Sheffield - the smart city
Sheffield City Council's master plan for Heart of the City ll
Sheffield City Council has been talking to Future Cities Forum about its' new smart city approach, that allows trees and waste bins to 'talk', telling the council when they need to be watered or emptied.
The new approach will be in operation by Spring and is set to play a major part in tackling climate change from both CO2 emissions to mitigating current issues such as flood management, including monitoring the city's river levels more efficiently.
Nalin Seneviratne, Director of City Centre Development at Sheffield City Council told us:
'Collecting and using data generated within the City to enable the continuing development of efficient and effective services, is what all local authorities need to be doing. This initiative with Amey, and their partners at Cisco, Connexin and Quantela, is a major step in the right direction. Not only are services improved, but the efficiencies also translate into action on climate change both from managing our carbon budget and mitigating our existing risk such as flood. I am looking forward to seeing the principles develop and extend into other areas of infrastructure management, such as repairs and maintenance'.
'The platform will connect essential highway maintenance services and inform operatives about the condition of street assets in real time. The aim is to avoid over-flowing bins, dying trees from lack of watering and refill grit bins in time for icy conditions.
it is expected to reduce pollution in the city because maintenance operatives will now make fewer journeys and avoid hot spots where air quality is poor. Residents will benefit from cleaner, safer living conditions while maintenance is being delivered in a sustainable manner.
James Haluch, Managing Director of Transport Infrastructure at Amey stated:
'Technology is becoming more and more part of our everyday lives. Working with our partners in the public and private sector, we have to make radical changes to the way we deliver services. I'm delighted that we are embracing Connexin's technology, which is one of the first times it's been used in a city environment, that will benefit our service delivery and help to improve local communities.
'It will also offer a more environmentally sustainable solution to reduce our carbon footprint and maximise the use of resources, allowing us to provide a continually evolving service for Sheffield residents'.
Connexin's Chief Sales Officer, Rob Bullock, said:
'We are thrilled to be supporting Amey to deliver services in Sheffield, further demonstrating that the digital economy and innovation is thriving in the North.
'The investment Amey has made in CityOS is 'open' and as new use cases are discovered Amey will be able to integrate new data sets to expand their service offering.'