The Future Cities Catapult (FCC) has set up a network to accelerate the adoption of AI and analytics among city authorities.
Named Urbain, it is open to representatives from public authorities and industry and researchers, and is aimed at creating new market opportunities for business and cities.
FCC – the Government backed organisation aimed at advances innovation in city management – said the network will be focused on building confidence among bodies ready to invest time or resources in new products, and developing an ecosystem of businesses to pilot new products with city authorities and point out funding opportunities.
Rob Whitehead, programme director for knowledge and communications at FCC said: “The launch of Urbain demonstrates what Future Cities is all about. By bringing together leading operators across business, government and academia, we are creating the connections that will deliver the opportunities presented by AI.”
Among the plans for Urbain to put together multi-partner teams for research funding and provide connections between authorities and AI service providers.
It is also looking for tightly defined use cases and case studies of AI in cities, and has encouraged members to share material through the social media handle #urbainUK.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
