The Future City Challenge – Coimbra encouraged participants to develop ideas that would spark innovation and improve the lives of Coimbra residents using Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and The Things Network.

Today, we visited the Convento de São Francisco in Coimbra with the six finalists who showed off their project prototypes: a fantastic day which gave all teams the chance to demonstrate their commitment to tech and innovation as well as to giving back to their communities.  

This years’ winner is Contador de Água Ultrassónico com Comunicação LoRa. A project that provides a non-invasive way to measure water consumption to a high degree of accuracy. The data is sent to a central platform, fixing traditional problems that current meters present. Amazing! The team was awarded their prize by Gonçalo Quadros, Critical’s Chairman; Miguel Antunes, Director of Nest Collective; and the Vice President of Coimbra’s Municipality, Francisco Veiga.

But that’s not all! We also enjoyed the presence of two projects from last years’ instalment: Luxifer and Sustainable Irrigation. It’s great to see how these projects are already changing the face of Coimbra!

The winning team won a 5,000€ prize from Critical Software, a three-month access to Nest Collective and the chance to build their prototype with the help of #CoimbraCityLab.

The competition was promoted by Fikalab and Critical Software in partnership with Coimbra City Council, Centro de Ecologia Funcional, Instituto de Sistemas e Robótica da Universidade de Coimbra; Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Politécnico de Coimbra, and Nest Collective.

Congratulations to all the teams involved. You’ve proven once again that the only limit to innovation is your imagination!