Bradford launches smart city networks

Two new networks have been launched by Bradford Council to support the roll-out of smart city technologies.

According to the council, the new networks will bring opportunities for research, development and commissioning of smart city initiatives, attracting technology entrepreneurs to the district and creating business opportunities.

Smart city technologies enable a city to collect actionable data about things like traffic congestion, air quality, water quality and energy use in buildings.

For example, Bradford Council is developing a project with the University of Bradford to support live monitoring of water levels in three locations along the Bradford Beck to help provide early warnings of flood risks. Further locations are planned to be added later in the year.

The networks will also support the gathering of other non-personal data which will be shared with computer science students and technology businesses, enabling them to develop new products and services such as apps and devices for the market — helping to grow the local and regional economy.

In another example given by Bradford Council, this technology could help elderly people to live more independently at home, by using information generated by sensors and wearable technologies to monitor health conditions and falls and alerting healthcare professionals of when a situation becomes urgent.

Kersten England, Bradford Council’s chief executive, said: “It’s exciting to have the launch of this pioneering technology in Bradford.

“These new networks will help us to all play an active role in facilitating the development of new devices and the next generation of apps and also create new business opportunities.

“We want to make our district a technology hub, developing the next big digital revolution creating these new smart cities devices and use the data collected to help shape the future of our district.”

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