Stafford County EDA Completes the Expanding Smart Community Testbed Project

September 5, 2024

The Stafford County Economic Development Authority recently completed their “Expanding Smart Community Tech Entrepreneurship Across Region 6” project. The GO Virginia Region 6 funded project was in partnership between Stafford EDA, the Town of Colonial Beach, Middlesex County, and RIoT. Goals or the project included a feasibility study to identify opportunities to expand the existing Smart Technology Entrepreneurial testbed into rural localities across GO Virginia Region 6. By leveraging the Virginia Smart Community Testbed in Stafford, the Stafford EDA was able to explore the need for technology-driven solutions and connecting smart technology entrepreneurs and startups with local challenges across Region 6.

To start, discovery sessions were organized with community members and leaders in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula to collect and document specific issues faced by the localities. Participants in these sessions discussed how Smart Technology solutions could help alleviate these problems. The following problems statements were identified:

• Air Qualify Monitoring
• Digital Divide (Broadband/Connectivity
• Healthcare
• Overfilled Landfills
• Littering
• Smart Mobility (Pedestrian, Parking, and Traffic Management)
• Water/Wastewater Monitoring & Management

The second phase of the project included a call for solutions sent out to technology companies inviting submissions from entrepreneurs, startups, and established companies interested in collaborating with communities to address challenges through novel tools and concepts. A total of 28 submissions were received and evaluated based on their innovative merit and potential contributions to regional economic growth. From these, 14 submissions were chosen to advance. The project team facilitated meetings with submission winners and local government officials, focusing on practical application demonstrations and anticipated socio-economic outcomes. 

The final phase brought the local government personnel together with identified potential technology solutions by facilitating meetings with companies whose submissions were chosen. These meetings took place in Colonial Beach and Middlesex County.

Following these three stages, a final feasibility study was completed by the project team which was presented to the Stafford EDA and the GO Virginia Region 6 Council. The final report can be found here. The report identified a need for future implementation efforts in order to facilitate communication between the localities and companies, and to enable the companies to pilot their innovative technologies to provide solutions that will benefit the entire region.