Stafford County and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) Announce Opening of the First Virginia Smart Community Testbed

Stafford County and the Virginia Innovation Partnership

Corporation (VIPC) Announce Opening of the First Virginia Smart Community Testbed

The Virginia Smart Community Testbed in Stafford County, Virginia, is the home to developing smart technology for the Commonwealth. It is the first Smart City Testbed involving an IoT platform, fully integrated with 5G and other new and emerging technologies for Smart Cities around the country. The Testbed will accelerate smart technology growth in the Commonwealth.

The testbed is a “shared knowledge platform” to develop practical and relevant smart technologies solutions. The Virginia Smart Community Testbed is a true public-private partnership involving multiple industry partners who will focus on relevant and practical use cases to produce innovative solutions using emerging and smart technologies.

High Tech Partnership Could

Benefit Stafford County

Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey reports on a new partnership between high-tech companies and Stafford County.

Mission

Serves as Virginia’s “Living Laboratory” to test new smart technology, and generate practical, proven knowledge
that can be used as the “Model Smart Community” by cities and counties across the country.

VISION

PURPOSE

About the Virginia Smart Community Testbed

The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) and Stafford County are the Testbed’s founding partners. OST, Inc. (OST) is the prime systems integrator and a founding partner. This public-private partnership makes up the Testbed Executive Committee.

The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation

As part of the new Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA), VIPC accelerates next generation technologies and technology companies through commercialization, capital formation, and market development initiatives. The VIPC Strategic Initiatives area focuses on defining and piloting emerging technology sectors that are important for economic growth in the Commonwealth. The Virginia Smart Communities Testbed is a key element of our Smart Communities initiatives, and provides a model and expertise for other communities seeking to adopt Smart Community technologies.

Stafford, Virginia

Stafford is a smart place for innovation. Stafford will be the home for the development of smart and cyber technology in the Commonwealth and beyond. Smart Stafford will focus on improving the lives of our residents, businesses, and visitor experience. The Virginia Smart Community Testbed provides for technology that will nurture our diverse community. It will unlock critical new resources and foster business investments in Downtown Stafford. Learn more about Smart Stafford initiatives and Downtown Stafford.

OST

Based in McLean, VA, OST, Inc. (OST) is a systems integrator that has delivered innovative technology, project management, and consulting and engineering services for more than 20 years. Specializing in advanced technologies such as smart, cybersecurity, cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), predictive analytics, and data visualization, et al, OST consultants and engineers also optimize business processes and staffing to deliver a total business solution. As a strategic partner, OST provides systems integration services for Virginia Smart City Testbed (VSCT) in Stafford County, manages the Smart Airport Testbed at FAA’s Tech Center in Atlantic City, and supports federal, state and local contracts for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Energy (DOE), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (PA), District of Columbia (DC), and others.

Projects

Take your technology solutions or new ideas to the next level. To accelerate development of your product(s), utilize the Testbed technology and progressive business culture to test your ideas in the field of smart solutions.

The Testbed provides premier access to elite technology for innovators and entrepreneurs seeking cutting-edge smart community solutions.

The Virginia Smart Community Testbed in Stafford Focuses on Four Use Cases:

Within the scope of these Use Cases, we have and are conducting a number of Pilot Projects. We encourage additional projects and they will be reviewed on case by case basis. To submit a project, please see the contact form at the end of this page.

The Virginia Smart Community Testbed is equipped with onsite technology support for these projects.

Project Categories - New Projects & Proposals

The Virginia Smart Community Testbed invites business and community leaders and entrepreneurs to submit questions and proposal for Testbed Projects. There are three categories of Projects.

Pilot (Sponsor Level) Projects
Testbed Sponsors are invited to propose Pilot Projects. These are generally projects test a technology that may be employed in any community in the Commonwealth (or beyond). Beyond Sponsorship, these generally will require additional funding from federal, state, or other private parties. These should test a technology that is applicable statewide (or nationally) and may be across any “verticals.”

Community Projects
Communities across Virginia (or the US) are welcome to propose a Community Project that is focused on specific tests in their locality or region. Generally, these will require local (financial) support but can be supplemented with other sources of funds.

Demonstration Projects
Entrepreneurs, Startups, or existing businesses may propose a project to demonstrate and test a new “smart” technology. These projects will be designed to demonstrate the product or service and the Testbed will develop and put together a “third party review” of the demonstration, offering technical and business input on the project. These projects will be generally funded by the entrepreneur or business or, in some cases, with other funds secured by the Testbed Partners or others.

A List of Project Reports Completed or Underway

-Sponsors & Partners-

Get Involved in the Future of Virginia Smart Communities:

Sponsorships are available for the Virginia Smart Community Testbed (VSCT). We are developing the next generation of innovative smart technology solutions, focusing on smart traﬃc; smart parking; public safety and emergency management, Drones, Smart Energy, Smart Health, SG, and IoT security.

Largely funded by the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), Staﬀord County and government grants, the testbed is a living laboratory in Staﬀord County, Virginia that conducts pilot projects and tests new smart technologies and generates practical, proven solutions that can be across Virginia. The VSCT is a public private partnership. With the help of our sponsors and partners, we are creating a Staﬀord Smart Town Center as a highly visible proof of concept with far reaching implications.

Sponsoring and Participating in the Smart Community Testbed:

We are seeking sponsors with innovative capabilities and the right mix of capabilities to drive rapid innovation. Our eﬀorts will lead to longer term projects that will create new commercial and public sector solutions and inspire new and creative future plans and projects. Sponsors will participate in multiple projects that will generate new relationships, marketing visibility, and access to talent from other organizations. Sponsors will realize return on investment (ROI) results and gain valuable market and technology insights through collaboration and information sharing.

Virginia Smart Communities Testbed (VSCT) Sponsorship Form:

Please View Sponsorship Details Here

Stafford County and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally establish the opening of the new Virginia Smart Community Testbed. The Testbed, located next to the Stafford Government Center at 2143 Jefferson Davis Hwy, is the first of its kind in the Commonwealth. We would like to acknowledge and thank the following sponsors without whom the success of this initiative would not have been possible.