AI4Cities, an EU-funded Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) has selected 41 suppliers to continue to Phase 1 of the project. AI4Cities launched its Request for Tenders in December, inviting tenderers to submit innovative AI solutions in the fields of energy and mobility. On the 28.02.2021 deadline a total of 98 applications were submitted, 54 in the Mobility Lot and 44 in the Energy Lot. Following a thorough evaluation by the AI4Cities Buyers Group, 21 suppliers focusing on mobility and 20 focusing on energy were selected to participate in the Solution Design Phase. In the next three months, they will work on a full plan for the development of a prototype.
In this phase of the project, the 41 selected suppliers will receive funding – each contractor will receive a maximum of 40,000 euros – to further develop their AI-based solutions, in accordance with the input provided by The Buyers Group. They have three months to do so, following which the Buyers Group will evaluate which of these suppliers will continue to Phase 2, the prototyping phase of the PCP.
The AI4Cities Buyers Group consists of lead procurer Forum Virium Helsinki (representing the city of Helsinki), Cap Digital (representing Paris Region), the city of Amsterdam, the city of Copenhagen, the city of Stavanger and the city of Tallinn. These six cities and regions have developed ambitious strategies and policy plans to become carbon neutral by – at latest – 2050. In AI4Cities they joined forces, supported by expert partner ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, to go through a PCP process, aiming to procure non-market ready solutions which can help them accelerate their transition to carbon neutrality by utilising artificial intelligence and related enabling technologies – such as big data applications, 5G, edge computing and IoT. Their choice to focus on energy and mobility-related challenges are informed by the fact that these two domains are responsible for 82% of GHG emissions in Europe’s cities.
HOPU, leading a consortium formed by them together with Engineering, submitted a proposal under the category of Traffic Flow Optimisation. The proposed solution, ATMOSPHERE, offers a suite of dashboards with CO2 indicators related to mobility. These indicators are founded on predictive models based on real-time air quality measurements and AI to optimise traffic flows in cities and ports. Thus, it provides high-value green and innovative mobility services for citizens, companies, and public administrations and enhances the informed decision-making processes by simplifying the data.
AI4Cities believes there is a global need for such effective solutions that can drive the transition towards carbon neutrality.
More information about these suppliers and their solutions will be published on the AI4Cities website.