The health and wellness of communities have become the forefront for many organizations. One of the core concepts for Cape Fox Corporation’s (CFC’s) mission is to support, enhance, and provide for our communities. CFC believes that by making the community stronger, we are strengthening our corporation, our culture, and ourselves. CFC is delighted to announce a new endeavor that will focus on federal and state grant programs that enhance communities with new and innovative technology solutions, the Cape Fox Innovation Hub. The CFC Innovation Hub was created to develop emerging and smart technologies that provide, enhance, and strengthen native communities.
Cape Fox has partnered with Planet Defense LLC to develop and refine the Innovation Hub and will be supported by founding partners Verizon, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Virginia Smart Community Testbed, which the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) manages, creating a private/public partnership, and will seek additional strategic partners in the future. Innovation is the founding competency for community development, health & wellness, public safety, and workforce empowerment. The vision for CFC’s Innovation Hub is “tomorrow’s community today – the next generation, the next innovation, the next cure.” The goal is to transform lives and communities through research and development of new technologies, educate and prepare a future-ready workforce, and strive for excellence. CFC’s Innovation Hub will bring advanced technologies to help indigenous peoples globally.
One of the first endeavors for the Innovation Hub is to bring Smart City technologies to Ketchikan, Alaska. VIPC started the Virginia Smart Community Testbed in Stafford County, Virginia, which is the home to developing smart technology for the Commonwealth. It is the first Smart City Testbed involving an IoT platform, fully integrated with 5G and other emerging technologies for Smart Cities around the country. Through our partnerships, we will have access to existing case studies and applications which can be used to advance the mission of the innovation hub in Ketchikan.
By working with our strategic partners, we will maintain the native culture while advancing the community into the world of tomorrow by providing easier access to smart and connected healthcare, advanced online education, research, and public safety using drone technology. The Innovation Hub will collaborate with community leaders and global Indigenous stakeholders to create equity and ensure no indigenous person gets left behind.