City council aims for strategic partnership with company to develop new technologies
Milton Keynes City Council has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ICT solutions provider Huawei to design and build new technology concepts for smart places.
It says the two parties wish to begin discussions on a strategic relationship in which they could work with other partners in the region.
The statement from the two emphasised the potential of using internet of things (IoT) technologies for the management of city facilities such as lights, parking places, waste bins, buildings and energy grids.
Last year Milton Keynes was named one of the UK’s top smart cities in the Huawei UK Smart City Index conducted by Navigant Consulting. It is now establishing itself as a location to trial and test new city technologies and attracting investment from companies working on the internet of things (IoT).
It has been active in the field through its membership of the MK:Smart consortium, led by the Open University, which is developing solutions to support growth in the city.
Previous projects
The city’s projects in the development of smart places have included its involvement in the pilot of the CAPE energy saving portal, and a trial in using data from sensors on connected bicycle lights.
Council Leader Pete Marland said: “We believe that innovative technologies are key to addressing the various city challenges that we face and help us better serve our citizens.
“Milton Keynes has the ambition to develop the core assets of our city into an overarching concept as a smart city, including a well developed ecosystem of companies and citizen engagement that supports this ambition.”
Image from Huawei, detail of report cover
