New Lab teams up with NY city government for driverless car project

New Lab announced yesterday it would be taking part in a city-wide competition for ideas and design for the driverless car future.

The four finalists of the Driverless Future competition will each win a year of free office space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard-based manufacturing hub.

The competition “seeks proposals that actively shape the city’s response to driverless cars. It’s not about the cars themselves, but everything else: from parking solutions, to new uses of roadways, intersections, and sidewalks. What tools can be built to increase the accessibility and use of autonomous mass transit? How can shipping and logistics be improved? How can new business models and software tools be leveraged to shape our surroundings?”

Submissions will be accepted until May 19. From the submissions, four finalists will be selected to pitch their ideas in front of a panel of judges, which will include Jeff Merritt, the Director of Innovation at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Tech and Innovation, Dunia DuPont, the Chief Operating Officer at New Lab, and Matt Sweeney, the cofounder and head of product at Uber Advanced Technologies Group, among many others.

Finalists will be able to pitch their ideas in front of the jury in June, with the winner receiving coverage in Fast Company.

4 finalist #driverlessfuturenyc teams will receive flex memberships to New Lab to bring their proposals to life: https://t.co/UtPVu85dsl pic.twitter.com/BHThCPh8e0

— Newlab (@Newlab) February 23, 2017