Platform-as-a-service company Uncharted Power has completed phase one of its pilot in Poughkeepsie, New York, proving the technological feasibility of its smart city platform that reduces the cost and complexity of deploying and managing last-kilometre infrastructure.

Having achieved the metrics set by Poughkeepsie city officials, Uncharted is now advancing to phase two and inviting cities and developers across the USA to join its Infrastructure Innovation Initiative (III).

The III provides participants with a demonstration of the pilot technology platform and the opportunity to collaborate on how the platform can solve last-kilometre infrastructure problems before its wide release in 2022. Current III participants include Watt Investment Partners, Energy Well Texas, Silicon Harlem, Chazen Companies and DMC Group.

“Bridging the last mile – whether we’re talking about resilient power grid technologies, more efficient water systems or equitable mobility services – has always been of critical importance,” said Jessica Matthews, CEO of Uncharted. “Today’s communities cannot afford to deploy and manage the smart and sustainable infrastructure that can solve their biggest problems, and the Uncharted platform aims to fix this.”

The US government’s recent Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework presents an opportunity to build smart, sustainable and equitable cities. With its technology platform, proven in Poughkeepsie, Uncharted says it is uniquely suited to support cities and developers as they look to leverage the resources provided by the framework to achieve their infrastructure development goals. Through the launch of its III programme, Uncharted hopes to achieve this on a national scale, accelerating smart city development.

“The city of Poughkeepsie is excited to be a leader in demonstrating a new paradigm for last-mile public infrastructure development and management in partnership with Uncharted,” said Brian Martinez, commissioner of finance for Poughkeepsie. “Technological change in public organisations is rarely viewed as a nexus between interoperability and last-mile infrastructure. If we think about lack of interoperability in last-mile infrastructure as siloes of service capability, it’s easy to see siloes as hindrances to development of efficient, effective and equitable public services, and the city of Poughkeepsie is no different. We look forward to working with Uncharted to use their platform in ways that reimagine city infrastructure as holistic and connected services. In this view, interoperability is a means to support smart economic development, equity and resiliency, and a way to curb costs.”

The Uncharted platform consists of an edge cloud, digital twin, distributed ledger and a suite of plug-and-play offerings for the built environment, including the company’s Aashto HS-20 rated paver for storing technology in the ground. With these technologies, the platform reduces the cost of upgrading and scaling last-kilometre infrastructure, and streamlines the secure sharing, analysis and visualisation of last-kilometre infrastructure data, making it easier to finance, plan, deploy and manage critical infrastructure in cities.

“Addressing the inequitable access to the most basic services for our communities has never been more critical,” said Chris Paul, Uncharted investor and professional basketball player. “With the company’s recent technological deployment in Poughkeepsie, Uncharted is at an exciting inflection point, and I am looking forward to supporting this next stage of the company’s growth.”

Starting first with energy-generating play products before focusing on industrial power in 2017, Uncharted has grown into a cross-industry sustainable infrastructure company that develops platforms to bridge the gap between the smart grid and the smart city.

To deliver on its vision to build the operating system for last-kilometre infrastructure, among other milestones, Uncharted hired Bill Pugh as chief technology officer, bringing 25 years of networking technology experience spanning smart grid, smart city and IoT innovations.

Uncharted is headquartered in New York with a workforce of more than 30 people across the world. Investor support has come from Unseen Capital, Reform Ventures, BBG Ventures, Kapor Capital, Backstage Capital, Magic Johnson Enterprises, WOCstar, Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony, Issa Rae, Hannibal Buress and others.