Eight in 10 (83 per cent) Scottish citizens believe their local councils should embrace a wider range of digital technologies, according to new research commissioned by Capita on behalf of the Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN).
The research explores the attitudes of Scottish citizens to increased digitisation and to the internet of things (IoT), finding that 69 per cent of Scottish residents said digital access to local government services influences where they choose to live. Overall, the research shows people living in Scotland are keen to see more digitisation, underlining the importance of fast, reliable connectivity to enable the use of IoT and ‘smart’ technologies throughout the country.
Salford, in Greater Manchester, will launch the region’s first smart city accelerator in early spring 2020.
Sponsored by MediaCityUK–the country’s largest digital and creative cluster outside of London–the accelerator will be aimed at innovation companies which are looking to develop and demonstrate smart solutions for both build and environmental management.
Read more: GB: England: Greater Manchester: Salford to launch region’s first smart city accelerator
Smart cities are emerging slowly as municipalities begin to add features to help enable internet of things (IoT) connectivity for public transportation, insights into traffic situations and expanding network coverage for Wi-Fi and 5G.
Now, Boston Networks is close to 100% expansion of IoT coverage to Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Coverage of 99.7% has been achieved in Glasgow and 95% in Edinburgh, offering public and private sector organizations access to smart technologies in order to improve time efficiencies and provide data insights.
Read more: GB: Scottish cities may become first smart cities with 100% IoT coverage
Mike Kenworthy, assistant director of digital and ICT, joined Hull City Council several months ago with a remit of modernising the IT internally within the council as well as developing the digital strategy for the city as a whole.
This meant working with partners across the city on areas such as regeneration, economic development as well as improving life for citizens.
The UK remains well behind the leaders in Europe’s e-government league, according to the latest benchmarking exercise by global consultancy Capgemini.
It has given Britain an overall score 61% against ratings above 80% for the leading pack of Estonia, Austria, Latvia, Malta and Lithuania.