Foxconn announced a statewide “Smart Cities – Smart Futures” Competition in August during the Smart Futures Summit at the UW-Parkside. Students, faculty and staff at all of Wisconsin’s technical colleges, private colleges and universities and the UW System are eligible to compete in this exciting contest for up to $1 million in financial and in-kind awards starting in the 2018-2019 academic year.
This Foxconn-backed initiative is part of the company’s effort to transform Wisconsin’s economy and drive technological innovation. This initiative will help enhance quality of life and working environments, inspire attractive streetscapes, transportation networks and living spaces and promote sustainable economic and demographic growth across Wisconsin’s cities, villages, towns and counties.
For more details, please visit the Smart Cities – Smart Futures website, join the mailing list, and follow the competition on social media Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Foxconn and Wisconsin Technology Council Partnership:
Foxconn is partnering with the Wisconsin Technology Council to help engage and promote participation in the Smart Cities – Smart Futures competition. Dr. Alan Yeung, Foxconn Director of U.S. Strategic Initiatives, said: “We are proud of our partnership with the Wisconsin Technology Council. The ‘Smart Cities — Smart Futures’ competition will rely on the talented students, faculty and staff of Wisconsin’s colleges and universities. We hope to then connect these groups, and their innovative ideas, with cities, villages, towns and counties across the state.”
How Can You Get Started?
- The first round of the competition will open on Oct. 1 and run until Oct. 31. Submissions will be made through Smart Cities – Smart Cities website, and more specifically, the integrated portal within the site.
***Note: The submission portal will not be available until Oct. 1.
Let’s Learn More about the Competition!
- Foxconn’s Smart Cities – Smart Futures Competition is Innovative!
Foxconn’s Smart Cities – Smart Futures competition offers opportunities to bring innovations to the forefront across Wisconsin to look for new ideas to improve and enhance the quality of life. Foxconn is committing up to $1 million over the next three years to this broad initiative. As a global technology services leader, Foxconn has long been investing in new and emerging technologies and wants to do the same here in Wisconsin with its Smart Cities – Smart Futures Competition. Foxconn’s vision is to harness innovative technological solutions developed in Wisconsin by students, faculty and staff of state colleges and universities that will enhance all aspects of smart lives and bring greater convenience to people from all walks of lives.
Industries are devoting more attention to building connected infrastructures and systems which form the basis of smart cities and smart futures. Adopting these concepts helps cities, town villages and rural areas attract and retain talent, maximize resources, improve efficiencies and build collaboration among diverse civic, industry and education partners.
This is an area that Foxconn believes it can contribute to as the company has significant expertise in related areas such as cloud computing, mobile devices, Internet of Things, Big Data, artificial intelligence and networks. All these aspects can help improve the quality of life for people living in all parts of Wisconsin.
Leveraging Foxconn’s AI + 8K + 5G technology, the Smart Cities – Smart Futures Competition seeks to tap into the richly diverse talent of Wisconsin students, faculty and staff, whether they are at a public or private or technical college in every part of the state.
The Smart Cities – Smart Futures Competition also will help support Wisconsin’s transformation into a global high-tech hub and boost the state’s ability to attract top talent. Global companies will hopefully come here to utilize the opportunities that Foxconn’s Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park campus in Mount Pleasant has to offer.
- Higher Education Eligibility
The first round of the Smart Cities – Smart Futures Competition will enable individuals and teams from Wisconsin’s higher education institutions, including student proposals and faculty-led research projects. Foxconn encourages collaboration with partners from business and industry, as well as entrepreneurs, municipalities and other local and regional partners. To qualify, each team must have student, academic staff or faculty representation from an accredited, Wisconsin-based higher education institution (post-high school level that is a part of the UW-System, Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities or the Wisconsin Technical College System).
- Focusing on Key Areas
The Smart Cities – Smart Futures Competition encourages open-ended design thinking and idea-generation to bring forward the widest range of innovative ideas for enhancing the lives of Wisconsin residents. Through this competition, Foxconn aims to create an avenue for bringing innovative ideas of all types forward that will help energize a “smart future.”
- Various Submission Themes Envisioned
Competitive themes will include the following four areas, and cover transportation, technology infrastructure, healthcare innovation, facilities utilization, streetscapes, the arts, the environment and other areas of interest.
- Optimizing Our Resources and Strengths – Aimed at efficient use of resources and our ability to convert them into value-added products and services.
- Improving Quality of Life, Performance and Collaboration – Aimed at enhancing the softer aspects of lifestyle.
- Enhancing a Sustainable Economy and Environment, and creating an ecosystem that endures the test of time.
- Advancing Smart Manufacturing, Services and Infrastructure – Aimed at further modernizing the GDP.
- Collaboration is Vital
Participants are encouraged to assemble diverse teams that reflect a broad range of core partners needed to successfully implement the most innovative approaches for environments and ecosystems that incorporate “smart cities” and “smart futures.” Partners may include educational researchers and experimenters, city and village leaders, business and industry experts and entrepreneurs and community-based organizations and entities.
- The Time is Now!
The Smart Cities – Smart Futures Competition is designed to launch a new wave of fresh ideas and out-of-the-box thinking. Indeed, we want to knock down the walls of the box. The first phase of this multi-year Foxconn initiative will launch in the fall 2018 academic term and Foxconn is excited to have you participate in this competition moving forward.
- An Avenue for Employment and Talent
Foxconn is also seeking ways to connect and engage with talent across the state. This competition provides a means to open up a communication channel between those in higher education seeking new exciting career opportunities with the Company.
One again, see more detail about the competition on the Smart Cities – Smart Futures website, and follow them on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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