Technology is the answer…but what was the question?
It is always worthwhile heading back to Cedric Price’s famous quote when thinking about building smart societies and what cities are striving to achieve in this space. Huawei UK announced last week that Bristol has become the UK’s leading “Smart City” in the second UK Smart Cities index report, overtaking London in the number one spot.
The report commissioned by Huawei UK and conducted by Navigant Consulting, is based on evaluations of 20 cities and their strategies, key projects and general readiness in using digital technology to improve crucial civil services from transport to healthcare. In a move which shows the strides being made across the UK in this area 20 cities are now being profiled compared to just 10 cities in 2016.
At Perform Green we have been directly involved in the required innovation, determination and original thinking that has supported Bristol taking on the top spot by working with Bristol City Council on solutions that will help the people of Bristol. Yes the technology is there underpinning the overall strategic direction, but the real, tangible results have been built from a strong vision and collaborative relationships.
What are we talking about?
Well, Bristol’s move up the rankings is directly linked to two key projects that our teams have been involved with.
Project One: Bristol’s Smart Operations Centre
Publicly launched on October 16th 2017, a rather dry name doesn’t do justice to the role the centre plays in managing the daily demands of Bristol and surrounding areas. That includes safety, accessibility and flow of the city through to its Traffic Control, incident management, Community Safety (CCTV) and telecare services. The centre now offers a world class cooperative and collaborative workspace, bringing council and city departments together, to work in a truly integrated manner for the first time.
Perform Green have driven the programme from construction and build of the space, to the delivery and integration of the people, technology and services. Yes the technology platforms are there to ensure true integration can be delivered across CCTV, traffic and police but a huge amount of effort has to be put in by every single member of each team, to change their working behaviours, habits and culture to really make a project like this work.
Project Two: Bristol is Open
The joint venture company between Bristol City Council and University of Bristol has provided large scale infrastructure for R&D, allowing testing of future technologies at a city wide scale. The focus and drive behind Bristol is Open also attracts tech and creative companies to the region and supports their efforts in developing new ideas, technologies and relationships with the community, to create products that people of a place really want.
In a real life scenario, what does this mean?
So even though technology is part of the solution some primary elements are really key to what has placed Bristol in the lead:
- collaboration between multiple organisations, sectors and industries.
- community engagement and keeping the people of a place at the heart of the overall ambition.
- making the smart digital vision REAL in terms of cost savings for the city (major priority) while continuing to improve services and deliver more for every penny spent and for every person.
None of the above are easy to manage, especially not against a backdrop of austerity.
Barney Smith, a man with many hats who has been Programme Director for Bristol City Councils Smart Operations Centre through to launch, and Interim CEO for Bristol is Open stated:
“By working across both of these pioneering programmes of work we have had to drive an openness around communication, create new ways of working together across departments and reimagine the thinking around how to make both of these projects commercially viable.
The long term legacy for the people of Bristol will be to improve their day to day life, from the congestion on the roads to air quality and healthcare provision, this can all be radically improved. The recent Operations Centre launch is the very start of the journey for the city. I am extremely excited about some of the practical ways in which technology will inspire a better living environment for everyone.”
What does that mean for me as someone living in Bristol?
To try and put some of this into context, here are a couple of examples of how technological developments in Bristol could have an impact on your life.
Going Missing, Getting Found
“ My elderly father is living alone with dementia, 25 miles away from me. He’s so happy at home and wants to stay where he and mum lived for most of their lives, but I’m worried.
Dad’s been wandering during the day and is going further away from home — twice now, we’ve had to get the Police involved when we couldn’t find him after 4 hours, they have been fantastic, but if he were to get into real difficulties, it could cost a lot more than Police time! — I know that this can’t go on, his safety is so important, but I have a real moral dilemma.”
This is where the team at the new Bristol Smart City Operations Centre could help.
Bristol City Council, working with Police Missing Person Co-ordinators and Avon and Somerset Dementia Forum, have set up a pilot scheme to address this very issue. The scheme is now providing a wearable, location-based support device and tech based platform to a group of vulnerable adults with dementia and their families or carers. The pilot is there to help those that are repeatedly going missing and are putting themselves and others at risk, they have reached out requesting support and opted into the pilot. With the support of the Police, using the Buddi GPS monitoring system, Bristol City Council are providing people 24hr monitoring support should they be reported missing, wander outside of a ‘virtual safe zone’ or have a fall — all co-ordinated and supported by the Bristol Smart City Operations Centre.
The project can not only help save Police resource — it can cost upwards of £1700 per hour to launch a Police helicopter to help locate a vulnerable missing person with dementia — but can help keep people out of hospitals and care homes to continue to live at home. Empowering increased independence and making cities be more liveable for everyone is a key value at Perform Green and what is so important as part of building smarter societies.
Incidence Response — increasing response times & keeping the city moving
Currently 50% of the world’s population live in cities, this is predicted to grow to 70% by 2050 or 6.5 billion people (source BRE Trust: 2014 — UK). The demands placed on a city as populations soar require greater speed and efficiency in our response times, here is an example in how Bristol can try to keep a city moving…
The CCTV Operators in the Bristol Operations centre notice that someone has collapsed on the pavement of a very busy main road in the City Centre in the middle of rush hour. The team not only notify the emergency ‘blue light’ services that they need to attend, with first hand detail and location, but pass on this information immediately to their Traffic colleagues, now working alongside them in the Centre. The traffic team are then able to respond to the build up of traffic in that location, by switching and adjusting traffic light sequences and/or updating digital signage to help keep the City moving, as well as ensuring that the emergency services can reach their patient and do their job efficiently and quickly. This information in turn, can be passed onto the First West of England Bus Radio team (who also now work alongside ) who can inform drivers of the issue, traffic build ups and make quick and informed decisions to keep their services running by picking alternative routes.
Well that is certainly a lot to take in.
With the ambitions of all the other cities in the UK and the aspirations of market towns adopting this thinking too, it is going to be an exciting few years ahead as we reimagine our futures together.
So back to Cedric Price’s quote, technology isn’t necessarily the answer.
The key question is how can we build smarter societies that cost less to run and deliver more? This has to come down to the challenges and the people, with technology being part of the digitally inspired solution, it is amazing to see Bristol making such strides and leading in such a competitive space.
Huawei Smart Cities 2017 Index Rankings
- Bristol — Leader
- London — Leader
- Manchester — Contender
- Birmingham — Contender
- Leeds — Contender
- Milton Keynes — Contender
- Glasgow — Contender
- Nottingham — Contender
- Peterborough — Contender
- Cambridge — Contender
- Oxford — Contender
- Aberdeen — Contender
- Edinburgh — Contender
- Newcastle — Contender
- Belfast — Challenger
- Sheffield — Challenger
- Reading — Challenger
- Liverpool — Challenger
- Cardiff — Follower
- Exeter — Follower
Originally published on www.performgreen.co.uk, visit the site for more details on Smart Societies and the teams involved in building them.
This is our first outing on Medium but watch this space as we start to bring more content about building smart societies, the opportunities and challenges ahead in delivering digital advantage to cities across the UK.
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