[Auto]Greentech Festival and Audi present the Green Future Award to Zencity

[SougarLord]

 

The award is part of the festival's Green Awards and distinguishes projects and people that promote an urbanization compatible with the environment that, at the same time, contributes to improving the quality of life and urban infrastructures. The award went to Zencity, a Tel Aviv-based startup that has developed an algorithm that collects and analyzes publications on social media and local news portals in cities.

 

The UN has already predicted that more than two-thirds of the world's po[CENSORED]tion will live in cities by the middle of this century in its 2018 “World Urbanization Forecasts” study. By 2030, the United Nations expects there to be 43 megacities around the world . Ensuring that life in these large cities is the most respectful of the environment and socially fair is, therefore, one of the main challenges for this decade. By creating an award in recognition of this work, the Greentech Festival and Audi AG intend to draw attention to this challenge and promote innovative solutions, support founders in the early stages of their projects and encourage public dialogue.

 

The Green Future Award: special award from the Greentech Festival

Among the nominees were projects in the areas of energy, water, mobility, construction and housing, digitization, and security and resources. The jury was made up of representatives from WWF, Deutsche Bahn, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) and rap artist Marteria Green Berlin's fashion brand, who are also members of the jury for the GRreen Awards on the sustainability platform. . Members evaluated projects based on their contribution to environmental protection, adaptability, technical innovation and future viability. The Green Future Award is a special award that is part of the Green Awards and highlights the possibilities of sustainable technologies in the cities of the future.

 

In the framework of the digital world presentation of the new Audi electric car, the e-tron GT, two of the founders of the Greentech Festival, Nico Rosberg and Marco Voigt, CEO Judith Kühn and Henrik Wenders, vice president of the Audi brand, delivered the award to Assaf Frances, director of urban policy and associations at Zencity, in a ceremony broadcast live.

 

Nico Rosberg: “Time is a critical factor when we talk about climate change, and we have to act now. Startups like Zencity provide us with the necessary tools. We need technologies like AI presented by this award winner to live up to our responsibility and end the destruction of our environment. With this very special award, we demonstrate what current technology is capable of when shaping our future in urban areas, which must be sustainable and offer quality of life. We have decided to award the Green Future Award today in a different environment, to reach as many people as possible and awaken their enthusiasm for a sustainable lifestyle ”.

 

Henrik Wenders, Vice President of the Audi brand, stated: “Audi is synonymous with Vanguard, our goal is to use technology to contribute to the achievement of a sustainable future and to shape urban mobility so that people are the central axis. As active collaborators of the Greentech Festival, we want to bring real added value and do our bit to find answers to the urgent questions of the future ”.

 

Algorithms are the key to developing local solutions

Zencity was developed by Eyal Feder-Levy and Ido Ivri as an intuitive Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool for local administrations. It uses an algorithm to find posts on social media, web pages, local news portals, and other online platforms that contain information about the cities where the people who post live. Advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning make it possible to process millions of data and information within a defined area, for example within the limits of a city, and generate conclusions using this basis. Among the clients of Zencity are the municipal authorities, which can use this data as a basis to know the needs of its inhabitants and make them come true. This method saves resources and replaces costly and lengthy face-to-face surveys, citizen hotlines, and committee meetings. In this way, the tool helps all the inhabitants of a city to attract the attention of policy makers. And it does so in an automated way, without complex information processes or bureaucratic obstacles. Zencity is already used in 160 cities, including Chicago, Ottawa and Tel Aviv.

 

Nominations for Strabag and Sensoneo

Other nominees were Strabag and its CIAir project, and Sensoneo with its solution for intelligent waste management. Strabag's clean asphalt reduces noise emissions by up to 35% compared to conventional asphalt. The sandblasted material used for the asphalt consists of an ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) mixed with titanium dioxide. When exposed to sunlight, it breaks down air-bound nitrogen oxides and turns them into harmless nitrates; the material adheres directly to the hot asphalt surface. Sensoneo offers smart waste disposal solutions for cities and businesses. These initiatives range from container plant monitoring to an automated on-demand system for more efficient collection planning. In this way, three solutions for intelligent waste management are combined: asset management, waste tracking and route planning.