Introduction: Universal Village (UV) is a new concept proposed by MIT’s UV program. UV exemplifies an ideal future society that addresses the current challenges cities are facing in the process of development and pursues harmony between humans and nature through the wise use of technologies.
At the present time, rapid urbanization is bringing convenience and high efficiency to our daily lives, but the increase in GDP comes with the cost of high metabolic rates, high waste per capita, severe lack of resources, heavy pollution, and waste siege. Furthermore, this lifestyle supported by environmental degradation and soaring resource consumption does not improve our health and wellbeing. According to a report in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology in 2013, today’s adults are less healthy than their counterparts of previous generations.
Current smart city solutions cannot fundamentally solve these problems, and they sometimes bring about unintended complications or paradoxical consequences. Subsystems of current smart cities, such as Smart Healthcare and Smart Homes, are still designed independently without considering the potential interaction among these subsystems. Present smart cities are not capable of providing an integrated, coordinated and inclusive solution for our future sustainable development.
The UV concept is aimed at raising our attention to these challenges and making us reflect on our path of development. International Conferences on Universal Village are expected to establish an international platform for interdisciplinary collaboration on UV development, including theoretical exploration, scientific research, and framework design. UV International Conferences call for representatives from academia, industry, civil society and government to share their achievements in and visions on various research areas and their perspectives on how to address these global challenges.
In response to the calling of UV International Conferences, UV Student Forum has been founded to increase awareness among the young generation about the challenges and dilemmas humans are facing, cultivate young people’s creativity and leadership, encourage students’ entrepreneurial enthusiasm, and contribute to building a better world. With these goals in mind, UV2020 aims to promote Pitch Competition and welcomes all innovative ideas!
The UV Pitch Competition Committee, consisting of academic researchers, seasoned business professionals, renowned entrepreneurs, and students with entrepreneurial experience, will follow the development blueprint of “talent selection, research guidance, and innovation incubation” to help participants develop innovative ideas and pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. UV Committee will guide willing participants to complete the process of project planning, design drafting, and product research and development in order to enable these creative ideas to better serve our society in harmony with nature. UV Committee will mentor participants along the path of UV development from theoretical exploration, research development, and framework design through to product release.
Please share your passion and creative ideas with us! We are here to help you make your dreams happen. Together, we will make the world better!
Application Instructions: The UV2020 Pitch Competition cordially invites college/high-school students who have dreams in the areas above to participate. To apply for the competition, please use the UV2020 Paper Submission System to submit the following materials.
- Project Presentation Slides (10-15 pages) and Project Abstract (100-300 words)
- Applicants’ Basic Information (Name; School; Relevant Background and Past Entrepreneurial Experiences; Future Project Plan)
- Resume (optional)
Please follow the Paper Submission Instructions to submit your documents to Category XIII Session 13-A, 13-B or 13-C based on your preference. When you are in the process of submitting these required documents, please put your Project Abstract in the Paper Information Form. Please treat other documents as individual conference papers and upload them using the UV2020 Paper Submission System
Coordinated UV Solutions for Epidemic Prevention and Control
The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global health threat that has led to an unparalleled global economic shock. It is not only challenging our medical system, pandemic management system, emergency response system, transportation management & logistics management system, home and community management system, energy management system, infrastructure system, humanity system but also dramatically changing our lifestyles. We welcome you and your team to share your visions on the following topics. Together, we will finally win the battle against the biggest crisis so far of the 21st century, the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Crowdsourcing, data collection, and visualization
- Epidemic prediction and contact tracking
- Coordinated operational management across all levels during emergencies
- Smart resource allocation
- Segregation control
- Smart medical waste processing
Coordinated UV Solutions for Trash and Scrap Collection, Processing, Reuse, and Recycling
According to the 2018 World Bank Report on Waste Management, the world generated 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste in 2016 (around 227kg per person). High-income countries account for only 16% of the world’s population but produce 34% of the world’s waste. The report estimates that annual global waste production will increase by 70% if current conditions persist. The issue of waste pollution and waste siege poses a great threat to both human survival and the global environment. We welcome you and your team to share your visions on the following topics. Together, we will seek solutions for trash and scrap collection, processing, reuse, and recycling.
- Crowdsourcing, data collection, and visualization for material cycles
- Smart residential trash and industrial scrap collection and transportation: smart trash cans and their optimal placement; smart garbage trucks; smart trash and scrap collection systems and their interactions with cultural and economic factors; development of innovative lifestyles, public awareness and community engagement
- Material cycles optimization: smart waste management; smart trash and scrap processing, reuse and recycling; smart platform development for coordinated information sharing between smart recycling, user feedback on products, and smart manufacturing
Integrated, systematic, UV-oriented solutions for harmony, resilience, inclusion and sustainability
UV exemplifies an ideal future society that pursues harmony between humans and nature through the wise use of technologies. The theme of IEEE UV2020 is “Seeking integrated, systematic, UV-oriented solutions for harmony, resilience, inclusion and sustainability.” We welcome you and your team to share your visions on UV subsystems and UV concepts.
UV Subsystems
- Smart Home and Community
- Smart Medicine and Healthcare
- ITS, Urban Planning and Crowd management
- Smart Energy Management
- Smart City Infrastructure
- Smart Response System for City Emergency
- Smart Environment Protection
- Smart Humanity
UV Impacting Factors
- Information Flow
- Material Cycle
- Community
- Lifestyle
