Edinburgh launches new smart city strategy

Edinburgh City Council has approved its latest smart city strategy which incorporates plans to boost digital inclusion and sustainability.

The Digital and Smart City strategy 2024 – 2027 is aimed at accelerating the city’s technological transformation, and follows a previous strategy launched in 2020 which the council says has made “significant progress in using digital tools to improve the city’s infrastructure and services”.

“Our biggest priorities for Edinburgh are to create good places to live and work, tackle poverty and inequality and become a net zero city – our smart city approach is central to all three of those aims,” said Cammy Day, the leader of Edinburgh Council.

“We’ve achieved a lot in the last three years to make council services more efficient and accessible and to improve connectivity – but we have a big ambition to make sure every resident, regardless of background or ability, has access to affordable digital services and the skills they need.”

Progress

Since the launch of its previous strategy in 2020, the city council says it has made progress in a number of areas, including:

• Better website accessibility standards and translation tools to improve online access to council services.
• Greater connectivity through better digital infrastructure, including citywide fibre networks and public Wi-Fi, making internet access inclusive.
• The introduction of integrated real-time public transport information and 24/7 monitoring of busy areas.
• A focus on improving digital literacy, equipping people with the skills to participate in online activities and gain employment.
• Installing 11,000 bin sensors around the city to help waste crews identify hot-spot areas for bin collections and plan routes efficiently, keeping the city clean and green.
• The installation of damp sensors into 500 homes to help detect early repairs and to promote health and wellbeing.
• Mandatory cyber training for all council workers to build resilience and digital safety at a time of increased attacks on large-scale organisations.

“We plan to build on our use of smart technology to improve day-to-day council services, and we’re looking at using data monitoring to better understand how people get around and use the city,” added Day.

“Edinburgh is a growing magnet for tech and we plan to partner with universities, companies and start-ups to further grow and attract global investment.

“By embracing innovation, we can improve the quality of life for everyone who lives and works here.”

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