The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) has announced the 16 companies from across the world that have made it to the semi-finals of its inaugural City Architecture for Tomorrow Challenge (CATCH), a competition that call for dynamic, intelligent and data-driven solutions to address mobility and city planning challenges in Kuala Lumpur.
"We are thrilled to announce world-class ideas that represent the data-driven future of sustainable and efficient city planning and mobility. We look forward to working with these semi-finalists to advance their ideas towards realistic and beneficial proofs of concept,” said Pras Ganesh, program director of TMF.
The TMF was established in August 2014 to support the development of a more mobile society. The foundation aims to support strong and equitable mobility systems, using Toyota's expertise in technology, safety, and the environment. It works in partnership with universities, government, non-profit organisations, research institutions and other organisations to address mobility issues around the world.
Solutions to date have aimed at resolving urban transportation problems, expanding the deployment of multi-modal mobility, and developing solutions for future generations.
The 16 semi-finalists in the inaugural CATCH competition come from different countries, including Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and the US. They are as follows:
During the application period for CATCH, which ended 30th June 2020, more than 90 global teams submitted their innovative, deep tech ideas to reimagine city planning through the effective usage of data. After careful consideration, TMF has identified 16 teams as semi-finalists, that best suited to CATCH's problem statement and the five assessment criteria of creativity, desirability, feasibility, sustainability and technicality.
These teams will be asked to further develop their ideas into proofs of concept (POC) and at this stage will each receive a grant of up to US$5,000 for financial support. Furthermore, they will have access to datasets from public and private agency partners to CATCH which will help them identify daily mobility challenges in Kuala Lumpur.
TMF will continue to work together with strategic partners including Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and its data partners to support the semi-finalists to enhance their ideas until the selection of finalists in October, through financial grant support, mobility data, and mentorship provided by experts and judges supporting this program.
Through CATCH, TMF hopes to unlock human-centric, data-driven innovations to further 'Mobility for All' for residents of Kuala Lumpur.
