Completed Initiatives & Accomplishments
Smart Cities
CAAREN has supported several smart city projects which leveraged IoT solutions to address key local challenges, from reducing traffic congestion and fighting crime to fostering economic growth and managing climate change impacts.
A key initiative was the Pennsylvania Avenue 2040 (PA 2040) project, a collaboration between CAAREN, the D.C. government, Golden Triangle BID, and the National Capital Planning Commission. The project aimed to envision the future of Pennsylvania Avenue by 2040. CAAREN worked with GW researchers to develop and install environmental sensing hubs across the city, starting with Pennsylvania Avenue. These hubs aggregated live sensing data and established an Open Science Data Platform for data analysis and sharing.
The modern low-energy street lights, housing WiFi nodes and sensors, were a significant part of this initiative. These WiFi nodes were available for visitors to the PA 2040 area and were used to stream environmental sensing data to CAAREN.
Under the smart cities initiative, CAAREN also supported the Penn West Equity and Innovation District. This district, located in the Golden Triangle, became a hub for startups and fast-growing tech companies. The Golden Triangle BID collaborated with GW, DC government, WDCEP, and other partners to create this innovation district, a concentrated urban cluster of tech startups and associated businesses in STEM-related industries.
ECOSTEM
The GW ECOSTEM initiative, supported by CAAREN, focused on innovative uses of research and education technology to provide a Schools to Jobs (S2J) program centered on solar energy. It developed STEM-related internships and jobs for Washington, D.C. K-20 youth, created professional development opportunities for DCPS teachers, and developed a hands-on curriculum. This initiative transformed districts into green communities, laying the foundation for a sustainable jobs program.
CAAREN facilitated this initiative by providing a community of education, industry, technology, and government partners, and a high bandwidth infrastructure to connect D.C. schools, libraries, and museums to Internet2 network resources. CAAREN connected ECOSTEM members to regional and international education and training centers, as well as leading research institutes.
The GW Sustainability Institute provided oversight and guidance in the development of the comprehensive online education and training program. The Institute ensured that up-to-date content was online and collaborated with university faculty and DCPS teachers to develop an age and skills appropriate curriculum. ECOSTEM, initially in an incubation period, became a live service.