IOTA Launches Hackathon Smart City Contest Sponsored by Groupe Renault

The IOTA Foundation has announced the Smart City Hackathon sponsored by French global automobile manufacturer Groupe Renault, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports Feb. 25.

At the hackathon, participants will compete by using new technologies to solve inter-city problems submitted by corporate partners. Contestants will use distributed ledger technology (DLT) to develop more efficient transport, energy grids and buildings.

The contest is based on IOTA’s Tangle system, wherein participants will develop Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M), and data driven concepts for the smart city environment.

Designed specifically for the IoT industry, IOTA’s Tangle system represents an organizational model that uses Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) instead of using blocks or mining that constitute a basis for blockchain technology.

According to the announcement, the contest is hosted by Hackster.io, a hardware community hub run by one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components, Avnet, Inc. The contest will continue through April 6, with winners expected to be announced on April 13.

Previously, Chinese global insurance corporation Ping An Insurance Group and Sanya municipal government signed a strategic cooperation agreement for smart city construction. Based on blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and cloud computing, the concept of a smart city is intended to address strategic urban development in China.

Earlier in February, Norway’s autonomous city Liberstad adopted a cryptocurrency native to its blockchain-powered smart city platform as its official medium of exchange. The private, anarcho-capitalist city was founded in 2015 as part of the Libertania project, which eschews taxes and government regulation.