London has joined forces with other European cities in a €25m programme to trial smart technologies that can improve the lives of citizens.
The Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse initiative will see London, Milan, Lisbon, Warsaw, Bordeaux and Burgas undertake a variety of projects to create and trial smart city systems that could be adopted by other European cites and help dive technology adoption across Europe.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich in London has been selected as a demonstration area for smart city systems and initiatives.
This will include smart parking bays, shared electric bike schemes, using the River Thames to heat homes, and using digital systems to better manage energy supply and demand to cut carbon emissions and bills for residents.
Greenwich appears to be the London hotspot for testing new city-level smart technology, particularly as it is a location for driverless car testing.
London mayor Boris Johnson boasted how London is growing at a record rate and needs smart city systems to support the infrastructure.
“We need to harness our incredible technical prowess and look to what new approaches and technological innovation can bring,” he said.
“By leading this ground-breaking international project we will be able to share ideas with our European counterparts as we work to create a city that is fit for the future and an even greater place to live, work and visit.”
Various other organisations will assist the London programme, including the Future Cities Catapult, Siemens and Imperial College London.
Similar projects will be tested in the other participating European cites, and the wider goal is to develop a model for data sharing across the cities to make use of the information gathered from the smart city trials.
This will involve a common data sharing platform to take information and use it to change the way cities and their services and communities work.
London might be the focal point for the UK’s involvement in the Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse initiative, but it is not the only UK city exploring smart city systems.
Glasgow is a pioneer of smart cities with its use of smart lighting and Uber-style services to evolve technology use.
Source: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2442414/london-explores-smart-city-systems-in-eur25m-european-tech-programme