Startup companies with hardware and software innovations will soon have the opportunity to collaborate with the Environmental Protection Department of New York to improve the creation and continuous operation of the city’s municipal water system.
The Environmental Technology Laboratory seeks applicants for its annual startup test incubator and the pilot tests program that allows emerging technology developers to test their tools with the world’s largest municipal water system. The laboratory is a collaboration between NYC DEP and the non -profit arm of the collaboration fund for New York City, a group of business executives of prominent local companies.
Now in the third year, the competitive program has seen past startups, such as the Hydropower Modular Gen firm and the transcend treatment plant generation software manufacturer, to successful pilots with the city to test the feasibility of deploying its technologies more widely.
Applications will be made on August 8, with an information session for possible applicants provided for July 10.
“One of the main objectives of this process is to co-create a new value for technology,” says Stacey Matlen, a senior vice president of innovation programs in New York City’s collaboration fund.
The Environmental Technology Laboratory works with 20 departmental leaders from 12 offices in the city to understand its priorities, and then selects main topics for this year’s competition. The topics for this year’s competition are operational optimization and analytics; and emergency response and security. “Below these major topics are the bullet points directly from the agencies, so we know that we will solve real challenges,” says Matlen.
Selected applicants will be able to work directly with the city agencies and experts in the field to develop a pilot effort for their technology and a final determination as to whether they need to recommend adopting it at the NYC DEP. Matlen says successful pilots will still have to go through normal contracting processes later, but what they have won to work with the DEP is invaluable.
And for the DEP, it is not only about pursuing trends such as artificial intelligence, but also has the opportunity to put these technologies through its steps, Matlen adds. “This is more about the future test than to catch up; all municipal water systems are in charge of doing more with less,” he says. “The impact of it on the critical infrastructure will remain worse and worse, so to maintain all these demands, we need tools. So it is about understanding something like AI as a tool, but also make sure it will be a world class tool [the investment]. “”
