Lampposts as charging points for electric vehicles and other ideas to be developed in the hackathon
Charging electric vehicles through street lampposts and creating a metrobus line in Riga. What will the hackathon participants work on this week? On April 15-17, more than 150 participants including professionals from different fields, researchers, students, and technology enthusiasts from more than 30 countries will address the challenges of cities in ensuring climate-neutral mobility at ‘Urban mobility hackathon’. The hackathon is organized by innovation movement ‘VEFRESH’ in cooperation with the Institute of Electronics and Computer Sciences, Riga City Council, co-working space ‘Teikums’, and supported by Regional Innovation Scheme of EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. During the 48 hour event participants will also be supported by the leading event partner Embassy of the Netherlands in Latvia together with technology companies ‘Accenture Latvia’ and ‘Latvijas Mobilais Telefons’ (LMT).
A total of 29 ideas so far have been submitted by hackathon participants with the aim to improve mobility and reduce urban air pollution. "The role of open innovation, the circular economy, as well as the direction of sustainable business development and ecological thinking are becoming increasingly important. A crucial part of achieving the necessary change - CO2 emission reduction, lesser non-renewable energy and water consumption, as well as implementation of zero waste principles - are innovative technologies, ideas, and solutions. On the business side, a great deal of emphasis is now placed on the field of mobility. The variety of submitted ideas for the hackathon will not only ensure sustainable mobility solutions for potential deployment in VEF district, but can also pinpoint Latvia on the world innovation map,” says Kristaps Banga, Innovation Lead at ‘Accenture Latvia’.
One of the ideas that will be developed during the hackathon is "Smart city charging". The idea is to turn street lampposts into multifunctional solutions, transforming them into electric car charging stations. “I was encouraged to apply for the hackathon by the opportunity to test an idea that has been on my mind for a long time. The idea came gradually - I drive an electric car on a daily basis and my work is directly related to the field of electromobility. Knowing that the public charging stations will continue to grow across the city, I thought of using and adapting existing infrastructure in a way that will not only accelerate transfer to e-mobility but also not deprive pedestrians of space on sidewalks,” says Kārlis Mendziņš, author of the idea and CEO of Uzladets.lv.
Green-minded Armands Būmanis wants to implement a Metrobus line on Brīvības Street from Riga city center to Teika district. During the hackathon, he plans to develop the idea “Freedom metro (bus) line”, which aims to improve the speed of the public transport service available to residents, make Brīvības Street more attractive and safer for all road users, as well as to promote more efficient use of street space. The author of the idea adds: "Public transport is the most efficient mode of passenger transport, as it can move 16 times more people in one standard street lane per hour than private road transport. It can be used by people of all ages in any weather. By introducing such a separate public transport line in the middle part of the street, the beneficiaries would be not only the residents of Teika and VEF districts but also the residents in the city center. ”
Participants can apply to work on these or on 20 other submitted ideas in the hackathon, as well as submit new proposals on the ‘Eventornado’ platform to compete for a prize fund of 6,000 EUR. Teams will be supported by a wide range of mentors nominated by the leading event partner Embassy of the Netherlands in Latvia together with technology companies ‘Accenture Latvia’ and LMT as well as other experts. After the hackathon, participants will also have a chance to apply to a 10-week summer mobility incubator program ‘Urban Mobility Incubator’, which will provide an opportunity to further develop the idea, as well as test the technical prototypes and solutions in a real urban environment.
‘VEFRESH’ is an innovation movement that brought together the largest companies in the VEF district in 2019 to jointly develop the territory as an urban innovation centre. The participants and supporters of the movement are ‘Accenture Latvia’, Institute of Electronics and Computer Science, LMT, IT Education Fund, real estate developer ‘Pillar’, city in the city ‘Jaunā Teika’, as well as VEF Culture Palace.
This project is funded by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. EIT Urban Mobility acts to accelerate positive change on mobility to make urban spaces more liveable. For more information visit www.eiturbanmobility.eu.