The Scottish Cities Alliance’s Smart Cities programme has won a further £15 million in European funding, bringing the total to almost £60 million.
The group said the new money, from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for Smart Cities, will enable it to scale up activity from phase one of the programme in areas such as lighting, waste, smart mobility, mobile working and IoT networks and move onto phase two.
This will involve a further focus on mobile working, including the development and deployment of mobile applications to access and update of data from business systems. It will also cover smart infrastructure projects using internet of things (IoT) technology.
Phase one has supported work on a number of projects including the development of open data platforms, sensor enabled smart waste bins, intelligent street lighting, smart mobility systems and smart infrastructure.
Cutting edge tech
Ivan McKee, Scotland’s minister for trade, investment and innovation, said: “Our announcement today of £15 million for the Smart Cities programme is brilliant news for our cities. The funding will enable the local authorities to strengthen their collaboration and bring even more cutting edge technologies, like open data and intelligent street lighting, to residents across Scotland.
“This £15 million from the ERDF for smart cities supports the Scottish Government’s aim to remain open, connected and make a positive contribution internationally. Thanks to this funding, the people of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling will continue to see their public services become smarter, greener and more integrated.”
In 2015, the Alliance launched its Smart Cities Scotland identity with the announcement that it had been allocated up to £10 million from the ERDF, which was matched with £14.1 million from the cities.
