Urban Launchpad

The Urban Launchpad is a social-venture dedicated to building open urban info-structures in places around the world that need it the most. Smart Cities for Everyone! Most innovation that goes into better, more livable cities is sponsored by and designed for cities where most things already work. We at the Urban Launchpad are committed to working with local partners to innovate in the most challenging places to live in the world, starting with Dhaka, the 18 million and growing mega-capital of Bangladesh. We’re Busy Building Open, Urban Info-structures Information can help make an existing urban infrastructure more efficient and responsive to the people who inhabit a city. Recent technological breakthroughs available everywhere -- smartphones, mobile data networks, and clouds -- combined with organized groups of humans are enabling the construction of world-class, low-cost, and open info-structures on top of even the most dated infra-structures. We’re in Non-Stealth Mode The potential of open, urban info-structures to transform how cities across the globe are built, managed, and enjoyed is much greater than any work that we can do ourselves. Instead of keeping our work secret, we believe that through open data, open curricula, and an open invitation for anyone to work with us, we can collectively and rapidly address the most pressing urban challenges before it’s too late.