As the world continues to grow with unprecedented urbanization and technological expansion, state and local governments must stay ahead of the curve or risk falling further behind. Urban centers have seen massive expansion over the last decade with 85.7% of the nation’s population and 87.7% of total employment now residing within 3% of the overall US land mass.
But, keeping up is easier said than done. Every city has different needs, resources and capabilities. What is common amongst city-dwellers is a growing worry over their data security. In a survey conducted by SAS in 2018, it revealed that 73% of Americans had more concerns over their data privacy than they had in recent years.
So as urban populations continue to grow along with citizen’s rising concerns about safety, security, and transparency, governments must become forward-thinking in order to prevent disruptions that could have massive consequences to the economics of their city and the overall lives of their citizens.
Thousands of cities around the world need innovative solutions for information technology deployments to help their citizens live healthy, happy and productive lives using socially-conscious and equitable systems that respect privacy and the role of government policy,” – Edward Jung, CEO of Xinova
To stimulate their economies and protect their citizens, elected officials must rise to the challenge of finding innovative and environmentally sound solutions and they must do it faster than ever before. But city officials are already overburdened, taxpayers overloaded, programs underfunded, and finding the resources to address every problem can seem like an overwhelming task.
In response, Xinova is launching a new venture, Project CitizenOS, a program aimed at bringing smart technology to cities in order to help them thrive in the digitally disrupted economy. Xinova’s market network approach to innovation is a game-changing concept that will allow cities to develop solutions faster and more efficiently, carrying that will carry a sizable economic and social impact.
Partnering with Helix and Interbit, Xinova is creating a data management system that helps cities, universities, and other communities manage their data. Together, plans will be developed for integrating new technologies and Xinova will help execute those plans with its end-to-end innovation ecosystem.
This new platform is a blockchain secured data utility design for the robust management, dissemination and utilization of city-based data. The platform will enable an application store that offers apps, developed by both the partnership and 3rd party developers, to solve big problems via data-driven tools. The platform will transform the way cities manage traffic, power outages, parking, waste management, engage citizens, and more. While some companies have solved these problems, such as PaybyPhone, Waze, OnebusAway, the solutions are limited to one niche product and lack cohesive integrated data management. The platform will cater to all these needs in one central digital distribution platform that enables standard digital identities, values data intelligence, and provides for digital economic development.
Leveraging Interbit’s revolutionary multichain distributed ledger platform, it will now be possible for cities to manage their complex data in an accessible and secure way.
“It is the Interbit™ platform’s approach to scale and privacy that will enable the CitizenOS Project to realize the significant opportunities that exist in the adoption by urban areas of smart city technology. To participate in this new version of edge computing is exciting, and we will absorb every benefit we can from working closely with the Xinova team.” -Tom Thompson, CTO of Interbit.
Using Helix as the development resource to build city-based applications on top of the Interbit platform prepares the CitizenOS concept to accept third-party development of applications that satisfy customer needs.
Combined with Xinova’s unique ability to source from our global market network of over 12,000 innovators and raise capital through Arcnet, an online capital marketplace, CitizenOS will be able to bridge gaps in local expertise, technology, and finances to better identify solutions, proving to be valuable and productive for government policymakers to drive growth, manage data, and create jobs through innovation, science, and technology.
Xinova released an opportunity Seeking Innovators for Deployment of Smart City Infrastructure in March of 2019 with the intention of finding one expert in Smart Cities to assist in this process. However, the applicant pool was very distinguished and diverse; unable to narrow it down to one, they selected two innovators from the network. Mark Barber and Dixon Dick will both bring a unique perspective and expertise to the project.
Dixon Dick is a co-founder of Archethought, a smart city startup. As a veteran of the technology industry, his experience spans a broad variety of development, leadership and creative roles, bringing with him a wide range of perspectives to difficult software, hardware, and team challenges. His work with community development helps to inform our work with Smart City technology by targeting appropriate solutions. We’re excited to learn from him.
Mark Barber is a go-to-market specialist focused on early-stage companies. His background has led him from sales and partnership organizations to managing development teams working on pure technology products. Mark’s work with platform companies and community, especially in the blockchain space, will help us keep a citizen first approach to Project CitizenOS.
This is why visionary leaders of forward-thinking leaders in cities like New Westminster, BC and Turku, Finland are ready to embrace Xinova’s Market Network approach to innovation for truly bold solutions.
Xinova
PO Box #30873
Seattle, WA 98113
USA
Xinova Japan GK
Yaesu Mitsui Building 6F
2-7-2 Yaesu, Chuo-ku
Tokyo 104-0028 Japan
+81-3-6478-6120
xinova.jp
Xinova Korea
10th floor, Golfzone Tower
735, Yeongdong-daero
Gangnam-gu
Seoul 06072, Korea
+82 2 6952 8840
xinova.co.kr
Xinova Finland
Erottajankatu 5 A 4
FI-00130 Helsinki
Finland
Affiliate offices in Tel Aviv & Vienna