The Smart Country Startup Award goes to Bremerhaven and Berlin this year. Neuraflow from Bremerhaven and UrbanDataLens from Berlin came out on top among six finalists with their pitch at the Smart Country Convention in Berlin this evening. The Smart Country Startup Award is presented annually as an innovation prize for young companies with outstanding solutions for the public sector by GetStarted, the startup initiative of the digital association Bitkom. This year's co-operation partners are ]init[ AG for digital communication and Messe Berlin. The two winners will each receive 5,000 euros in prize money and a free Bitkom start-up membership. ‘Citizens want digital administration and smart cities and communities. Many startups have exactly the right ideas and solutions to advance digitalisation in these areas - but they often lack the necessary awareness and initial orders. This is where the Smart Country Startup Award and the Smart Country Convention come in,’ says Daniel Breitinger, Head of Startups at Bitkom.

About the award winners:

• Neuraflow from Bremerhaven won the award in the GovTech category. The start-up makes the data treasures of German cities quickly and effectively usable and has developed an ‘empathic AI’ for this purpose. The aim is to use intelligent data indices, cognitive architectures and smart interfaces to drive digitalisation in the public sector and simplify communication with citizens.

• UrbanDataLens from Berlin came out on top in the Smart City category. The aim is to make public data usable for everyone. Using AI analyses and natural language input, the startup enables data-based decisions in urban planning, business and administration and aims to make cities, companies and citizens smarter.

All information on the Smart Country Startup Award can be found at: www.bitkom.org/EN/Topics/Startups/Smart-Country-Startup-Award

Note to editors: Journalists can obtain accreditation for the Smart Country Convention at www.smartcountry.berlin/en/press/accreditation/