Cutting-edge data science and machine learning technology have catapulted sectors of the global economy. For example, retail companies such as Amazon have the ability to hyper-target recommendations for products and provide on-demand delivery. At UrbanFootprint, we feel that these capabilities should be available to organizations that address the most pressing societal issues of today. We’re thrilled to announce that our work has landed us among the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2022 by Fast Company for the second year in a row—this time in the category of Data Science.
Every year, Fast Company highlights the most groundbreaking businesses across the globe. This year’s list honors those that are making the biggest impact on their industries and culture as a whole—ultimately thriving in today’s ever-changing world. The companies on this list provide a glimpse into the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.
“The world’s most innovative companies play an essential role in addressing the most pressing issues facing society, whether they’re fighting climate change by spurring decarbonization efforts, ameliorating the strain on supply chains, or helping us reconnect with one another over shared passions,”
– David Lidsky, Deputy Editor at Fast Company
Our selection to the list’s Data Science category is closely aligned with our values as a company. Though the time and resources needed to address increasingly urgent global challenges are limited, many of these challenges, such as housing, energy, climate change, and social inequity are intertwined, which means they can be addressed all at once if we think holistically and prioritize with compassion.
We believe that data can be salient in helping organizations to find signal through the noise on today’s global landscape to help answer critical questions:
- Where are the risks greatest and to whom?
- Where should we invest first and with which resources?
- Where do we need to intervene and to what degree?
We put our data science to work in making better and more informed decisions at the intersection of urban transformation, climate threat, and community vulnerability to help allocate existing resources and target new investments effectively, efficiently, and equitably. As a mission, we believe this is foundational to addressing the challenges we all grapple with as a society today. A lot of times, we know which resources are needed and which investments need to be made, but we don’t often think enough about “where” those should be made to maximize impact.
We developed the world’s first and only Urban Intelligence Platform to deliver data to the institutions that can address these issues and provide places where vulnerability is highest. Today, we’re proud to serve our innovative platform to a broad range of public and private sector organizations tackling some of the world’s most important challenges. Planners looking to build better communities. Energy providers seeking to minimize risk to grid assets and impacts on surrounding communities. Investors wanting to improve returns while supporting a sustainable economy. And government agencies and their partners looking to improve the performance of their assistance programs and allocate resources to those who need it most.
We are committed to innovation, and continue to develop solutions that help organizations address the most important challenges facing the world:
- Building more sustainable communities
- Making the energy system more resilient
- Distributing government resources more efficiency and effectively
- Creating a more stable and equitable economy
- Addressing the needs of our most vulnerable communities
Our platform provides clear answers to these challenges, but our work does not stop there. We are honored to be named alongside so many great companies, and we look forward to doing our part in driving innovation to help build a more efficient, equitable, and resilient future.
