Smart City Challenge Leads To Pilot Projects In Fairfax City

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Fairfax City’s Economic Development Office plans to explore two pilot projects with WISE Cities and Engage Art to improve the quality of life for city residents and visitors.

Both WISE Cities and Engage Art participated as project teams in the first annual Smart City Challenge, hosted in January and February by Smart City Works, Refraction, Fairfax County, Girls in Tech DC, Virginia Tech and the Universities at Shady Grove.

WISE Cities, or Where Innovation Supports the Elderly, has proposed a two-step solution for seniors living in urban areas who lack social interaction, active lifestyles and are often isolated.

The first step is the WISE mobile app, which promotes exercise and wellbeing by offering exercise suggestions as well as tracking both physical and social goals. Seniors may connect locally with other seniors or request assistance from a nearby neighbor.

The second step is Create WISE spaces, which are interactive physical spaces for seniors that promote outdoor activity and social interactions.

The spaces will allow smart city initiatives and data visualization to be experienced by visitors and residents through augmented reality. The visitors and residents would gain access to technology and services in a story-telling and visual experience designed to highlight the local cultures and businesses of communities.

Interactions within the Engage Art app are tracked to measure the metrics of each campaign so that the campaign can be adjusted for success.

The Smart City Challenge was supported by a group of partners, including ABS Capital, Amazon Web Services, Cox Business, Dominion Energy, Fairfax County, George Mason University, Smart City Works Venture Labs and the Fairfax City Economic Development Authority.

“I am thrilled that we were able to invite two teams to explore pilot projects here in Fairfax City,"' Christopher Bruno, Fairfax City’s director of Economic Development, said Monday in a statement. “Northern Virginia is an innovation and entrepreneurship power house, and whenever we can pair those forces together with city government to solve problems it's a win for our businesses and residents.”

WISE Cities and Engage Art will begin meeting with Fairfax City departments over the coming weeks to discuss a platform for development and implementation of their proposals.

Each proposal is expected to have significant positive effects on the quality of life of people in the city and connect residents and visitors with local businesses, the city said. Projects will be supported by a micro-grant to each team for development and implementation.