The US-Senegalese RnB singer Akon is building a sustainable smart city on 2,000 acres, which is worth around $6 billion. Akon spent a part of his childhood in Senegal and then moved to the US. Now he wants to give back to African people by building a highly sustainable community. On August 31, 2020, Akon laid the first stone together with Senegal’s minister of tourism. One of Akon’s previous projects is Akon Lighting Africa, a project that already provides solar power in 18 different countries in the continent. Akon City will be provided with this solar power as well.

The futuristic city will be built in the mould of Wakanda, the fictional high-tech African nation in the well-known movie Black Panther. Its pay system will be fully based on Akon’s own cryptocurrency named AKoin. AKoin can be used on every smartphone and is said to be convertible into other established cryptocurrencies as well. According to Akon City’s construction company KE international, advanced technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence will be used for job growth.

Akon City will be located about 62 miles from Dakar and only 35 miles from Dakar’s newly built international airport. This smart city will consist of seven districts, including a technology district, education district and a health and safety district. There will also be an artificial-intelligence data center and the technology district will have its own tech park. On top of all the technologies imbedded in the city, it will be built according to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, encompassing high environment quality buildings.

To top off, in April 2020, AKoin announced that their cryptocurrency will launch in the smart city Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) in Kenia, which is worth $2 billion and is already built for approximately 90%. If crypto-based smart cities will ever be part of the future, Akon will definitely be one of the precursors regarding renewable and futuristic cities.

References

https://akoncity.com

https://www.businessinsider.com/akon-city-smart-city-senegal-akoin-2020-9?international=true&r=US&IR=T

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/01/music-mogul-akon-going-ahead-with-futuristic-akon-city-in-senegal

https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/alist/akon-city-building-senegal-renewable-energy-cryptocurrency-a4297966.html

Compass is an innovative residential real estate firm founded in 2012, using a real estate platform. It is said that Compass is the first broker with a mobile app that links their agents with modern software to improve the potential customer buying experience. As an independent real estate brokerage, they have more than 17.000 agents operating in the most vibrant communities in the United States. The focus lies on high-margin, luxurious homes in urban areas. Compass empowers their agents with software, which makes it easier for the agents to use certain smart tools instead of other controversial methods. These unparalleled agents make it possible to spend more time on advising clients. This combination simplifies the entire real estate process, for example by making it easier to search and sell real estate.

One of the technologies is ‘Compass Collections’, which makes it possible for agents and clients to collaborate in real-time to organize, monitor and discuss the entire process of selling their home. Agents can boost their marketing strategy for their listings by looking at the valuable data points provided by the ‘Compass Insights’ technology. Other technologies are ‘Compass Markets’, providing real-time recent transactions as well as historical transactions and ‘Compass Coming Soon’, which gives the opportunity to pre-market your property. The aim of these technologies is to make real estate agents less expensive and make them better at their jobs, which reshapes the entire industry.

Currently, Compass is not profitable. Due to their huge investments, acquisitions of other real estate brokers and increasing their employee base, they are not capable yet to make enough money to be profitable. As soon as this new real estate technology will break through, Compass will become a bright company with a profitable future.

In the end, bringing together technology and highly skilled real estate agents will distinguish Compass from their competitors. Will they expand even further? Or perhaps even expand to Europe? That will be a mystery for now, but at least I know I will keep an eye on Compass!

References:

https://www.compass.com/about/

https://www.barrons.com/articles/real-estate-company-compass-struggles-to-deliver-on-big-technology-promise-51587171194

https://www.mikedp.com/articles/2019/6/11/inside-compass-part-4-sustainability

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenparis/2018/12/29/compass-quickly-dominating-the-luxury-turf/#53be127445b6