FOX DESIGNweek 2011

Challenge: North Broadband

Challenge: March 14-17
Awards Ceremony: March 18

• How can we use increasingly pervasive digital technology to re-imagine the future of the city?
• Can we use digital technologies to inspire, mobilize and create social, economic, cultural, political and intellectual connections to solve the complex challenges that cities face today
• Can we build a sustainable open platform that encourages and supports a vibrant ecosystem of neighbors, entrepreneurs and communities?

Modern American cities that were built on physical infrastructure almost a century ago now face history challenges of embracing digital infrastructure to reinvent the meaning of “urban life.” The city of Philadelphia represents post-industrial American cities facing this challenge. The Nutter Administration is particularly interested in how the City can work together with local institutions like Temple University to instigate sustainable economic and community development to transform neighborhoods.

Temple University has three campuses—Center City, Main Campus and Health Sciences—on Broad Street, Philadelphia’s main North-South artery. Each individual campus offers substantial physical, technological and intellectual resources that can be used to enrich neighboring areas.

The design challenge is to leverage Temple’s campuses and other existing technology assets along North Broad Street and the surrounding area to prototype a digital ecosystem. We envision North Broadband as a vibrant, generative, and entrepreneurial ecosystem where citizens, business and government can develop new products and services to meet various needs in our city by inspiring and mobilizing our collective efforts through the use of technology. The design should be environmentally responsible, economically sustainable, and humanly satisfying. The solution must be replicable and scalable, as it serves as a prototype for larger initiatives.

About the Challenge

THE DESIGNweek CHALLENGE is the first annual student competition to transform ideas into actions. Organized by the Center for Design and Innovation and the Fox School of Business, the Challenge brings together students from across the University to collaborate across disciplinary lines to create innovative solutions to address some of today’s most challenging urban issues.

All students of Temple University are eligible to enter the competition. Students may enter either as a team or as individuals.

To enter as a team, members must fulfill EITHER of the following criteria:

• Team members include students from a minimum of two different schools in the University.
• Team members belong to a particular club or organization and are entering as a team representing that organization.

Students entering the competition individually will be placed in teams. Individuals will be selected and grouped together to create teams of varied disciplines and skills.

Benefits of Participation

All students who participate in the DESIGNweek Challenge will benefit as follows:

• Participants will be part of a dynamic, collaborative environment of active learning.
• Participants will have exclusive networking access to Challenge mentors, faculty members, City officials and select invited speakers for the incitexchange conference.
• Possible new business opportunities.
• opportunity to win cash prizes: $1000.00 for first place and $500.00 for second place.

The top three submissions will be formally announced and recognized at a public awards ceremony during the incitexchange conference.