City of Austin Announces GigaTECHs App Competition Finalists

The City of Austin’s GigaTECHs Competition is part of a broader nationwide initiative, led by D.C-based U.S Ignite, to encourage next-generation Gigabit Internet applications that provide transformative public benefit.

The top 11 finalists have been announced in the City of Austin’s GigaTECHs App Competition. A panel of judges will select two applications to receive seed money during a final pitch event Aug. 31.

The competition, which kicked off in early June at the ATX Hack for Change, will award $38,000 in seed funding to support the development of two next-generation applications focused on opportunities in local transportation, education, clean energy, health, and public safety. The competition received 26 outstanding entries, and these top 11 finalists will be featured in the final pitches on Aug. 31 at Capital Factory:

• 1AustinSol – A New Community Approach to Solar submitted by Scott Nguyen’s Team
• BloxMob submitted by Joseph Fischer and Sean Bauld
• Cognitive Roadway Knowbot (Carnak) submitted by Lynn Riley’s Team
• Farm to City submitted by Ryan Pasca’s Team
• JoeVolunteer Keeping Austin Weird and Much Kinder! submitted by Chip Franks’ Team
• Just-in-time VR Training for Ambus EMS Personnel submitted by Scott Smith’s Team
• Med reconciliation + incentives & blockchain submitted by Hector Torres’ Team
• M.Y. H.O.M.E. submitted by Jerry Blackwell’s Team
• The Path to Python: A guide for middle schoolers submitted by Julia Lamorelle’s Team
• PenPal Schools VR Field Trip to the USA submitted by Joe Troyen’s Team
• Accelerating world’s mission towards Zero Hunger submitted by Nitin Vignesh Bati

The final event is 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, at the Capital Factory, 701 Brazos St., Suite 1600. Capital Factory is donating the space for the community initiative. The event is free and open to the public, but the City is asking for people to RSVP. Those who are interested in attending can RSVP here.

The two winning applications, selected by a panel of judges at the final pitch event, will be showcased with select cities across the United States participating in the U.S Ignite Smart Gigabit Communities program.
 
The City of Austin’s GigaTECHs Competition is part of a broader nationwide initiative, led by D.C-based U.S Ignite, to encourage next-generation Gigabit Internet applications that provide transformative public benefit.

The GigaTECHs Competition is made possible through a collaboration among the City of Austin’s Communications and Technology Management Department, the Office of Innovation, and the Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs Department.

The prize money is made possible by U.S Ignite and the City of Austin’s Communications and Technology Management Department.

Several participants in the GigaTECHs competition also are grantees of Mozilla’s National Science Foundation-supported Gigabit Community Fund. This collaboration illustrates the City’s efforts to partner both locally and nationally as a means to maximize investment opportunities to share gigabit innovations with smart, connected cities across the United States.
 
Learn more about the GigaTECHs competition at https://herox.com/GigaTECHSATX.