residency program have created profound tech solutions for challenges that the City faces that affect so many of our residents," said Eddie Johnson III, the City of San Antonio's Department of Innovation Performance & Management Specialist. "These solutions are so important, because they will have long-term impact on our City and its opportunities, improvements, and growth."

Specifically, the challenge Tempugo created a solution for is the following: Construction, routine maintenance, and utility emergencies can negatively affect businesses due to road closures, barricades, and a disruption to their accessibility. Customers often do not know about these instances before venturing out to the businesses, and often do not have the necessary information to navigate a business that is still open and accessible even when it appears to not be. This can lead to major loss in revenue, and long-term customer gains that affect businesses beyond the time of the obstruction.

“With a focus on designing, developing and deploying multi-disciplinary, social-innovation-action research and purpose-driven ventures, we knew that Tempugo would be a perfect fit to develop a solution for this communication barrier,” said Leslie Chasnoff, Geekdom Programs Director. "Their use of technology on a variety of their past projects has proven to make a positive impact for other civic entities, so we are confident this solution will show promise to do the same in San Antonio."

This press release was produced by the City of San Antonio. The views expressed here are the author’s own.