The commitment of CORTEX media and Managing Director Andreas Buchenscheit to Ulm’s digital future is an integral part of the city’s digitalization movement following the introduction of the comprehensive LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network), the founding of initiative.ulm.digital e.V. and our participation in citysens GmbH as well as numerous other projects. It was therefore clear to Buchenscheit from the outset that it would also take part in the City of the Future Ulm innovation competition, which was announced in mid-2019 and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

LoRaWAN is a wireless network that Buchenscheit initiated in Ulm in 2016. Since then, it has been made available free of charge and open to all – financed and managed by initiative.ulm.digital and CORTEX media. It only transmits small amounts of data, but with low energy consumption and high penetration power over long distances. It is therefore ideal for sensor data under battery or solar operation. Through its research work, Ulm expanded its pioneering role at an early stage and was one of the first cities in the world to have a comprehensive LoRaWAN that is open and freely available to everyone.

The now published and award-winning paper by CORTEX media in cooperation with the University of Ulm, Ulm University of Applied Sciences, initiative.ulm.digital and citysens takes up this LoRaWAN wireless network with all its possibilities and aims to make the Internet of Things (IoT) and the sensors and technology behind it tangible for everyone through the LoRa Park. This will take the form of an open-air showroom, which will be installed at the Weinhof in the heart of Ulm. The LoRa Park will also be a place where experiments with new technologies can be carried out and tested for market readiness. Both private projects and projects from companies, universities and other institutions are welcome. In addition to the fundamental exchange of ideas, this also promotes the innovative capacity of the region and raises awareness among the population. In future, sensor-based data from the LoRaWAN will be visualized in the LoRa Park, solutions will be exhibited and their functionality explained.

The implementation of this concept will be coordinated by citysens in the coming year and carried out in cooperation with CORTEX media, SWU Telenet, eXXcellent solutions, systemzwo, TTN-Community, Ulm University and Ulm University of Applied Sciences, among others.