The theme for the 2018 challenge has been set as: Immersive Environments | A series of smart cities challenges.
Speaking at the REACTOR Showcase event in October 2017, Daniel Clarke, Smart Cities Programme Manager at Cambridgeshire County Council, outlined the current context of Cambridge as a “constrained city”, highlighting that approximately 35,000 new houses are to be built, 50,000 more people are to join the city and 44,000 new jobs are to be created.
The potential impact on the city will see challenges to the transportation systems, health and social care, air quality, housing and sustainable environments.
Inviting attendees to reflect on the potential to improve experiences, Clarke asked: “How do we use new and emerging technology and gaming principles to create more user and customer friendly experiences in cities, providing immersive, seamless access to services? How can we better use city data, real time modelling and visualisation, machine learning and AI? We need to engage people in the city through play, create a sense of place and community, and make cities fun environments to be in. That is the Big Gamification Challenge for 2018.”
Following on from the successful launch of the REACTOR Incubator Space January 2018, the REACTOR project will be bringing its Big Gamification Challenge Seminars to Peterborough on March 7th and Cambridge on March 28th where attendees can meet and hear from speakers about connecting with the Internet of Things, how to use tech to help create a cleaner more user friendly environment, and how the power of games can help engage with their community and to connect with businesses, talent, expertise, facilities and grants.
Find out more on Wednesday 7th March in Peterborough or Wednesday 28th March, Cambridge.
About Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin is an innovative global university, brimming with ambition. Students from 177 countries gain qualifications with us in four continents. Students, academics, businesses and partners all benefit from our outstanding facilities; we’ve invested £100 million over the last five years and plan to invest a further £91 million over the next five years.
Anglia Ruskin’s Research Institutes and five faculties bridge scientific, technical and creative fields. We deliver impactful research which tackles pressing issues and makes a real difference, from saving lives to conserving water. Our academic excellence has been recognised by the UK’s Higher Education funding bodies, with 12 areas classed as generating world-leading research.
We are ranked in the world’s top 350 institutions in the 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and in 2016 we featured in a list of the 20 “rising stars” in global Higher Education compiled by strategy consultants Firetail.
About the European Regional Development Fund
The project is receiving up to £504,272 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
REACTOR
REACTOR is a regional development project led by Anglia Ruskin University and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The project's aim is to support the growth of an applied games sector in the Cambridgeshire/Peterborough region by enabling connections between businesses, talent, expertise, facilities and grants. A total of £1 million will be committed to help new and existing businesses in all sectors to use games technologies and user-based design in innovative products and services – creating applied games and, ultimately, a new applied games sector in the region.