Challenges
Our hackathon invites participants to tackle critical issues with a broad spectrum of themes, we aim to spark innovation and create solutions that address real-world challenges. From automation of different processes to securing the world around us, our challenges are designed to inspire impactful change.
1. Digitalization of Energy and Natural Resource Management Systems and the Interoperability of Various Systems
Problem Description:
With the increasing volume of sustainability data driven by new EU regulations (CSRD and the taxonomy), companies are forced to seek solutions for collecting and processing this data. The market offers a variety of platforms and solutions, but there is a lack of a unified solution that combines all the necessary functions in one place. As a result, sustainability specialists are still using Excel spreadsheets to aggregate data. However, in the future, the data volume will be so large that it will no longer be manageable. For entrepreneurs, integrating various solutions is costly, which is why it is crucial for local governments to collaborate with private businesses and search for innovative solutions to this problem.
Ideas for Solutions:
A sustainability data platform with IoT integration via APIs. It might even be possible at the municipal level—creating a representative sustainability data exchange platform where sustainability specialists could manage their resources and exchange crucial sustainability data across the value chain. The city of Riga is definitely the largest user of the upward value chain in Latvia, which could maintain a high-quality volume of sustainability data for its institutions and communities.
Challenge from: Riga City Council
2. Sustainable Collection and Visualization of Interconnected Sensor Data in the Environmental Sector
Problem Description:
To monitor a city’s progress toward climate neutrality and achieve the goals of the European Green Deal, as well as to ensure a healthy environment for residents, it is necessary to monitor a wide range of areas – air quality, noise levels, green spaces, waste management, water quality, and information on bathing areas. In many of these areas, various sensors are already used or are planned to be introduced soon for the collection of indicative data. At present, the main issue is that sensor data is not stored in one place but is scattered across different systems, which complicates data comparison and usage.
Ideas for solutions:
A unified platform for collecting such environmental data would be particularly useful, where it would also be possible to spatially display the data on a map, compare them, or observe if there is any correlation between different data sets.
Challenge from: Riga City Council
3. Sustainable Infrastructure and Resources
Problem Description:
Urban infrastructure must evolve to meet the growing emphasis on environmentally friendly mobility, driven by environmental protection goals. Roads, bike lanes, and public spaces require sustainable, resource-efficient maintenance, particularly in more challenging conditions such as winter. By integrating innovative technologies and circular economy principles, cities can reduce the environmental impact of infrastructure maintenance and enhance the overall sustainability of transport networks. Moreover, the integration of advanced solutions, such as autonomous vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), and smarter logistics hubs, will enable faster and more environmentally friendly last-mile deliveries.
Objective:
To find solutions for sustainable urban infrastructure that ensures environmentally friendly mobility, focusing on resource-efficient usage and innovative maintenance practices, as well as solutions that optimize logistics systems.
Possible Directions for Solutions:
Innovative street cleaning solutions (including bike lanes in winter)
Resource-saving technologies (e.g., in public transport)
Circular economy solutions (e.g., for asphalt)
Last-mile delivery solutions
Consolidation hubs / transshipment centers / including microhubs within the city
Autonomous delivery robots to reduce vehicle emissions
5G solutions, such as drone applications and noise reduction solutions (including infrastructure solutions – takeoff/landing platforms, their connectivity with other solutions, e.g., parcel lockers)
Challenge from: Riga City Council