Miami will be deploying air quality monitoring sensors developed by French environmental tech company Planetwatch to transcribe aggregated sensor data to the Algorand Blockchain.
IoT Network To Detect Pollution
The project will be funded by the $10 million PLANETS fund from Borderless Captial. Planetwatch will build an internet-of-things network of third-party compact air-quality monitors to detect pollution hotspots and power environmental analytics to monitor the city’s air quality. The sensors will be installed throughout the city, including in the homes of some residents, who are being referred to as PlanetWatchers. These residents will be compensated for their contribution to the project with in-app tokens (Planet Tokens or Planets) and rewards on the Algorand network. The tokens can be sold for fiat currency on the open market or converted to Earth Credits to use as an internal currency on the Planetwatch platform.
Why Algorand?
According to officials, the Algorand blockchain has been selected to store the data in order to create a globally accessible, permanent, tamper-proof air-quality ledger that can also track and reward all contributors. Additionally, the Algorand blockchain is scalable, secure, and has a “carbon-negative” footprint due to its use of validators instead of energy-intensive miners. The sensors installed in different spots throughout the city will detect and record air pollution levels in that particular area. Residents and city officials will then be able to study the combined data and zero in on the pockets of pollution concentration across the city.
At DeCipher event in Miami on November 29, Mayor Francis Suarez commented on the project,
“The data from this project will play a crucial role in our climate adaptation efforts as well as our ambitions to make Miami an epicenter for digital capital markets.”
Borderless Capital And Algorand
Miami continues to adopt crypto and blockchain tech to develop and grow. After the resounding success of the MiamiCoin and Bitcoin yields distributed to citizens, the city is now investing in blockchain tech to tackle environmental concerns. The VC firm supporting this initiative, Borderless Capital, is based out of Miami and is one of the top companies working with Algorand and has around $400 million already invested in different Algorand projects. The capital for the Planetwatch project will be drawn from the $500 million fund (called the ALGO Fund II) that Borderless has allocated for developing projects on the Algorand blockchain. This fund aims to power new decentralized projects and infrastructures like cross-chain bridges and price oracles. The previous funding for Algorand, the ALGO Fund I, which was rolled out in 2019, successfully invested in over 100 companies over the last 30 months.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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