Technology permeates the 21st century and people are constantly connected to the world through their devices. The City of Vancouver’s Digital Strategy has recognized the need of its residents and visitors to stay connected by providing 550 free public Wi-Fi locations around the city. The constant connection to the digital world requires a lot of battery power, however the city does not provide free, convenient charging stations for people to charge their devices while they are away from home, school, or work.

The problem we identified and are trying to solve is: how might the City of Vancouver support young people in staying connected to digital infrastructure? Charge and Connect seeks to keep young people in Vancouver connected to the world, as well as to each other.

As a result, our group prototyped a mobile charging station that allowed anyone to charge their mobile devices while moving around the city for free. Our team partnered up with Portable Electric, a local company that provides clean, renewable power through electric generators, to demonstrate our proof-of-concept. We recognize that a big part of connecting to the world is also being able to connect in person. We incorporated a lounge area into our charging station to give people a chance to connect with one another while waiting for their phones to charge.

Over 100 people interacted with us during our prototype, and approximately 97% of these individuals would like to see free charging stations for mobile devices in the future. People who stopped to charge their phones would spend approximately 15-30 minutes at our station, connecting with one another while waiting. We also discovered that people want to charge other devices, such as wireless headphones and electric transportation (electric bikes, scooters, and skateboards).