The Smart, Healthy Communities Initiative

Name

The Smart, Healthy Communities Initiative

Legal name

The Smart, Healthy Communities Initiative

Website

https://rokwire.illinois.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Smart Campus Mobile Platform

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Developer Portals, SDKs & Documentation Platforms (BPAMADAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Local & Neighborhood Communities (BPAMABAG)

Keywords

• Smart campus platform
• Open source mobile apps
• Campus health technology
• Community mobile platform
• Integrated campus services

Headquarters

HQ city

Urbana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and University Funding: The initiative is funded through research grants and university resources as part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Smart, Healthy Communities Initiative. NSF grants have supported specific projects like the crime reduction tool development.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Smart, Healthy Communities Initiative develops the Rokwire open source software platform for building mobile applications that integrate diverse community digital resources and data sources. The flagship Illinois App serves as a digital gateway connecting campus users with services, events, dining, transit, building access, and wellness resources. The initiative also supports the SHIELD COVID-19 testing ecosystem and provides partner organizations with the platform to develop customized apps for their own communities.

Product overview

The Smart, Healthy Communities Initiative offers a platform-plus-applications architecture built around the Rokwire open source software platform. The Rokwire Platform serves as the core technology foundation for building customizable mobile applications that integrate diverse community digital resources. The flagship consumer application is the Illinois App, which provides students and campus community members with a comprehensive digital gateway to campus experiences, services, and events. Previously, the initiative deployed the Safer Illinois App for COVID-19 tracking and building access management, now archived. The RokWall architecture provides privacy-preserving analytics capabilities for sensitive health data. Partner organizations can adopt the Rokwire platform to develop customized applications for their own communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Illinois App: A comprehensive campus mobile application providing digital gateway to connect with campus experiences, services, and events. Features include course schedules, dining options, MTD bus pass, building access, event calendars, and wellness resources.
• Safer Illinois

Products and services

• Rokwire Platform An open source software platform for creating mobile applications that integrates diverse community data sources and delivers them all on mobile. Developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as the foundation of the Smart, Healthy Communities Initiative. Partners can adopt the platform to develop customized apps, contribute code, conduct research, or provide services.
• Illinois App A digital gateway connecting users with campus experiences, services, and events. The flagship project built using the Rokwire platform, providing features including course schedules, dining options, laundry availability, MTD bus schedules, groups, campus events, and wellness resources for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign community. Used by over 40,000 students.
• Safer Illinois App COVID-19 tracking application (now retired) that tracked users' symptoms, recorded COVID-19 test results, connected students to medical resources, and helped with contact tracing during the pandemic. Built on the Rokwire platform and deployed at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Supported the SHIELD testing program which processed over 1 million tests in Fall 2020.
• Crime Reduction Tool App-based tool developed through a $150,000 NSF grant to the Center for Social and Behavioral Science partnering with the City of Champaign to help curb gun violence in the Champaign-Urbana community, leveraging the Rokwire Smart City Platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero COVID-19-related hospitalizations or deaths among campus community with 1M+ tests performed in Fall 2020
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Inabyte Inc.coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2018Since 2018, Inabyte Inc. has been part of the Illinois app development team as a paid vendor contributing important design and software development to Rokwire building blocks and mobile applications. Founded in 1996 and based in the United States, Inabyte provides solutions and services for developers and end users, specializing in user interface design, component development, and database applications.
• RokmetrocoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProfessional services company led by Rokwire's principal software architect that builds customized Rokwire applications for various organizations and provides expert technical support for installation and configuration. Rokmetro helped universities like Wisconsin and Nebraska customize the app in record time, and worked with various universities, public school systems, and public safety departments to adapt COVID-19 apps across the United States.
• Center for Social and Behavioral Science (CSBS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with CSBS at UIUC to drive process-centric research to make campus smarter, healthier, and more sustainable. CSBS serves as ambassador to over 200 social-behavioral science faculty, connects researchers to community partners, and helps transition Rokwire into a research vehicle for social-behavioral scientists.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Blackboard: Major higher education technology vendor providing LMS, communication, and student engagement tools. While broader than Rokwire, it competes for the same campus IT budget and integrates with similar institutional systems.
• Ellucian: Dominant SIS (Student Information System) vendor in higher education whose platform integrates with campus apps. Rokwire's Ellucian integration makes it a complementary rather than competing provider, but Ellucian offers broader administrative functionality.

Others

• Inabyte Inc. Long-standing Rokwire contributor and paid vendor providing UI design, component development, and database application services. Operates as a development partner rather than competitor, but reflects the broader ecosystem of campus app development firms.

Direct peers

• Modo Labs: Commercial campus engagement platform that provides branded mobile apps for universities, integrating course schedules, dining, transit, events, and campus services. Most direct commercial analog to Rokwire's flagship Illinois App.
• Ready Education: Student engagement and orientation platform serving higher education institutions with mobile-first experiences and community-building features. Overlaps with Rokwire's student engagement use cases.
• Guidebook: Mobile app platform for events, campuses, and conferences with similar integration of schedules, maps, and notifications. Comparable technology and target customer base in higher education.
• Presence: Higher education mobile engagement platform offering campus apps, event management, and student engagement tools. Direct competitor in the same target market with comparable feature set.
• CampusM: Mobile experience platform for higher education and student services, offering integrated campus apps with SIS, LMS, and administrative integrations. Comparable product offering to Rokwire.

Emerging players

• Poppulo: Employee and campus communications platform offering mobile apps, digital signage, and email for educational institutions. Overlaps with Rokwire's communication and notification features.
• InvolveSoft: Student engagement and involvement platform for higher education with mobile app capabilities. Comparable in targeting student engagement metrics, though with a narrower scope than Rokwire's full community platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/rokwire
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_Rokwire
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/university-of-illinois-urbana-champaign-the-smart-healthy-communities-initiative

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Smart, Healthy Communities Initiative