The new Orange Fab Smart City programme has been launched!
This year, Orange has teamed up with IRISnet and Paradigm for its sixth "Orange Fab" programme dedicated to the Smart City, with the theme of smart buildings in the Brussels Capital Region.
Orange Fab is an accelerator working in 14 countries, including Belgium and Luxembourg which aims to promote innovation. By offering commercial partnerships to start-ups, Orange is working to support, encourage and accompany young companies that want to grow! The aim of this programme, which launched in 2016, is to combine the innovation of start-up companies with the firepower of major players.
These three organisations are looking for established start-ups with headquarters in Belgium or Luxembourg that can develop innovative solutions to make public buildings smarter in order to reduce their environmental impact, and ensure user comfort.
Following a call for applications on External linkorangefab.be, which closed on 31 August, applicants took part in a Pitch Contest on 21 September 2023, in front of a jury made up of members of Orange's C-Levels and partners. The objective was to present their project in just a few minutes and demonstrate their motivation to join the programme!
A word from IRISnet: "Supporting the sixth season of Orange Fab, dedicated to the development of the smart city, will enable us to get closer to start-ups that, like IRISnet, are thinking about building innovative technological solutions that can enhance the quality of life of citizens through more a connected, collaborative and efficient city management," says Laurent Bouty, Chief Technology Officer at IRISnet.
A word from Paradigm: "By incorporating Paradigm into the exploratory phase of new projects and providing a tangible case to work on, namely the Iris Tower, we're supporting start-ups so that they can provide a better response to the changing working habits of users and the services related to these buildings in the future," adds Marc Van Den Bossche, Paradigm's Deputy Director General.
Who are the applicants for the sixth season of the Orange Fab programme?
Just to whet your appetite 😉 here are the 6 applicants selected for this season:
External linkCrowdScan: using patented, energy-efficient, radio-frequency sensor technology, this start-up accurately processes crowd measurements in real time, to enable rapid, informed decision-making in crowd behaviour management.
External linkTrigrr offers a Building Operating System (BOS) that centralises all real estate technologies for a user-focused approach and increased efficiency.
External linkFixForm is the quickest and easiest way to keep buildings and infrastructures safe and clean and in a good condition.
External linkBuiltwins provides services which ensure that a building's heating, cooling and ventilation system operates in the smartest possible way.
External linkSnugr is a heating management and optimisation solution that's easy to use and install. It is used by building owners and facility managers who want to increase occupant comfort and reduce heating consumption by up to 40%.
External linkShayp is an IoT (Internet of Things)-linked SaaS (Software as a Service) company specialising in water management that leverages AI to assist building managers in reducing water consumption, preventing leaks and saving money.
Three of these start-ups won the competition and will join the Orange Fab community from October 2023 to March 2024 to launch their innovative projects. They will have the opportunity to work with IRISnet and Paradigm, and will benefit from tailor-made support from telecoms giant Orange. Find out more about the selected projects in the next issue of your newsletter!
Would you like to know more? Head over to External linkorangefab.be.
What is a Smart City?
Zero-carbon city, connected city, efficient city, resilient city, laboratory city... there are as many definitions of the Smart City as there are Smart Cities. Smart cities are also found on every continent. The Smart City is a city that uses information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants, the efficiency of its services and the management of its resources.
Brussels, a pioneer in this field, is implementing innovative initiatives to make the Belgian capital smarter, more sustainable and inclusive.
Here are a few practical examples:
- a network of intelligent sensors that collects data on air quality, traffic and weather;
- an open data platform which makes this data accessible to the public;
- an intelligent transport system that optimises traffic flows;
- a free public Wi-Fi network;
- a citizen participation platform which allows residents to be involved in the life of the city.
Find out more: External linksmartcity.brussels
Opens in new windowDigital Spring Brussels 2024 will take place on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 March 2024.For this new edition, organized by Paradigm, Digital Spring Brussels will move into Tour & Taxis and once again showcase the best of the Brussels Region's IT ecosystem. To register for this event, Opens in new windowclick here.
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