mygames
The city of Tallinn has once again announced the Tallinnovation competition supporting Smart City solutions, the goal of which is to make the city’s services and environment more convenient for both residents and visitors. With the competition, the city of Tallinn, together with the science and business campus Tehnopol, want to encourage cooperation between the city and technology companies, during which innovative hardware and software products are used.
One of the winners of Tallinnovation 2022 is MyGames with a solution created together with FOB Solutions OÜ. The solution of self-service sports fields, developed as a collaboration, helps to manage the fields more efficiently and bring sport closer to people. The solution, consisting of a combination of software and hardware, makes it possible to make the courts completely self-serviceable, managing reservations, payments, access, lighting and other functions. In this way, it is possible to significantly save on administration, improve the occupancy, profitability, and purposeful use of the courts. However, for the player, there will be a simple and convenient opportunity to search and book sports fields directly from the mobile phone, just as we are used to ordering a taxi or food nowadays.
“It was a pleasure to see that the winning solutions included both smart and hardware solutions from different sectors, which confirms the potential and readiness for innovation in all areas of life. We look forward to seeing how the selected solutions will start to work and, as an example of cooperation with the city of Tallinn, become successful internationally. Tallinnovation’s financial support has so far supported such unique journeys for winning companies,” said Aivar Riisalu, chairman of the innovation committee of the Tallinn City Council and the jury of the competition, after announcing the winners of the competition. Commenting on the competition, Indrek Orav, CEO of Tallinnovation partner Tehnopol, said: “Making urban space smart makes our lives more comfortable and sustainable. The winning works of the competition create value for both businesses and people. We appreciate the opportunity to bring out the potential of companies with financial support, the readiness of a test environment and practical mentor advice.”
Why is it necessary to automate the courts and what does the work that won our competition represent? It is often difficult to find a quick, easy, and affordable way to practice racket or ball games. Sports clubs are closed and expensive, favouring people with higher incomes. There are sports fields in the city, but often people are not widely aware of their location or conditions of use. Public courts often find a non-purpose usage, for example, as a gathering place for stunt riders. Due to the risk of vandalism, many sports fields are locked, making access difficult. All in all, this situation prevents people from accessing sports opportunities, young people engage in so-called “courtyard sports” less and less.
MyGames brings different sports fields together on one online platform, making it easy to find, book and use them. Users can see the locations of the courts and their availability in one place, and in the same environment they can book a time for the desired court. In addition to the court door, the field automation has the ability to control lighting, water faucets, locker room doors and other necessary functions. By automating the sports facilities in different parts of the city in this way, a network of smart sports fields well suited to the concept of a smart city will be created, and people’s access to sports opportunities will improve significantly. This, in turn, diversifies the leisure opportunities of both city residents and guests.
The solution we offer consists of combined software and hardware, the main parts of which are an online booking platform and a mobile application, a payment solution, a control box for controlling the field’s access, lighting and other functions. See how such a court works in the video below. The solution offers value to sports enthusiasts, field owners and the community in general, while being environmentally friendly at the same time. Thanks to the developed solution, all resources related to the pitch are under control. The court lighting is on and the water tap works only when there is a valid reservation on the court. We are the first in Northern Europe to offer a complete solution that works on 100% solar energy.
The project implemented as part of the Tallinnovation competition contributes to the image of Tallinn as a healthy, environmentally friendly and movement-promoting city. The realization of the project well supports Tallinn’s candidacy for the title of European Capital of Sports. Smart management of sports fields helps to save resources, improve their occupancy and purposeful use. As a result of the pilot project, a unique network of self-service sports facilities will be created in the city of Tallinn, which could serve as an example and reference for other Estonian municipalities as well as Tallinn’s sister cities outside of Estonia.
Read more about the Tallinnovation competition on the Tallinnovation website.