Digital Ignition’s Talking Traffic Lights Brings Regional and International Competition to Forsyth
About Digital Ignition
As Forsyth County’s hub of innovation and technology is growing rapidly, Digital Innovation is Forsyth’s new business incubator for all things blockchain, AI, and Internet of Things. Providing a 45,000-square-foot facility to entrepreneurs to establish and grow their business, this futuristic building includes coworking office space, dedicated desks, private offices, meeting rooms, event space, a classroom, and a video recording studio. Located 20 minutes north of the perimeter off 400 Exit 12A, this facility has five wooded acres with easy walking access to Big Creek Greenway.
About Talking Traffic Lights Challenge
Partnering with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), Digital Ignition recently hosted the Talking Traffic Lights Challenge. This event was the first Georgia Smart Vehicle Tech Challenge. Startups and businesses from around the world competed to interpret vehicle and traffic light data to improve opportunities for road and traffic safety. The five-day challenge started on Thursday, November 7th and the winners were announced on at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, November 11th.
This event was initially pitched by Scott Evans, Forward Forsyth’s Senior Technology Project Manager, to GDOT this time last year. With Forsyth County’s high concentration of software developers and programmers, it was a perfect opportunity for GDOT to access local, regional, national and international talent.
“An important item in our five-year, strategic economic development plan is to recruit tech companies. What better opportunity to advertise yourself than inviting those kinds of companies to work on a challenge from a state agency. Recognizing that Forsyth County has the talent here to host this event with a state agency puts us on the map, not just within Metro Atlanta but also internationally,” commented Scott Evans.
Competitors had the opportunity to work one-on-one with GDOT’s IT team, received free publicity, met area smart vehicle leaders, networked with other product development teams and received free access to Atlanta’s IOT testing track. The winning team won a $75,000 contract with GDOT to pilot their invention.
At the end of the event team ETALYC was named the winner of the first Talking Traffic Lights Corporate Challenge! ETALYC is a software service provider who focuses on integrating modern technologies to improve traffic operations. As a small business, ETALYC was exceptionally excited to be the recipient of this GDOT contract. Congratulations to ETALYC!
To learn more information, check out the Talking Traffic Lights official website here: http://bit.ly/2NkVex5.
