May 01, 2017
By leveraging the internet of things and smart water meters, CityTaps partners with local utility companies to expand service and guarantee water access to all households by using metering and micro-pre-payment process. This innovative solution combines mobile money and IoT technologies to allow users to prepay by volume, making in-home water access safer, convenient and…
Apr 27, 2017
The ways in which education and learning affect urban possibilities and challenges have been given little attention in the urban agenda. While cities are increasingly positioning themselves as global hubs for higher education, recognizing that high-skilled workers are critical for innovation and growth, education has much more to offer cities than economic prosperity alone. The…
Apr 25, 2017
The world is poorly addressed. Street addressing is often inadequate and while coordinates and alphanumeric systems are accurate, they are prone to errors in transcription and communication. what3words is a location reference system based on a global grid of 57 trillion 3mx3m squares; each square has been pre-assigned a unique 3-word address. Easier to remember…
Apr 25, 2017
Wecyclers gives low-income communities in Lagos, Nigeria a chance to capture value from waste and clean up their neighborhoods through incentive based recycling. Recyclable goods collected from households are converted into an SMS-based point system that can be redeemed for useful goods and services. The collection of waste from the subscribers is done using low-cost…
Apr 20, 2017
Architecture and buildings, whether private homes, office towers or public structures have always interested me. Having traveled extensively throughout my life, I have seen all kinds of buildings. It surprised me that there was rarely any consistent style for small structures such as kiosks, outdoor bars, food stalls, newsstands or vending booths. Almost all looked…
Apr 19, 2017
Jugnoo is a leading auto-rickshaw aggregator, focused on doubling the driver’s efficiency and earnings and providing affordable transportation to the masses, all with a single tap. Since its launch in November 2014, Jugnoo has built a user base of around 2.5 million people and handles about 30,000 transactions each day. Jugnoo now offers service in…
Apr 19, 2017
In cities across the world, food businesses frequently have food surpluses while charities struggle to provide food for those who need it most. Globally, 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted annually while one in seven people don’t have enough to eat. FoodCloud is a social enterprise that has developed a unique, technological platform that…
Apr 04, 2017
BestMile is an innovative Swiss startup developing technology for urban mobility. A spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), BestMile provides a fleet management platform designed to operate and optimize any fleet of autonomous vehicles. BestMile’s cloud technology leverages the full potential of autonomous vehicles to tackle urban mobility challenges. BestMile…
Mar 28, 2017
A Q&A with Spacehive Founder and CEO Chris Gourlay Large technology companies, family businesses, communities, and individuals alike are now looking to use the city as a medium to achieve larger goals. Creatively using and understanding urban space can help businesses better meet their goals and grow, while also helping democratize urban processes and providing…
Mar 22, 2017
Cities in developing countries like Nigeria and India have a lot in common. They are dealing with the challenge of growing populations that put pressure on public services and physical infrastructure, and the municipal governments in these cities face significant resource constraints. These conditions offer opportunities for social entrepreneurs and community-based groups to provide citizen-led…
Mar 16, 2017
It has been almost a year since a summer internship with The Climate Reality Project’s Canadian branch turned into a longer-term commitment for me. During this time, I have been in touch with a number of extremely inspiring Climate Reality Leaders. These volunteers, trained by former American Vice President Al Gore, are committed to giving…
Mar 09, 2017
With the entry into force of the United Nations Paris Agreement in 2016, leaders worldwide have made the reduction of carbon emissions a global priority. As urban areas become greater in size and population – with two-thirds of the world expected to live in cities by 2050 – their appetite for energy is becoming insatiable.…
