A team of researchers from KIOS Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence of the University of Cyprus was awarded in the "FIWARE ICT Challenge Vienna" competition (in the "Smarter Together - Gamification for Citizen Engagement") for the development of their pioneering application titled «Edutravel» (Educate and Travel).
The "FIWARE ICT Challenge Vienna" contest concerned the creation and development of an application (within 48 hours) to turn Vienna into a smart and sustainable city, addressing modern challenges and turning it into a better place to live.
The research team of KIOS Center of Excellence chose to address the challenges of congestion, environmental pollution and excessive use of private cars by proposing an application in the form of a game that will encourage citizens to use alternative means of transport in their everyday life.
In particular, citizens using this application will be able to travel to their destination in alternative, ecological ways (such as public transport, cycling, walking) and at the same time participate in a game of knowledge about their city and culture. For example, as citizens travel by bus and pass by an attraction, information will be displayed at first and then a related question. Citizens, answering the question correctly, will score points. When they collect a certain number of points, they will earn gifts such as free public transport tickets or discounts on entrance tickets to museums and attractions.
Through the use of this application, citizens benefit from the time they need to reach their destination, acquiring knowledge about the history and culture of their city. At the same time, their quality of life is improved as congestion and carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere are reduced.
The research team of KIOS that took part in the competition consists of the researchers, Marilena Chrysanthou, Filokipro Ioulianou and Maria Tziakouri. The aim of the KIOS researchers is to create and develop similar applications for Cyprus so that residents use alternative means of transport and reduce traffic congestion.
The FIWARE ICT Challenge Vienna competition was held at the conference "ICT 2018: Imagine Digital - Connect Europe" on 4-6 December in Vienna and was organized by the European Commission.