Smart Urban Technology Challenge 2018

Smart Urban Technology Challenge (SUTC) is one of the initiative of Kathmandu Metropolitian City (KMC) with slogan "Our Kathmandu We build".It is organized to bring out entrepreneurial spirit within Nepalese community to identify and solve problems that arises in urban environment. It is a competition among Nepalese youths which is an oppurtunity for them to show their creativity and innovation in this platform to solve problems related to urban development using modern technology by taking geography of KMC as the pilot area. In this challenge competition each of the solution should be of inherent technology element. Thus these solution will support KMC to foster the culture to adopt smart technology of urban areas. The technology can either hi-tech or simple enhancement of process and practices that does not matter for better and tangible results used in this challenge.

Kathmandu Challenge

Call for Participation and Idea submission

You can participate between the date 12th December, 2018 to 14th January, 2019 by submitting idea just clicking on "SUBMIT YOUR IDEA" button in website of Kathmandu Challenge link here. Submission of ideas should be only by team. The submitted ideas should be any one out of 4 categories: municipal administration & efficiency, community services, urban infrastructure and community & environment within the deadline through website. From the side of organizers a debriefing event on January 2 would be held where they would share information about the event and also answer the queries that participate raise about the event to clear any confusion.

Criteria for Smart Urban Technolgy Participation

1. Competition is performed in team. Apply as a team is possible  only when at least two people in a group not as an individual. You can make team from your company, a start-up company, students team from educational institute, or any informal group. If you are preparing alone team up with relevant individual to be the part of challenge.
2. The submitted idea, concept or product can be at any stage either in conception phase, planning phase, development phase or implementation phase provided that product is not in market more than 2 years.
3. The Features like novelty, innovation and creativity must be in idea, concept or product not the local version of existing ones.
4. Idea most content strong component of technology not for those which are very promising but with least emphasis on using technology solutions either low or high fidelity.
5. Team should be complete responsible for any infringement of intellctual property or legal issues related to submission, KMC won't held liable for any issues thereof.
6. This competition is for nepali citizen residing in Nepal or elsewhere.

Categories of Smart Urban Technolgy Challenge

Basically, the challege would focused on categories related to urban development. Brodly they are categorized into four types which are selected based on priorities of KMC as well as from the suggestions of experts of respective field. Various areas are mention in each categories so they can be taken as indicative areas. The categories are:

1. Community and Environment: The solution submitted by the team is expected to serve KMC dwellers in making the community and the surrounding environment stronger and better to live in respectively. The indicating topic associated with this category are:

• Waste management of the urban
• Protection of the Environment of surrounding
• Management of Disaster and preparedness for it.
• Agriculture in urban environment, Urban farming (terrace/ verticle/ etc.)
• Historical monuments and landmark preservation
• Management of visual pollution of city
• Management of Hoarding board
• Provision related to night time services (food, medicines, transportation, etc.), etc.

2. Urban Infrastructure: The solution should include best idea or concept that would provide innovative way to build, maintain and repair public infrastructure for general public. The urban structure includes under this category are:

• Maintenance of public infrastructure like lights, roads, walkways, sewerage, etc.
• Management of public transportation and traffic
• Management of the Parking areas
• Service of public toilets
• Rejuvenation of public spaces and parks and their protection
• Possible ways for Alternative Energy 
• Management of road light and footpath, etc.

3. Municipal Community Services: This category based ideas should covers the ways to strengthen the community services by local government in an efficent way as possible to general public. The section of community services may be:

Improvisation of public security

Management of Supply Chain of community goods.

Checking processes of Quality

Best way to provide Health services (primary, secondary, tertiary)

Management of Public school for better eduction

Enhancing public safety

Services of Community pharmacies

Employment creation in urban areas for public

4. Metropolitian Public Administration and Mangement: The solution should incoporate best way to make municipal administrative works efficient. The idea or concept under this heading may include;

Increasing civic engagement and management of feedback / grievance

Digitization and automation of metropolitan process

Way to improve Urban Governance

Preparing Urban Mapping

Assigning every houses with addresses

Tracking revenue and expenditure of metropolitian

Arranging Transparency and open data systems

Tax arrangement of Metropolitian  and essential improvement

Technologies used in Smart Urban Technology Challenge

The submitted idea, concept or product not need to look like a final products. Prototypes can differes in terms of fidelity which refers how it is presented the smaller and workable version of the real product. In this challenge technology are of two folds.

1. Low fidelity technologies: No necessarily hi-tech but can be simple enhancement of process and practices for better & tangible result that can be like Water Wheels container that can be roll from souce to settlement a effecient way to transport water and replacement of plastic cutlery by Bakeys edible Cutlery. The context of Kathmandu is to be take into consideration while designing ideas as the competition is seeking for relevant and actionable ideas.

2. High fidelity technologies: The technology that uses modern concept of information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Internet of things, Blockchain etc. to create newer approaches to solve prevalent urban problems.This may include mostly implementation of mobile app, hardware sensors, artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, etc.

Judging Criteria for Grade Finale of SUTC

The judging of the submitted ideas, concepts and products from different teams would be judge based on the following criteria.

1. Importance of Problem (Weightage: 30%) The idea should be a milestone for solving problem that matter the most. So, aspects looked upon are:

• Importance of problem they trying to solve by how much.
• Importance of technology to solve the problem by how much and if importannt then the amount of impact of the solution to solve the problem is analyzed.
• Whether the current scenario or the future feabible to make any chanage.
• Whether the idea capable to solve portion or completely solve the problem. 
• Whether the idea innovative or unique or an exact copy of existing solution elsewhere. Even if idea are similar based on similar concept that already exist, it should reflect characteristics of innovation and uniqueness by adopting them to local need and context.

2. Product (Weightage: 20%) Idea have no value unless it is implemented. Teams with promosing ideas should equally have promosing products too. So, aspects belows are vital to evaluate a team's product.

• Wheather the solution justify the idea presented.
• Wheather the technology features and functionalities justify problem the team intended to solve.
• Wheather the features of the solution innovative and useful.
• Wheather the technology solution look intuitive and user friendly.
• Whether the proposed technolgy exist  in community or easu to acquire.

3. Business Model (Weightage: 20%) Idea should own its own creating business model around it. Business model is vital component for the ideas thus attributed based on following points.

• Whether idea provide any value to user.
• Whether idea really top the oppurtunities and solve unmet needs of market.
• By how much do the factors like Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmnetal supports the idea at present and future.
• Whether the idea capture a potential market and grow in future.
• Whether the idea have potential to earn revenue.
• The methods prepared by team to tackle possible competion in existing market at presernt or in future.
• The methods prepared by team to market their product.
• The plan for their sustainability.

4. Scalability (Weightage: 20%) Whether the team have potential to scale up (national or international level) innovative solution. Based on scalability points need to considered are:

• Whether the idea feasible for the team to scale up to another location other than primary in future.
• The methods to assess scalability at an international level.
• The preparedness of team to scale up.

5. Presentation and Articulation (Weightage: 10%) Team should able to present their ideas properly even at an early stage showing best position to sustain their ideas. The points used to assess presentation and articulation among others are:

• The overall presentation of idea.
• Whether the articulation clear enough to understand idea and product.
• The organization of the presentation.
• Whether the supporting materials help to  convey the idea clearly.

This way Smart Urban Technology Challenge ends. Smart Urban Challenge 2018 is new concept to solve urban problems. Smart Urban Technology Challenge 2018 would brings innovative ideas from different people togather. Wish you would present  your ideas in Smart Urban Technology Challenge 2018.