Developing Monaco’s Smart City with a Hackathon for Students

As part of the Smart City project, students from different countries presented various innovative projects for the Monaco of tomorrow. Six teams presented different projects which would help tourists in Monaco have an experience enriched by digital technology.

The teams had 7 minutes to defend their concepts in front of a jury of Monegasque experts. They had only 72 hours to put their concepts in order and demonstrate the feasibility, originality or the possible financing of their project.  No group was eliminated but one project will eventually come out ahead.

Lucas Beneston, from Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III said that when his team arrived at the station in Monaco for the first time, they didn’t know how to orient themselves in the city. They had no information available to them and quickly became a bit lost when they noticed a tunnel but didn’t know if it was pedestrian friendly. So they decided to try and improve access to information and mobility in the city.  Their team thought of an app which uses augmented reality to locate different tourist attractions and which suggests personalized tourist routes and schedules based on personal interests.

Serge Telle, Minister of State and President of the Jury, believes the youth of today have energy, talent and know-how in a domain which is in the process of changing our lives in regard to the way we communicate, travel and work. First there was a neolithic revolution, then an industrial revolution and we are currently in the midst of the digital revolution. For Monaco, it is absolutely essential to be part of the digital wave.

All six groups impressed the jury by responding in their own way to digital issues in cities. Paul Jolie, Digital Advisor to the Minister of State, believes that all the students who participated in the event proposed projects which are very original and would enrich a tourist’s experiences.

The students now have nine months left to finish developing their projects. The futuristic concepts created by the students may soon contribute to the construction of the Monegasque Smart City.