“Dallas Alley Reimagined” Dynamic Lighting Installation to Activate Underpass in Downtown Dallas

 “Dallas Alley Reimagined” Dynamic Lighting Installation to Activate Underpass in Downtown Dallas

Coalition Unites to Reanimate Arches Providing the Gateway Between Highway-Divided Neighborhoods 

June 19, 2019 [DALLAS, TX] – Today, the Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA), a 501c(3) public-private partnership dedicated to supporting the design and execution of a smart cities strategy in Dallas,  announced the installation of  dynamic LED lights on the series of archways connecting the West End and Victory Park in downtown Dallas. 

This vision for transforming this underutilized space to enhance pedestrian activity, improve public safety, and create a visual destination through light and art became a reality through the generosity of a capital improvement grant from Downtown Dallas, Inc., and fulfilled via matching support from the American Airlines Center, Dallas Innovation Alliance, VisitDallas, West End Association and YO Ranch Steakhouse. 

“This project is a culmination of the vision of many organizations to show how spaces can be reactivated in dynamic and innovative ways,” said Jennifer Sanders, Executive Director, Dallas Innovation Alliance. “Creating a safe and compelling pathway to connect seemingly disparate neighborhoods is a core component of creating smart cities that are designed with people in mind. We are thrilled to launch this installation bringing the Dallas Alley memories back to life in a modern way.”

As the lessee of the underpass space, the American Airlines Center’s collaboration with the City of Dallas and Dallas Innovation Alliance was instrumental in completing this project, which has been on the ‘wish list’ of organizations across the city for several years. The goal of this initial installation is to demonstrate the power and possibilities of reimagining underutilized or ‘dead space’ throughout the city – whether under highways, parking lots or empty storefronts – and lead to additional activity.

“DDI is thrilled to be a partner in this important project,” commented Kourtny Garrett, CEO, Downtown Dallas, Inc. “These iconic arches will become a Downtown point of interest as well as provide pedestrians a safer, more interesting walk to their destination. This project also addresses the goals and strategies found in the 360 Plan, Downtown’s strategic plan, in providing improved connections between Downtown neighborhoods, offering a vibrant, active passageway for pedestrians.”

“The new LED archways that connect the West End and Victory Park will illuminate the path between the two districts and American Airlines Center like never before,” commented Dave Brown, COO, American Airlines Center. “Not only will the arches provide an ever-changing art installation for the residents of Dallas, they also create a safe and easily identifiable path for our fans coming to and from the Center.”

A celebration and unveiling of the lighted arches will be held on Wednesday, June 26thfrom 6-9pm at the underpass. Join the community and project partners for refreshments, activities, entertainment and a reception at at Factory Six03. Rideshare drop-offs will be at 603 Munger Avenue, Dallas, TX 75202, and the underpass is two blocks from the West End DART station. Surface parking lots are also available surrounding the event.

“Dallas Alley is an iconic part of the West End’s history,” commented Chase Headley, President, West End Association. “The West End Association is thrilled to have a revived gateway to allow for residents and visitors to easily connect to Victory Park and the West End, whether its grabbing dinner before walking to an event at American Airlines Center, checking out the Dallas Innovation District or visiting one of our world class museums.”

“Light has a unique ability to connect communities and people in ways that contribute directly to the safety and livability of a city,” said Roger Karner, US Market President at Signify. “Dallas Alley Reimagined is a testament to the power of light to transform otherwise underutilized areas into visual destinations for residents and visitors alike.”

The 17 metal arches have been outfitted with a Color Kinetics lighting system from Signify, the world leader in lighting.  These lights can be controlled and programmed to create spectacular light shows and stunning dynamic effects that engage and delight, and commemorate special events, holidays and important civic causes. Signify is responsible for illuminating some of the most iconic landmarks in the world, including the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, the Allianz Arena in Munich, and the London Eye, to name a few. Design leaders from Essential Light provided programming expertise for the lighting activation; and ELS supported with engineering design and installation. 

Visitors can expect visual light shows harkening back to the iconic Dallas Alley arches, cheering on the Dallas Mavericks and Stars, and celebrating the Fourth of July, among others designed to delight. Later this year, artists will be invited to enter their designs into a competition to be a featured art installation on the arches.

This project caps an exciting month for the organization, with its Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator cohort kicking off in the Dallas Entrepreneur Center – West End, with participating startups gaining valuable education, mentorship, programming and opportunities to grow their businesses. Startup City Hall will directly connect City of Dallas leadership and other public sector entities with startups to collaboratively solve city challenges. Partners in Innov8te include AT&T, Cisco, Microsoft and UT-Dallas. Learn more at: www.DallasInnovationAlliance.com/Innov8teand follow the journey on 

Twitter at @Innov8te1. 

 The next phase for the Dallas Innovation Alliance will include projects in Southern Dallas focused on solutions to challenges around mobility, digital divide and public safety, among others. Phase II projects will begin in 2019. 

 About the Dallas Innovation Alliance

The Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA) is a 501c3 public-private partnership dedicated to supporting the design and execution of a smart cities plan for the City of Dallas. The DIA defines a smart city as one that lives at the intersection of community, data and technology initiatives to accelerate economic growth, resource efficiency, and most importantly, improve quality of life. In 2017, the DIA launched the Smart Cities Living Lab, comprised of nine integrated projects in a corridor in downtown Dallas, and is the fastest-to-market smart cities initiative in the country. DIA support is led by Foundational Partners AT&T and Toyota Motor North America. Members of the Dallas Innovation Alliance include: City of Dallas, Dallas County, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Dallas Regional Chamber, VisitDallas, Dallas Entrepreneur Center (DEC), Downtown Dallas Inc., The Real Estate Council (TREC), Texas Research Alliance, AECOM, Cisco, CIVIQ Smartscapes, Current, EB Systems, Vericlave, Ericsson, IBM, Microsoft, ParkHub, Signify and Schneider Electric. For more information, please visit www.DallasInnovationAlliance.comor follow the DIA on Twitter: @DallasSmartCity.

About Downtown Dallas, Inc.
Downtown Dallas, Inc. is the primary advocate, champion, and steward for Downtown, effecting change by developing strategies, setting targets, and mobilizing resources that:

·      Stimulate a vibrant and sustainable Downtown environment

·      Improve infrastructure

·      Enhance economic competitiveness

·      Create a culturally inclusive urban center

·      Position the area as a global destination

·      Foster innovation and technology in all aspects of the urban experience

Program areas include: public safety; capital improvements; maintenance; economic development; public policy; planning/transportation; and marketing. For more information, visit www.downtowndallas.com

Contact:

Jennifer Sanders

Dallas Innovation Alliance

Jennifer.Sanders@DallasInnovationAlliance.com

972.472.1602

###

Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator Announces First Cohort of Companies Driving Urban Transformation

Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator Announces First Cohort of Companies Driving Urban Transformation

Founding collaborators include The DEC Network, AT&T, Cisco, Microsoft, The University of Texas at Dallas and the Dallas Innovation Alliance.

DALLAS, TX May 21, 2019 – Today, The DEC Network[“The DEC”], announced the initial cohort of the six companies selected for its Innov8te Smart Cities Incubatorin its flagship West End location focused on supporting entrepreneurs and early-stage companies in sectors supporting urban and civic transformation. Founding public, private and academic collaborators includeAT&T, Cisco,Microsoft, the University of Texas at Dallas(UT Dallas) and the Dallas Innovation Alliance. This incubator’s presence in the Dallas Innovation District and Smart Cities Living Lab continues to drive a focus on smart city technology research and development for the region. “Startup City Hall” will be housed within Innov8te to provide senior leaders at the city a dedicated office amongst the companies and ideas building from within the incubator to discuss ideas and solutions to address challenges facing the city.

Innov8te is proud to announce the members of its founding cohort:

·      CityFront: CityFront’s Smart Cities Integration Platform™ is the most advanced integration platform in local government today. CityFront solves the integration problem that is inherent in local governments by linking data between siloed systems, thus creating a unified view of the city’s data via ONE mobile app experience. CFI's competitive advantage is based on our proprietary ZERO CODE applications development environment that enables technicians to get done in weeks what used to take months and even years saving cities enormous amounts of time and money.

·     OrgCentral: OrgCentral is a powerful web-based system designed to centralize and organize the vast amount of dynamic information and tasks every organization has to deal with today. It integrates a powerful suite of tools designed to let you easily manage your public facing website and staff intranet as well as streamline and automate virtually every business process you can imagine—from member recruitment and member care, to event planning and management to payments to email communications.

·     Planet Alpha Corp: Planet Alpha Corporation (PαC) is a greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement infrastructure, GHG pricing, and GHG products company integrating multiple Earth, economic, and social transactions to reduce emissions of GHGs. PαC creates new forest carbon storage products by commercializing and deploying patented technologies and services developed by Planetary Emissions Management Inc. (PEM). PαC has entered into a license and collaboration agreement, whereby PαC will be able to use PEM’s patented technologies.

·     RedHouse: RedHouse Virtual Education is a talented team of educators, developers, designers and innovators founded in 2016 to change and develop the new medium for education by using VR and mix reality application for Microsoft HoloLens and ViVE device. RedHouse believes that Virtual Education will engage students at a higher level of cognitive education and will advance students by advancing their learning through a “theory of successful intelligence” models. 

·     Stroll: Stroll provides patented, “smart-city” marketing and analytics technology that empowers cities, tourism boards and merchants to drive and track regional economic development and commerce in near real-time. 

·     The Virtual Wild:An Innovation Studio, marketing agency, engineering firm and a creative design group all in one. The Virtual Wild is home to experts in everything from engineering to creative strategy — blurring the boundaries between marketing, art, and technology. We love to develop custom solutions that will surpass even the highest expectations.

The cohort was introduced at the Dallas Innovation Alliance’s Munch & Learn event and will begin the six-month program in June.

“We are excited to announce the inaugural cohort of companies for the Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator out of our West End location,” stated Alyce Alston, CEO, The DEC Network. “We are grateful for the cooperation of these leading companies and universities in the Smart Cities space. And we are thrilled to support the great work that the Dallas Innovation Alliance has done in partnership with the City of Dallas and its collaborators through the Smart Cities Living Lab and the Dallas Innovation District. We look forward to bringing our background and experience in helping to accelerate startups through education, mentorship, and community to this important initiative.”

By taking a regional approach, the incubator’s mission is to support and highlight the burgeoning DFW ecosystem of companies focused on building products and technologies in sub-sectors including data analytics and visualization, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), and beyond. The application of these technologies seeks to improve eight areas of civic innovation: 

1.    Citizen Engagement/Services

2.    Equity/Inclusion

3.    Infrastructure

4.    Governance

5.    Mobility

6.    Public Health/Healthcare

7.    Public Safety 

8.    Sustainability

“We have appreciated our partnership with The Dallas Innovation Alliance over the past three years,” stated T.C. Broadnax, City Manager for the City of Dallas. “The City’s Chief Information Officer and inaugural Chief Innovation Officer look forward to finding ways to engage with these emerging tech companies as we formulate non-traditional approaches and solutions to the needs of our city and residents.”

Participating startups in the six-month program will receive exclusive access to education, mentorship, networking, programming, products and services, connections to leading corporations and access to capital channels. Programs and events open to the larger community will also be offered by the incubator.

“Through our work with the Dallas Innovation Alliance and Innovation District, we’ve had a front-row seat for Dallas’ entrepreneurial and civic innovation enabled by smart cities technology,” said Mike Zeto, vice president and general manager of smart cities, AT&T. “By providing resources, education and training to the Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator, we can empower bright minds in our city to address today’s greatest challenges and effectively grow the smart city solutions marketplace.”

“Innovation and entrepreneurship go hand in hand,” said Steve Guengerich, clinical associate professor at UT Dallas’s Jindal School of Management and lead for the university’s Innov8te partnership. “Our students and alumni are increasingly proposing new ventures in the Innov8te civic innovation themes. Further, our research faculty, led by the Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science, is already a leader in IoT and other baseline areas of smart cities innovation. We are excited to bring these UT Dallas stakeholders together, through joint education and projects at Innov8te, with the other founding collaborators.” 

 Throughout the spring, details on additional partnerships and programs will be announced. Please follow progress at @theDECtx, @Innov8te1 #SmartCitiesIncubator and @DallasSmartCity.

About The DEC Network

The DEC Network is a 501c3 non-profit organization driving innovation and economic impact by helping entrepreneurs start, build and grow their businesses. With a number of innovation hubs across DFW, we provide expert education, access to knowledgeable mentors, and a vibrant community of like-minded entrepreneurs. 

We accelerate founder success through connections and collaboration from our work with investors, corporations, and public institutions. Since 2013, we have attracted more than 125,000 visitors, hosted over 1,000 educational events and worked with over 100 partner organizations.

Smart Cities Incubator – Innov8te – to Launch in Dallas’ West End to Support Emerging Technologies Driving Urban Transformation

Smart Cities Incubator – Innov8te – to Launch in Dallas’ West End to Support Emerging Technologies Driving Urban Transformation

Founding collaborators include The DEC Network, AT&T, Cisco, Microsoft, The University of Texas at Dallas and the Dallas Innovation Alliance. 

DALLAS, TX February 14, 2019 – Today, The DEC Network[“The DEC”], announced a new smart cities incubator in its flagship West End location focused on supporting entrepreneurs and early-stage companies in sectors supporting urban and civic transformation. Founding public, private and academic collaborators include AT&T, Cisco,Microsoft, the University of Texas at Dallas(UT Dallas) and the Dallas Innovation Alliance. This incubator’s presence in the Dallas Innovation District and Smart Cities Living Lab continues to drive a focus on smart city technology research and development for the region. 

 “We are excited to launch the Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator out of our West End location,” stated Alyce Alston, CEO, The DEC Network. “We are grateful for the cooperation of these leading companies and universities in the Smart Cities space. And we are thrilled to support the great work that the Dallas Innovation Alliance has done in partnership with the City of Dallas and its collaborators through the Smart Cities Living Lab and the Dallas Innovation District. We look forward to bringing our background and experience in helping to accelerate startups through education, mentorship, and community to this important initiative.”

By taking a regional approach, the incubator’s mission is to support and highlight the burgeoning DFW ecosystem of companies focused on building products and technologies in sub-sectors including data analytics and visualization, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), and beyond. The application of these technologies seeks to improve eight areas of civic innovation: 

1.    Citizen Engagement/Services

2.    Equity/Inclusion

3.    Infrastructure

4.    Governance

5.    Mobility

6.    Public Health/Healthcare

7.    Public Safety 

8.    Sustainability

“We have appreciated our partnership with The Dallas Innovation Alliance over the past three years,” stated Hugh Miller, Chief Information Officer at the City of Dallas. “We believe the creation of the Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator will create new ways for the city to engage with emerging tech companies developing cutting edge solutions addressing our city’s greatest challenges and opportunities for growth to secure the future of our region.”

Participating startups will receive exclusive access to education, mentorship, networking, programming, products and services, connections to leading corporations and access to capital channels. Programs and events open to the larger community will also be offered by the incubator.

 “Through our work with the Dallas Innovation Alliance and Innovation District, we’ve had a front-row seat for Dallas’ entrepreneurial and civic innovation enabled by smart cities technology,” said Mike Zeto, vice president and general manager of smart cities, AT&T. “By providing resources, education and training to the Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator, we can empower bright minds in our city to address today’s greatest challenges and effectively grow the smart city solutions marketplace.”

“Microsoft continues to support our focus on Smart Cities and IoT solutions in North Texas” commented Raamel M. Mitchell, Director of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Microsoft. “We are excited to support and participate in Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator created by The DEC Network”. 

“Innovation and entrepreneurship go hand in hand,” said Steve Guengerich, clinical associate professor at UT Dallas’s Jindal School of Management and lead for the university’s Innov8te partnership. “Our students and alumni are increasingly proposing new ventures in the Innov8te civic innovation themes. Further, our research faculty, led by the Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science, is already a leader in IoT and other baseline areas of smart cities innovation. We are excited to bring these UT Dallas stakeholders together, through joint education and projects at Innov8te, with the other founding collaborators.” 

Applications and additional details are available through F6s.com at https://www.f6s.com/innov8tesmartcitiesincubator/apply.Throughout the spring, details on additional partnerships and programs, and formal launch timing will be announced. Please follow progress at @theDECtx, @Innov8te #SmartCitiesIncubator and @DallasSmartCity.

About The DEC Network

The DEC Network is a 501c3 non-profit organization driving innovation and economic impact by helping entrepreneurs start, build and grow their businesses. With a number of innovation hubs across DFW, we provide expert education, access to knowledgeable mentors, and a vibrant community of like-minded entrepreneurs. 

We accelerate founder success through connections and collaboration from our work with investors, corporations, and public institutions. Since 2013, we have attracted more than 125,000 visitors, hosted over 1,000 educational events and worked with over 100 partner organizations.