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Vancouver, BC

Wujin (Dennis) Gao

I’m a Vancouver-based young community leader who works in data and analytics and is passionate about using practical technology to solve everyday problems. Through the Sprout Fellowship, I’m building ParkingOwl.AI—an edge-AI prototype that helps reduce parking-related cruising, stress and improve the street experience for residents, visitors, and local businesses. I’m motivated by projects that combine community feedback, responsible innovation, and measurable impact. I value innovation, collaboration, and learning-by-building, and I’m committed to designing tools that support safer, more sustainable, and more accessible cities.

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ParkingOwl.AI — Know before you go. Less cruising. More parking.

ParkingOwl.AI is a privacy-first edge-AI prototype that helps people know before they go by providing real-time street parking availability signals. Using an on-device camera and edge computing, it detects parking occupancy and shares only non-identifying, aggregated results—no facial recognition, no license-plate recognition, and no personal data. The project aims to reduce parking-related cruising, congestion, and stress in Vancouver neighborhoods through a small pilot and community feedback to guide responsible, useful deployment.

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About this Project

Communities Served

My project will involve and/or impact the following communities:

    United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

    When it comes to community impact projects, the UN has created 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These are the Sustainable Development Goals associated with my project.

      How the project works

      From Feb–Aug 2026, ParkingOwl.AI will pilot real-time parking-availability mapping in Vancouver: select 1–2 test blocks, set up the data pipeline, launch a simple web/mobile map showing open spots, run weekly field checks with drivers, iterate for accuracy/usability, and share outcomes with community.

      Project Impact

      ParkingOwl.AI helps people find parking with less guesswork by showing real-time availability, reducing unnecessary cruising. This can lower congestion and emissions, save drivers time, and reduce stress for residents and visitors. The pilot will also build community trust in privacy-first innovation and create evidence for scalable, safer, more efficient curb management in local communities.

      Project Mission

      ParkingOwl.AI exists to reduce parking stress and congestion by delivering real-time, privacy-first parking availability—using proven edge AI technology to create smarter, more efficient streets in local communities.

      Project Team

      Solo Founder