Agenda item

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       The Smart Belfast programme encourages collaborative innovation between our universities, digital SMEs and the public sector in order to tackle urban challenges and ultimately contribute to the outcomes expressed in the Belfast Agenda. Delivery of the programme is driven by a ‘pipeline’ of collaborative projects. This paper provides a short update and seeks Members’ approval on a number of emerging opportunities.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1 The Committee are asked to:

1.      Agree that the Council will provide in-kind practical support and promotion for Wildstone’s £20,000 smart hub competition to support insights into the management of our city centre.

2.      Agree to Belfast City Council to joining the Mastercard ‘City Possible’  programme and that, following engagement with Legal Services, a MoU is signed between the Council and Mastercard.

3.0       Main report

3.1       The Smart Belfast programme encourages collaborative innovation between our universities, digital SMEs and the public sector to tackle urban challenges and support public service transformation. Delivery of the programme is driven by a ‘pipeline’ of projects specifically chosen for their capacity to contribute to the Urban Innovation framework agreed by Members in 2017. The latest information on the programme is available at http://smartbelfast.city  Members are asked to note a number of current and planned pipeline projects:

            £20,000 Smart hub challenge

3.2       As Members may be aware, a number of outdoor ‘smart hubs’ are being installed in various locations across the city centre over the coming months by UK company, Wildstone. These hubs will provide a range of features including electronic advertising, public WiFi, phone-charging and public defibrillators, etc. The hubs will have also provide access to on-street real-time information. For example,  Belfast’s tourism partners are currently working with them to provide real-time information to visitors.

3.3       Each hub will also have a range of smart ‘Internet of Things’ sensors and potentially will offer the ability to measure footfall, air quality, etc. The City Innovation team have introduced the company to QUB’s Centre for Wireless Innovation who exploring opportunities to work with Wildstone on cutting edge experimental networks in the city centre.

3.4       Wildstone would also like to encourage local digital SMEs to take the opportunity to use the Smart Hubs to address a real city centre challenge in innovative ways. They are therefore proposing to fund a smart city competition for SMEs, the winner of which will receive up to £20,000 to develop their product or service idea.

3.5       They have invited the City Innovation Team to work with them to define and promote a challenge that supports the Belfast Agenda; advise on the competition guidelines; sit on the judging panel; and provide practical support and guidance to the winning company. (The Council is not being asked to provide funding for the competition).      However, it is being provided with the opportunity to align the competition to city challenges.  The launch of the competition is January 2019 with the winning company deploying its solution during Spring 2019.

3.6       Members are asked to agree that the Council will provide in-kind practical support and promotion for the £20,000 smart hub competition to support insights into the management of our city centre.

            Mastercard ‘City Possible’ programme

3.7       Following engagement with Mastercard at the Smart Cities Word Expo in November 2019, Belfast has been invited to join their ‘City Possible’ programme which aims to bring together up to 200 ‘smart cities’ over the next three years to address common urban challenges (https://citypossible.com). The objective is for cities to work with the digital industry to co-develop, pilot and then scale smart city solutions. Partner cities already include Liverpool, Dublin, Helsinki, Baltimore and Athens.

3.8       Belfast City Council has been invited to sign a memorandum of understanding with City Possible. There is no membership fee associated with the programme; at this stage cities are only asked to participate in sharing learning and to explore future opportunities for work on joint challenges. Initial discussions have explored joint working on tourism spending patterns, city centre retail, Mobility as a Service, and the development of a Belfast smart district.

3.9       Members are asked to agree to Belfast City Council to joining the City Possible programme and, following engagement with Legal Services, that an MoU is signed between the Council and Mastercard.

            ‘Last Mile’ Freight delivery challenge

3.10      Following previous committee approval, the Council has been working with Dublin City Council, the NI Department for Infrastructure, the Belfast BIDs, the NI Freight Transport Association, on a €240,000 SBRI competition to support the companies to develop innovative proofs of concepts for managing freight deliveries in both Dublin and Belfast city centres. The aim is to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.

3.11      Three companies have been selected for Phase One work in Belfast over the next three months: ‘ParkUnload’, ‘WeBringg’ and ‘UPS’. Proof of concepts being explored will include a ‘micro-distribution centre’ that will consolidate certain deliveries at a location on the edge of the city centre, with follow-on distribution by electric bikes and carts. Another concept will explore managing designated loading bays via a mobile phone app and Bluetooth technology.

            SBRI challenge for managing open space

3.12      As Members will be aware, the Council is also working with the NI Department for Justice, the Community Safety Partnership and other agencies, on a £110,000 SBRI competition to support the better management of public space in the city (including our parks).

3.13      Sixteen companies applied to competition and five SMEs were selected to develop phase one proofs of concepts. The companies include CIVICA, Pitchbooking, Bann Technology, SpparoWatch, and iSensing. Concepts being developed for our parks will include a community reward programme, real-time facilities management, and remote sensing using IoT devices. 

3.14      Each company will receive up to £20,000 for phase one (which runs until the end of March 2019). Due diligence checks are being undertaken prior to contracts being issued.

            Urban Healthy Living Learning Workshop

3.15      Work is now ending on a six-month air quality project that used satellite data and local air quality sensors to study the relationship between traffic pollution and levels of diseases such as asthma, diabetes and COPD in Belfast’s inner city communities. 

3.16      The £200,000 project was funded by the UK Space Agency and partners included Smart Belfast, DAERA, Belfast Health Trust and four digital SMEs and the University of Leicester. The project has produced insights that has clinicians from the Health Trust believe could help support future caseload management.

3.17      Ulster University has recently agreed to appoint a Phd researcher to work with the City Innovation Team to continue to explore insights from the data over the next years. The group have also bid for a further £1.4 million for a much more ambitious Phase Two – which if successful will kick off later in 2019.

3.18      The project team have arranged a showcase session on Monday, 14th January at City Hall (12 noon to 3pm) to share their learning with city partners and to consider the wider implications for city management. Members are invited to attend.

3.19      Financial & Resource Implications

            The 2018/2019 programme budget for Smart Belfast was agreed by SP&R Committee in November 2017. Most of the funding in the above projects has been secured through successful funding applications to a range of organisations.

3.20      Equality or Good Relations Implications / Rural Needs Assessment

            Equality and good relations implications will be taken into consideration and it is proposed that we will take this through equality screening; however, it is anticipated that any collaborative efforts should have a positive effect on Section 75 groups.  At project level, equality and rural needs assessment will be undertaken when developing projects.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.