Working alongside the Miami-Dade Innovation Authority (MDIA), the department has helped create a more flexible and collaborative model that connects startups, researchers, and local businesses with county agencies seeking new technologies and operational improvements. The approach is reshaping procurement from a traditionally governmental process into a tool for community-centered economic development.
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A recent Bloomberg Cities feature highlighted Miami-Dade’s procurement transformation as a national model for innovation-driven government. Under Mayor Levine Cava’s leadership, the county has streamlined pilot opportunities and created faster pathways for testing emerging technologies in transportation, environmental stewardship, aviation, and public infrastructure.
The Strategic Procurement Department has played a leading role in advancing the county’s innovation agenda, helping position Miami-Dade as a hub where public-sector challenges create opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses to scale solutions locally and regionally.
That strategy is now extending into one of the county’s most important systems: water and sewer infrastructure.
MDIA’s newly launched “Optimizing Water Operations” challenge seeks technology-driven solutions that can improve water management, reduce waste, and modernize operations at the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD), one of the nation’s largest utility systems serving nearly three million residents.
Miami-Dade County’s Water and Sewer Department has helped guide the initiative, identifying innovative approaches that can strengthen long-term infrastructure resilience while improving efficiency across the county’s water systems.
What makes the initiative especially notable is its broad regional approach. The challenge is believed to be the first public innovation competition in the region designed holistically around an entire infrastructure ecosystem, — including the small businesses that directly contribute to operational challenges.
In particular, the initiative explicitly includes restaurants, cafés, and food-service businesses that generate fats, oils, and grease, commonly known as FOG. FOG buildup is one of the leading causes of sewer blockages and infrastructure strain nationwide. Miami-Dade’s challenge seeks solutions that can intercept, divert, or better manage grease before it enters the wastewater system.
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By including small businesses where FOG is produced, the county is recognizing that infrastructure innovation cannot happen in isolation. Instead, it requires collaboration between government, utilities, entrepreneurs, and the businesses connected to the problem itself.
The initiative reflects Mayor Levine Cava’s broader economic vision of ensuring innovation reaches neighborhoods, entrepreneurs, and industries often left out of traditional public-sector modernization efforts.
The MDIA model also creates opportunities for smaller and emerging companies that might otherwise struggle to navigate government procurement systems. Since its launch, MDIA has engaged startups, universities, nonprofits, and incubators to help shape and test real-world solutions.
As cities nationwide confront aging infrastructure, climate pressures, and widening economic inequality, Miami-Dade is experimenting with a different model, — one where strategic procurement and innovation partnerships become catalysts for community-centered economic growth.
For Mayor Levine Cava and county leaders including Chief Edwards and Director Uppal, the goal is not only a smarter government, but also a more connected regional economy where innovation benefits residents, infrastructure, and small businesses alike.
Companies interested in participating in the “Optimizing Water Operations” challenge are invited to submit innovative solutions for an opportunity to receive a $100,000 equity investment and test and validate their technology at the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD). Applicants should have an existing product or minimum viable product (MVP) ready for testing in a commercial-market environment and must be legally registered and compliant with all applicable laws and regulations within their respective jurisdictions. Applications are due by Wednesday, July 15, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST. More information and application details are available at https://www.mdia.miami/water.
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