On the opening day of Aspen Ideas: Climate, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced three new partnerships and climate tech initiatives to build a more resilient and sustainable Miami-Dade County.
“Our goal is to make Miami-Dade the best place to build, test, and scale innovative solutions to major climate challenges. Innovators and entrepreneurs are stepping up to tackle climate and resilience challenges and we welcome their initiatives,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “Through these public-private partnerships, we are leveraging tech solutions and innovation to build a stronger, more resilient Miami-Dade – while investing in the jobs of the future.”
After hosting a panel about the county’s efforts to implement shore power technology to make Port Miami more energy efficient and protect Biscayne Bay, Mayor Levine Cava was joined by representatives from Seaworthy Collective, Blue Action Ventures, Founders Factory and Olea Edge to present three initiatives described below.
The first initiative is an innovative AI-Powered Smart Water pilot program with Olea Edge that will help locate meters that undercharge large commercial and industrial water users. The 4-month pilot program will deploy smart technology to over 25 large, commercial water meters in the area to identify when water is being wasted or miscounted, which could save millions of taxpayer dollars and lead to significant water savings. This program is part of Miami-Dade County’s ongoing commitment to foster the county’s innovation ecosystem and use smart technology to make county services more sustainable – saving dollars and protecting the environment.
“The drive for innovation and upgrading aging water infrastructure with advanced smart city technology is growing faster than ever before. Mayor Levine Cava is living up to her moniker as a ‘Water Warrior’ and Miami-Dade County is quickly rising to meet this challenge. Our partnership is proof positive of their commitment to making Miami-Dade a leader in this space,” said Dave Mackie, Olea Edge Analytics founder and CEO. “Building a water utility infrastructure of the future requires equitable water use, which means investing in next-generation systems to ensure that the largest commercial water users are paying their fair share in the community.”
The second initiative is a partnership with Blue Action Lab, a new Miami-based blue tech accelerator led by Founders Factory and Blue Action Ventures in the Bahamas to bring companies with proven technology to prototype, test, and deploy solutions to Biscayne Bay health and resilient buildings. Blue Action Lab is raising $10 million to support 30 early stage and 12 high growth companies –selected together with Miami-Dade County – working on ocean and climate tech.
“We believe in the power of entrepreneurs to solve the climate crisis and it is crucial that they have access to policy-makers and government departments to impact change,” said George Northcott, President of Founders Factory. “We thank Mayor Levine Cava and her team for their support and look forward to working closely together.”
The final initiative is Miami-Dade County’s first startup in residence with Seaworthy Collective, a venture studio cohort with 10 teams building regenerative ocean businesses from the ground up. The startup works with a global network of mentors and investors to create new businesses based on pollution in coastal waterways, coral reef ecosystems, environmental data collection, and the circular economy.
“Miami-Dade is uniquely positioned to turn the challenges of climate change and ocean degradation into opportunities by leveraging the energy of the MiamiTech movement to back BlueTech and ClimateTech entrepreneurs,” said Daniel Kleinman founder of Seaworthy Collective. “We’re delighted that Mayor Levine Cava and her team have welcomed us into Government Center – demonstrating the agility we need to drive systems change and impact for Miami and beyond.”
