Electricity Innovation Challenge 2015

Important results from the project

ElectriCity Innovation Challenge 2015 (EIC2015) was an open innovation challenge in Gothenburg that ended in October 2015. The purpose was to catalyze development of innovation that increase the value of using electrified public transportation. The aim was to develop viable prototypes that can be exposed and tested live on ElectriCity after the contest. The contest process was partly financed by VINNOVA and a innovation consortium with 19 organizations from academy, industry and public authorities. The contest overall attracted 261 participants in 64 teams.

Expected long term effects

In the end EIC2015 catalyzed 48 contributions, presented here: http://challenge.goteborgelectricity.se. The overall winning team, Nxplore, support the traveler to explore the city providing digital road signs through a digital service. Instant information about ongoing activities in the city is identified by the service, bundled and communicated to the user in a smart and attractive way. The contest also launched a new digital innovation platform with open resources and has also increased the innovative capacity within ElectriCity as a system for innovation.

Approach and implementation

The contest was prepared from Dec 2014 to June 2015 when the contest web was launched. This launch triggered the task to attract participants through partnerships with local universities and through viral, digital and traditional marketing. A 24-hour Concept Generation Factory together with the launch of the innovation platform marked the beginning of the contest. During the following months, four themed development workshops were arranged to support the teams and control the process. The contest was concluded by a final where the teams pitched their prototypes for an expert jury.