Smart Cities

Projects in action

HDAX – Heartland Digital Asset Exchange

The Heartland Digital Asset Exchange (HDAX) is a convening of the Midwest’s most discerning family offices, institutional investors, and innovators with the global vanguard of digital assets and blockchain infrastructure. Hosted in Kansas City, the inaugural HDAX (September 9, 2025) marked a milestone moment for the region — positioning the Heartland as a credible, trusted hub for compliant blockchain finance. Produced by KC Digital Drive, HDAX reflects Kansas City’s growing leadership in digital infrastructure, emerging tech, and innovation-led economic development.

Regional University Research Collective

The Regional University Research Collective (RURC) is a collective impact initiative led by KC Digital Drive that unites the Kansas City region’s research universities—KU, K-State, and UMKC—with civic, industry, and philanthropic partners to strengthen the region’s innovation economy.

National Smart Coalitions Partnership

A national cross-sector network to accelerate more
sustainable and resilient cities

Comeback KC Ventures

Accelerating Innovation to Jumpstart KC’s Comeback from COVID-19 – Comeback KC Ventures is funded through an 18-month SPRINT Challenge grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and administered by KC Digital Drive and the UMKC Innovation Center.

Air Quality Sensors

KC Digital Drive, working with a group of community partners, is putting up an array of sensors across Kansas City that will be used to measure air quality microclimates and detect pollution sources. Through a partnership with US Ignite and funded by a National Science Foundation grant, KC Digital Drive received 50 air quality sensors that measure temperature, humidity, and particles (PM 2.5). As a citizen science project, residents in the targeted area will be able to participate by having a sensor on their property. A visualization map of the data received from the sensors will be available to the public.

Connected Roads and Vehicles: A Next Generation Mobility Workshop

This workshop is intended to identify project opportunities that connect leading edge academic research with the immediate problems facing local and state government, private industry, and entrepreneurs working in transportation and mobility infrastructure and solutions. It is the second in a series designed to meet future mobility challenges and opportunities, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The inaugural workshop in Fall 2019 included a multi-disciplinary discussion of societal trends and needs.

Integrating Arts Into KC’s Regional Innovation Ecosystem

In August 2024, Kansas City became a hub for innovation at the intersection of arts and science during a two-day workshop exploring how creative professionals can enhance critical materials and biologics ecosystems. This event is part of the NSF-funded ICC Project led by UCLA to develop actionable strategies for integrating arts and culture into regional innovation clusters.

Comeback KC Ventures Announces Its First 7 Fellows

Kansas City innovators get support to accelerate KC’s comeback from COVID-19. Seven Kansas City tech startups have taken the leap to launch new technologies and startups in response to challenges posed by COVID-19 — and have received technical and financial assistance through Comeback KC Ventures. These innovations were conceived after two years of the coronavirus […]

Unified Government uses design thinking to procure and implement software solutions

Abby Eccher, Performance and Innovation Project Manager at the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas joined Code for KC for a Learn Night on July 15, 2019. Abby discussed the process she uses to procure and implement software solutions and how she is modernizing it. Eccher began by explaining her approach to […]

Digital Scene – KC: KC Digital Drive

Nov 20, 2025