Using the Internet of Things and Big Data to support the development of the City of Tomorrow

Objectives of the call for projects

The internet of things and big data can maximise and speed up the development of solutions that improve service provision in cities to truly benefit our cities and citizens.

“Cities of Tomorrow” is a key programme in ENGIE and is focused on identifying the value of data to cities, citizens and businesses and developing the associated business models.

In this context ENGIE wishes to identify innovative solutions:

• in the field of Internet of Things / Big Data, including home comforts, smart cities, mobility, and territories;
• for energy transition and community solutions based on Big Data and Internet of Things;
• that can help ENGIE develop its City of Tomorrow value propositions across Ener gy, Buildings Mobility, Security, Lighting, Waste, Water and Smart Government;
• with socio-economic objectives that will benefit the future provision of local services, against a background of austerity and reductions in government funding;
• that will help to devolve local services;
• with environmentally friendly objectives that will enable the conservation and decentralisation of scarce resources.

Deadline for submissions; February 29th, 2016 at midnight:

Rewards and benefits

If you are successful, your reward for taking part in this call for projects will include:

• working with ENGIE in the development of projects;
• commercial / technical / technological coaching by ENGIE exp erts;
• incubation in ENGIE business unit for an agreed period of time;
• ability to test the proposed solution on a large scale of our smart city projects.

Context to the call for projects

Cities are increasing in size and number; they currently account for 2% of the world’s surface however 50% of its population, 75% of its Energy consumption and 80% of GHG emissions. A City of Tomorrow will be one that enables its citizens to live a happy, healthy and economically independent life by optimising the relationship between the individual and the resources of the city.

“Cities of Tomorrow” is a key programme in ENGIE and is focused on developing customer value propositions that bring together ENGIE’s diverse competences and digital technologies into a strategic approach to sustainability, citizen well-being & empowerment and economic development. For more information about ENGIE Cities of Tomorrow see http://www.engie.com/en/gdf-suez-imagines-the-city-of-tomorrow/

The Internet of Things is an important enabler for this and there is already a significant and growing network of everyday objects – from industrial machines to consumer goods – that can share information and complete tasks while you are busy with other activities. Soon our cars, homes, cities and appliances will be connected to the internet – creating a network of objects called Internet of Things.

This is in addition to the Big Data which is being generated by everything around us at all times through every digital process and every social media exchange. Systems, sensors and mobile devices transmit the data.

In order to capture, analyse and make use of this data for cities, ENGIE is working with SME’s across the globe to develop solutions that will bring together data produced across a region and enable local stakeholders including citizens and local authorities to better visualise, use and value the information they need. It will be “tailor-made” to help local decision makers better manage resources and will help citizens to improve their engagement with the area by shaping services to their needs and drivers. The solutions are and will be intuitive, easy to navigate and bespoke to the needs of a particular region. Successful deployment of these solutions will absolutely depend on access to, and the application of, big data and scenarios for application include.

Examples :

• Driverless cars - today are a concept, but in the future a fully autonomous car could drive us around a city, stopping to share fares to save money and carbon.
• Home security /safetly systems – today already allow you to remotely control your door locks and heating systems, but what if they took pro-active actions on your behalf, raising alarms, cooling your home, opening windows, based on certain events or data, raising alerts for vulnerable people living on their own.
• Renewables Planning – today costly studies are undertaken for appropriate on shore and off shore sites. Will devices be able to provide the data necessary to make informed decisions to focus detailed studies rather than undertake widespread surveys.
• City Transport – using devices and data for prioritising emergency services, alerting drivers to spare car parking spaces, waste and freight vehicle real time planning could all deliver real benefits to a city

ENGIE recognises the need to understand how the internet of things and big data can maximise and speed up the development of solutions to truly benefit our cities and citizens.

Eligibility and selection criteria

Applications will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Relevance to the subject;
• Originality/innovative nature of the submission (new technologies/approaches/procedures);
• Feasibility;
• Maturity of the project;
• Project’s capacity for being rapidly tested and/or implemented;
• Technology readiness level;
• Coherence of the planned business model;
• Financial Potential;
• Market potential;
• Experience of the START-UP;
• Suitability of the technology to the proposed usages;
• Societal, environmental and energy performance;
• Societal and social impact and acceptability.

Selection procedure

Projects will be selected in two phases:

• Phase 1: an initial selection of finalists.
• Phase 2: project owners for the selected applications will be invited to present their project in 30 minutes speech in front of the members of the selection committee. A winner will be selected.

Provisional calendar

• Tuesday, 13th October, 2015: Launch of the call for projects at a special innovation breakfast to be held at the North East Venturefest;
• February 29th, 2016 at midnight: Deadline for submissions;
• End of February, 2016: Phase 1, Examination of submitted projects by the Selection Committee and announcement of finalists;
• March 2016: Phase 2, pitch of finalists to the Selection Committee, final decision and announcement of winner.

The selection committee

Winning projects will be chosen by a selection committee made up of experts from ENGIE and its subsidiaries as well as local and national-level economic actors partners, including:

- North East Local Enterprise Partnership

- North Tyneside Council

ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ) develops its businesses (power, natural gas, energy services) around a model based on responsible growth to take on the major challenges of energy’s transition to a low-carbon economy: access to sustainable energy, climate-change mitigation and adaptation, security of supply and the rational use of resources. The Group provides individuals, cities and businesses with highly efficient and innovative solutions largely based on its expertise in four key sectors: renewable energy, energy efficiency, liquefied natural gas and digital technologies

ENGIE has an exciting Innovation Programme, aimed at identifying new ways of doing business, in the coming years. As part of this initiative, ENGIE has a € 100 million New Ventures Fund and is actively seeking START-UP businesses in which to invest. The fund is focussed on START-UPs with a differentiating technology or an innovative business model that are looking for an industrial partner. This call for projects is part of the continued roll out of this programme, looking to identify START-UPs that are investment ready with technologies that can be used as part of the on-going Cities of Tomorrow programme

ENGIE has a significant presence in the North East through UK subsidiaries such as Cofely Fabricom and Cofely UK delivering a variety of services to clients such as DWP and North Tyneside Council. ENGIE has also worked on various initiatives in the North East to develop Cities of Tomorrow such as applications for H2020 Smart Cities and Communities European Funding, Innovate UK IoT Demonstrator and are represented on the Business Support Board of the NELEP. The North East has recently been identified as one of 20 key focus areas for our global Cities of Tomorrow strategy project which will ensure continued focus on activities in the region at group level ; enable access to support from our global Cities of Tomorrow team; and provide connections with other global cities.