About The Innovation District

Where Chattanooga’s entrepreneurs, academics, and creatives collide. 

Events Calendar

Discover activities and events in the area.

Resiliency Checklist

Everything you need to prepare your organization for a crisis.

Small Business Supports

Helping small business owners across the region.

The Edney Innovation Center

The front door to the Innovation District of Chattanooga.

Tech Goes Home

Expanding access to technology and teaching digital literacy.

Digital Access Committee

Bringing together partners to close the digital divide, together.

HCS EdConnect

Home internet at no cost to thousands of families.

Connected Communities: Orchard Knob

The OKC leverages the collective support of partner organizations to tackle the whole picture of health and wellness in the historically underserved neighborhood.

Chattamatters

Answering the most basic and most complex questions about life in Chattanooga

EMPACT Program

Preparing residents for the jobs of tomorrow, and today. 

Chattanooga Smart Communities Collaborative

Working together to identify our region’s challenges and create solutions.

Environmental Sensors

Collecting and analyzing air quality data from across our region with US Ignite.

Education (4K Microscope & Lola)

High-tech tools in Hamilton County’s classrooms.

Community Connectivity

Expanding access to the internet in homes and neighborhoods.

Environmental Sensors

As a smart community, Chattanooga relies on data. Better, more granular data can result in better outcomes, especially when it comes to the environment.

 In 2021, The Enterprise Center, the City of Chattanooga, EPB, CUIP, Hamilton County Schools and other local partners joined with Salt Lake City, Utah; Kansas City, Missouri; and Cleveland, Ohio on a collaborative US Ignite project, funded by the National Science Foundation. The project, begun by researchers at the University of Utah, is bringing a network of approximately 50 AirU PM 2.5 — or fine particulate matter — air quality sensors online, creating a live map of air quality conditions across the city for local researchers, citizen scientists, students and other curious residents to utilize. 

The project began in effort to better understand the relationship between air pollution and incidence rates of COVID-19, as well improve our overall understanding of differences in air quality across the elevations, geographies and built-environments of our diverse neighborhoods. As Jim Starcev, of KC Digital Drive in Kansas City, noted in an interview about the project, “Pollution exceeds World Health Organization guidelines for 92 percent of the world population, resulting in 6.5 million deaths and $21 billion in health-care costs.” 

High levels of these “fine particulates” have been shown to have adverse effects on health, and contribute to observable haziness in the air. Famously once called the “dirtiest city in America” by Walter Cronkite, Chattanooga has undergone a renaissance to become Outside Magazine’s “Best Town Ever” — with Smart City projects like real-time environmental monitoring a vital element in keeping our community not just an outdoor haven, but a safer, healthier place for every resident. 

This photo shows three children and a woman playing in the water of "The Passage" near the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.

Across our community.

In addition to the EPA’s own monitors, as well as those already part of the MLK Smart City Test​​ Bed and Corridor+, these sensors have been deployed at school and community center locations around Hamilton County. And because these sensors will continue to provide live data for years into the future, the opportunities to learn, engage community members and support the vital work of partners like the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau will continue to grow.

"This project fits well into our mission of using technology to engage citizens, capture meaningful data and use that data to benefit the entire city."

Contact Us About Environmental Sensors

Geoff Millener, Chief Operating Officer, geoff@theenterprisectr.org