IET highlights smart city 'apathy'
Only 18% of the British public has heard of a smart city, according to research carried out by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Its report, Smart Cities – Time to involve the people, shows that only 18% of those questioned had heard of the term, and that minorities saw the value in some of the strongest areas of potential.
These included 29% who thought 'intelligent' streetlights would be useful, 25% who were interested in buildings that generate their own energy, and 23% who thought sensors embedded in roads could have value.
Alan Howard, the IET's head of thought leadership, said: “Promoting ‘lessons learned’ from pilots like those in Glasgow, Peterborough, Bristol and London will help inspire, inform and influence more local authorities and communities about how technologies can improve the quality of the daily lives of their citizens.
“It’s also important that public authorities, businesses and service providers understand the innovations and issues that people want to see in smart cities and communities – and put greater emphasis on the human and societal outcomes of their initiatives.”
Blockchain-as-a-service for the public sector
Blockchain infrastructure provider Credits has gone into partnership with Skyscape Cloud Services to offer blockchain-as-a-service to the UK public sector. Credits provides a platform for organisations to build blockchains for dealing with the challenges of establishing provenance, authentication and reconciliation faced by many industry sectors, including central and local government as well as other public sector bodies.
It has been working in partnership with the Isle of Man Government on several initiatives. including the first known government service to be run on blockchain.
Skyscape's assurance and security credentials are suitable for all data at Official level and it is a certified provider for the Public Services Network.
New IoT lead at Digital Catapult
The Digital Catapult has announced the appointment of Caroline Gorski (pictured) as the head of internet of things (IoT). She will be responsible for developing and driving innovation in the IoT, which is critical to the Digital Catapult’s overall mission to develop breakthroughs for the UK’s data sharing movement.
Gorski has more than 20 years of experience as a strategy consultant and has worked with names including Telefonica, Sodexo, Pearson, TATA Group and Forrester Research. Most recently, she established Telefonica UK's Internet of Things business unit, and was involved in developing products in the Connected Car and Connected Home sectors.
Civica acquires IPL
Software company Civica has announced the acquisition of IPL, which builds and managers business-critical software solutions. The company has a focus on supporting digital transformation from concept to implementation, and its customers include the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Environment Agency, Highways England and Kent Police.
