Karna govt launches Data Cityto answer challanges of B'lore

: The Karnataka government Tuesday launched 'Data City,' an international openinnovation programme to develop solutions to answer the challenges of Benagaluru city.

The Data City will be implemented in collaboration withFrench-based utility company SUEZ, which operates largely inwater treatment and waste management, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and NUMA, a French innovation company.

The initiative brings together city authorities, corporates and startups to address cities' challenges and develop innovative solutions to build sustainable and efficient cities, using data and technology, NUMA said in a press release.

"DataCity is a seven-month programme that aims at bringing together the city of Bengaluru and the corporates to co-create a problem statement, to identify relevant innovative startups from a pool of applications and to experiment the solutions that is crafted using data provided by the city of Bengaluru and the corporates," the release said.

The areas of opportunity that could be explored duringDataCity are- Smart Mobility, Water and Waste Management,Energy, Smart Buildings, Transparency & Security and pollutionmanagement, NUMA said.

Commerce and industry principalsecretary Gaurav Gupta said "Growing cities are facingtremendous challenges in terms of services and infrastructure provision. We must join our forces to find solutions."