The Scottish Government has launched a new initiative to increase IoT adoption across its local authorities by funding ‘blueprints’ on how to implement it. This move is part of a wider scheme that seeks to leverage IoT to enhance public services.
IoT is being eyed for its potential to revolutionise services ranging from social housing monitoring to environmental quality assessments. To facilitate and encourage this adoption, the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government and Scotland’s sensing and imaging innovation centre –CENSIS – created five technology blueprints, showcasing the practical applications of IoT in tackling local and societal challenges.
The blueprints are part of an ongoing collaboration between the two organisations and follow several information sessions held over the past three years.
Scotland’s Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade, Richard Lochhead, said of the announcement: “These innovative technologies address diverse challenges such as energy usage in social housing or monitoring air quality in schools and could be used at scale across council areas.”
Among the broader aims highlighted are specific solutions to tackle them, like smart sensors for detecting housing conditions like dampness and energy use, tools for air quality monitoring; systems for identifying waterborne bacteria, and solutions for efficient waste management. These applications are expected to improve residents’ health, wellbeing, and the environment.
“Digital transformation has wide-ranging benefits for local authorities and the people who use their services, from improving processes and saving time to ultimately improving aspects of residents’ lives such as health, wellbeing and the environment,” said, Digital Office Chief Technology Officer Colin Birchenall. “We want to encourage councils which are already using this kind of technology to share their experiences and help others do the same.”
Participating councils include East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Perth and Kinross, and the Highland Council.
Scotland is taking a keen interest in IoT both commercially and publicly. It’s capital Edinburgh is already exploring IoT solutions, with the University of Edinburgh’s Data-Driven Innovation programme allocating £9.5 million to provide every school in the area with smart sensors – making it ‘Europe’s largest’ IoT network.
Glasgow is making a play to position itself as a leading centre for IoT innovation in Europe with A £2.5 million public-private investment allocated to establish a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to advancing technologies like drones, AI, and nanotechnology. Glasgow is currently one of three cities that was selected as a ‘tech accelerator’ in the UK government’s levelling up scheme.
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