The City of Myrtle Beach is formally launching the Smart Cities Initiative with four Living Lab participants. More than 25 companies from across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have explored the Living Lab program since its inception last year. Tech companies Cocoflo, Rep’d, Polco and dependbuild are the first to reach the “project launch” phase within the program to prototype and test their technologies.
Living Lab participants
The Living Lab program is an innovative public-private partnership designed to support the development of emerging technology and encourage entrepreneurs to use Myrtle Beach as their hub. As an incentive, the city provides the space and environment, or “Living Lab,” for local businesses, small businesses and large corporations who have up-and-coming technology to test. The city will also test the appropriate technologies within municipal operations and provide feedback. Some companies may be a part of the Living Lab program for as little as three months, while others could be involved for a year or more.
The City of Myrtle Beach is working toward building a Living Lab facility within the Arts & Innovation District. Until the Living Lab is built, program participants will have the options to work remotely or to utilize the HTC Aspire Hub as a workspace once the expansion is complete. This exciting opportunity will lead to business expansion, help launch new technologies, contribute to the economy and create more jobs in our city.
Cocoflo Innovations – Provides cloud-based city services including business licensing, emergency alerts, payments, development planning, parks and recreation and citizen communications. Cocoflo’s mission is to help communities achieve an effective, collective communication flow. The heart and soul of the platform uses the latest technology to enhance engagement to forge a closer relationship with the community.
Rep’d and Polco – Rep’d and Polco are two complementary platforms designed to collect resident input, share key city updates and address frequently asked questions. Rep’d empowers city leaders to instantly share short video updates with residents to clarify concerns as needed. Polco’s all-in-one community engagement platform allows government leaders to collect and analyze resident feedback to make data-driven decisions. These two platforms enter the Living Lab program as a joint pilot.
dependbuild – A risk and knowledge management software focused on helping municipalities improve project outcomes through sound risk and knowledge management practices. The software helps city infrastructure projects stay on time and on budget through increased risk mitigation, data accessibility and operational efficiency.