Help monitor and manage Utah’s Air Quality by coming alone or bringing a team to the Utah Ignite Smart Air (Gigabit Solutions) Reverse Pitch.
Reverse Pitch Application
- Due Date: Monday, April 2, 2018
- Time: 6pm to 8pm
- Application Form: Apply Here
Apply to participate in the Utah Smart Air (Gigabit Solutions) Reverse Pitch!
Up to $40k in Funding
Kickoff Event
- Date: Thursday, March 1, 2018
- Time: 6pm to 8pm
- Location: Silicon Slopes, 2600 Executive Pkwy, Lehi, UT 84043
The Founder of US Ignite, and Internet Hall of Famer, Glenn Ricart, addressed us at the Kickoff. Glenn helps run the Annual National Smart Cities Conference. He is an Internet pioneer who implemented the first Inter-net interconnection point (the FIX in College Park, Maryland) and was recognized for this achievement by being inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in August 2013. In one of his previous roles where he was academic CIO at the University of Maryland, his campus implemented the first institution-wide TCP/IP (Internet) network in 1983 using low-cost PDP-11 routers (“Fuzballs”) with software devised at the University of Maryland. Glenn was principal investigator of SURAnet, the first regional TCP/IP (Internet) network of academic and commercial institutions.
Reverse Pitch Details
Award: Up to $40,000. (Funds are provided by US Ignite, under the National Science Foundation, and matching sponsors).
Process: The initial kickoff for the event will be on March 1st at the Silicon Slopes office. The Air Quality Monitoring challenges will be presented to the tech & entrepreneur community. The tech & entrepreneur community will be given a limited amount of time ( a few weeks) to come up with their solutions and submit final applications, based on the gigabit requirements and other criteria we provide at the kickoff. Applications will be reviewed by US Ignite and event sponsors. US Ignite, Utah Ignite, and the sponsors have discretion on the award and distribution of the funds to develop, test, and promote the desired air quality monitoring sensors, system, and dashboard, using gigabit technologies.
Gigabit Speed Requirement
The end product must have a Gigabit Application (What is a Gigabit Application?)
Why Air Quality?
Utah has some of the worst air quality in the country. The Utah Legislature has attempted to pass legislation to deal with air quality issues. Private organizations have tried to change behavior to improve air quality. It is hard to know how to deal with it, when the cause is not definitively known because of a lack of effective monitoring at a micro-level in real time.
Utah Ignite proposes that we solve Utah’s air quality monitoring and management issues in real time at a more micro or neighborhood level with gigabit speed technologies. The solutions we find may include system level monitoring with sensors distributed over fiber networks across a city, several cities, or statewide, with ground based sensors and/or sensors in the air; new types of sensors may be developed or proposed (including video sensors analyzing air quality with different wavelengths in the light spectrum, or high definition video that can zoom in on areas where sensors pick up increases in air pollutants); there may be different types of sensors to detect different types of particulate pollution; big data analytics and processing may be required to analyze sensor data; and a dash board may be needed with real time video and data. There also may be differences in sensors or approaches for urban or rural areas and in mountains or valleys.
Air Quality Impact on the Economy and Health
Once air quality is being monitored at a micro level in real time then local, state, and federal governments, along with businesses and citizens can take more effective steps to change behaviors and improve air quality.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies have shown that better air quality improves the economy, the positive economic impact of clean air is greater than the cost for compliance; clean air protects many Americans from pollution-related health problems; public health safe-guards encourage technology investments; and environmental technology and services is a large and growing U.S. Industry. (See https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/clean-air-act-and-economy)
A peer-reviewed 2011 EPA study found that, in 2010 alone, reductions in fine particle pollution and ozone pollution achieved by the EPA Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990: 1) Avoided more than 160,000 premature deaths, 130,000 heart attacks (acute myocardial infarction), millions of cases of respiratory problems such as acute bronchitis and asthma attacks, and 86,000 hospital admissions. 2) Prevented 13 million lost workdays, improving worker productivity which contributes to a stronger economy. 3) Kept kids healthy and in school, avoiding 3.2 million lost school days due to respiratory illness and other diseases caused or exacerbated by air pollution. (See https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/clean-air-act-and-economy)
The correlation between air pollution and health issues has long been recognized in Utah. A 1991 study showed increases in cancer and heart disease likely caused by air pollution. (https://www.deseretnews.com/article/146383/POLLUTION-RELATED-DEATHS-IN-UTAH-COUNTY-LIKELY-UNDERESTIMATED-U–RESEARCHER-SAYS.html). In the 1980s, Utah saw a direct correlation between Geneva Steel being open, health issues, and hospital visits.
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