The Richardson Economic Development Partnership and University of Texas at Dallas are kicking off another Smart Gigabit Cities Application Challenge next week.
Two app developers will have the chance to win up to $10,000 each for their solutions developed to address the community issue posed during the Dec. 14 program event, according to a release. Participants have until Jan. 24 to submit app proposals. Winners will be announced Feb. 28.
“There’s no specific requirement other than it meets the criteria of being a gigabit bandwidth or low latency,” said Mike Skelton, director for the Mayor’s Office of International Business.
Richardson is one of 25 communities nationwide participating in US Ignite’s Smart Gigabit Communities program. The city hosted its first gigabit app challenge in February. Winners included a smart parking system and an augmented reality tool enabling medical students to practice interactions with patients.
The prize for selected proposals will be dispersed in a two phases — $5,000 to the top two app ideas in February and another $5,000 if those participants show a successful working prototype within six months, Skelton said.
The second gigabit challenge will officially launch with an informational meeting Dec. 14. Those interested in participating will need to register by Dec. 12.
Skelton said there will be more of these app challenges in the future. The US Ignite grant money also may be used to host educational events for developers on software designed network and smart gigabit cities internet applications.
“We got two grants from US Ignite to do these programs and what I’ll have to do next year is apply for another grant to get more money to do the same thing,” he said.
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