The Cognicity Challenge is the starting point for the Cognicity initiative, which aims to encourage participating companies to respond to the current and future elements of Canary Wharf residents’ and workers’ interaction with the district’s built environment. The hope is that the innovation triggered by Cognicity will improve efficiency and reduce costs for people living and working in the area, while simultaneously personalising and improving the quality of their Canary Wharf experience.

“We embarked on the Cognicity Challenge to identify and procure the most exciting innovations relevant to our continued growth. Last night was another important step in securing the next generation of technologies essential to keeping the Canary Wharf estate at the forefront of innovation. These ground-breaking solutions will deliver real value, long into the future, to our operations as well as to the workers and future residents of Canary Wharf” said Sir George Iacobescu, Chairman and Chief Executive of Canary Wharf Group.

Demand Logic is a new on-line energy efficiency system that has already identified savings worth in excess of £1m per year. It works by analysing data from the "building management system" and providing a live web dashboard focussed on open collaboration and action.

SEaB Energy has developed Muckbuster and Flexibuster as compact easy to install turnkey Anaerobic Digestion, waste to energy systems in shipping containers. The systems are modular, easily configured and scalable to address food waste and other bio wastes directly at the sites of smaller waste producers who typically generate between 200 and 1000 tonnes of waste per year.

Eric Van der Kleij, Managing Director of ENTIQ and Head of Level39, said “SEaB Energy and Demand Logic are two truly worthy winners. For the last twelve weeks these innovators have been on an incredible journey, and last night was just the beginning of what we hope is a much bigger future for all of them. By bringing together industry-leading experts and key figures from CWG, we can really help these firms to develop, tailor and deliver their solutions, creating an authentic, lasting impact on the Canary Wharf estate and beyond”.

The Cognicity scheme was launched on the 21st of October 2014 to transform Canary Wharf with smart city technologies, focusing on interoperability, across six key sectors including: sustainable buildings, integrated transportation, integrated resource management, automated building management, connected home, visual design & construction.

The programme also aims to demonstrate how multiple solutions can work together successfully through the use of Big Data and the Internet of Things. These game changing technologies are revolutionising the way we live and work in smart buildings and cities alike, as explored in our recent comprehensive report Big Data for Smart Buildings: Market Prospects 2015 to 2020.

Ian Jones, Intel’s UK Smart Cities Director added: “London is one of the world’s leading cities and is perfectly positioned to become the flagship for smart cities everywhere. Initiatives like Cognicity are laying the foundations for London to unlock its potential and now we can clearly see solutions taking shape which are going to enrich the lives of citizens in all sorts of ways”.

From the remaining ten companies competing in the second cohort, Stinex and Future Decisions were announced as runners-up, with honourable mentions also going to Strawberry Energy and Boldmind.

The final two Cognicity Challenge streams, ‘Virtual Design and Construction’ and ‘Connected Home’ have just begun, and focus on the new phase of development to the east of Canary Wharf estate. The winners will be announced on 7th July. The first two winners of the Challenge were announced on 16th April as Polysolar and Voyage Control, with both companies now working on their real-world pilots. A further four innovators from the first cohort were also given the chance to run pilot schemes on the estate, reflecting the quality of the competition and its participants.