IGNITE | SCALE | SAN DIEGO, an Urban Innovation Program, Announces Winner of Its 2020 Challenge

SAN DIEGO, July 17, 2020  /PRNewswire/ -- IGNITE | SCALE | SAN DIEGO, an Urban Innovation Program and collaboration between Smart Cities Accelerator, Labs + Environment (SCALE) San Diego, US Ignite, City of San Diego and with support from Cox Communications, announced the winner and runner up for its 2020 urban challenge program at a virtual event earlier today. Both teams earned continued guidance from the program's partners and sponsors to help popularize their solution, connect them with potential customers and partnership opportunities.

City Canvas slightly inched out 2-Way for top honors for its Arts & Culture solution. Both teams were awarded continued product development support including mentoring from Jacques Chirazi, Director of Student Entrepreneurship at UCSD and Dana Springs, consultant and former head of the City of San Diego Arts & Culture Commission; connection to subject matter experts from the City, SANDAG, Arts & Culture Commission, Jacobs Center and more; and cash prizes to help underwrite product development costs.

Through a series of community events in 2020, IGNITE | SCALE | SAN DIEGO recruited, coached and mentored teams of students, technologists, entrepreneurs, software developers and changemakers to invent novel approaches to current community challenges as identified in collaboration with the City of San Diego. These included: Arts and Culture Engagement, Mobility and Mode Sharing in Low to Moderate Income (LMI) Communities, and New Interfaces for Communities to interact with the City of San Diego. Out of the six teams formed, three emerged as winners of the initial competition based on the strength of their proposed solutions.

Participants of the 2020 challenge were given access to technology and mentorship, as well as customer feedback, and networking opportunities. The teams will continue working toward having their solutions implemented or incubated as new ventures. Program organizers say this is an example of the power of private and public sector collaboration to find novel solutions to stubborn urban challenges.

"I drew inspiration from this year's teams. Despite all the uncertainty of the past few months with Covid-19 and having to make the program fully virtual, the teams showed amazing creativity, commitment and dedication in developing inventive solutions that will make a difference in the quality of life for San Diegans and others," said SCALE San Diego Co-Founder and Managing Partner Daniel Obodovski. "Our partners – US Ignite, the City of San Diego and Cox Communications – pulled their collective resources and expertise to help find and grow real-world solutions that can impact our entire region and beyond. That's a win for everyone."

The San Diego program has also garnered broad support from the City, SANDAG, University of San Diego, SDSU and the business community. The program's steering committee includes, business, community, and local government leaders; startup founders, venture capitalists, academics, technologists and others.

To learn more visit https://www.scalesd.com/innovation-2020. Connect: Twitter and LinkedIn.

Contact:
Bonnie Shaw
[email protected]

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SOURCE SCALE San Diego