SmartAmerica “Kick-off”

The SmartAmerica Challenge was launch on December 12, 2013 at an event at the White House.

Over 65 companies, universities and government agencies came to the meeting. The meeting was opened by Geoff Mulligan and Sokwoo Rhee the co-creators of the SmartAmerica Challenge and White House Presidential Innovation Fellows.

Pat Gallagher, Deputy Commerce Secretary and Director of NIST, and Vijay Kumar from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy told that packed room that if the teams that they formed would build something amazing they we could promise to “shine a national spotlight” on their efforts.

During that event 12 teams were formed around projects related to healthcare, transportation, energy, and disaster response.

The purpose of the projects was not to show technology for technology sake but instead show how combining CPS technology from different sectors could result in tangible benefits to the American economy, such as job creation, creating new business opportunities as well as projects that could improve and save American lives.