Tag Archives: emerging technologies

How smart is your city?

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Photo by Peng LIU on Pexels.com

by Scott Faulds

In recent years, cities across the UK have begun to explore how they can best capitalize on technological advances to help to create places which operate in a more efficient and sustainable way. The concept of the smart city is relatively wide-ranging; in basic terms, it can be described as an urban area that uses various forms of technology to gather data that can then be analysed to reveal insights about how citizens engage with their environment. The advent of smart city technology, and its ability to be installed in numerous forms across existing city infrastructure, means that it can often be challenging to assess and understand the success of its deployment.

A recent article published in Emerald Open Research – UK smart cities present and future: An analysis of British smart cities through current and emerging technologies and practices – aims to address this issue by providing an overview of the progress of 26 UK cities which are currently deploying smart city technology. The article attempts to analyse the current state of the smart city roll-out and evaluate the types of technology that are being installed. As the concept of the smart city is one that is fluid, each city’s implementation of the technology can vary, as can the success of the integration.

Designing a smart city evaluation framework

In order to understand the current state of the smart city rollout, the article employs a framework that can be used to assess what types of technology have been deployed and the current state of the deployment.

The following categories are used to classify smart city technology:

Essential services – 5G, full-fibre internet, Internet of Things

Smart Transportation – digital ticket booking, smart cards, electric vehicle charging points

Broad Spectrum – retrofitting buildings, digital social inclusion schemes, hackathons

Business Ecosystem – innovation hubs, co-spaces, tech entrepreneurial networks 

Open Data Provider – urban dashboards, urban models, big data

The state of the rollout of smart technology is evaluated on the following scale:

0 – no measures underway

1 – public announcement of plan

2 – study in advanced stages/detailed roadmap

3 – testing/trials

4 – installation of technology on smaller scales

5 – fully established and integrated into the city

By analysing relevant documents/news reports and applying the aforementioned framework, the article finds that the most common type of smart city infrastructure installed in cities across the UK is technology which enables the collection of open data. In particular, a group known as Smart Cities Scotland has been found to have one of the most advanced implementations of open data technology. This is due to the creation of an open source data platform which allows anyone to access the data collected and develop smart city technology that directly responds to the needs of these cities.

Approaches to deploying smart city technology

Through the application of the framework, London and Bristol were discovered to be the cities in the UK with the most advanced implementation of smart city technology; this was largely due to the widespread use of all of the categories. However, the authors also suggest that the steps taken by smaller cities, such as Dundee and Peterborough, are often of more interest, as they clearly show the two prevailing approaches to the implementation of smart city technology.  

The approach taken by Dundee is one in which cities select one or two smart city categories and focus on getting these technologies to become fully integrated and widespread. For example, Dundee has chosen to focus on the integration of open data (via Smart Cities Scotland) and smart transportation technologies, in a bid to create a fully sustainable transport network. An in-depth focus on these areas has enabled Dundee to become a leader in the switch to zero-carbon transport, through the creation of the Mobility Innovation Living Lab and the electrification of 20% of the local taxi fleet. However, whilst the implementation of open data and smart transportation technology places Dundee as a leader in these categories, their implementation of essential services or broad spectrum technology is poor when compared to other cities in the UK.

Peterborough, on the other hand, has taken an almost diametric approach and is focused on deploying a broad variety of smart city technologies, that will allow them to reach their goal of becoming a gigabit city and establishing a circular economy. The city has deployed a variety of online platforms, designed to engage citizens and business alike, to come together and share resources that will allow Peterborough to support and empower everyone in the city to minimize waste.

The future of the Smart City

As well as analysing the current state of the smart city rollout, the article also discusses the future of the smart city and sets out its expectations for the next decade. A key theme discussed is the concept of a more connected city, powered through 5G and increased network capacity, which will allow for city infrastructure to communicate and easily respond to changes in the way citizens are engaging with the urban environment. However, the article concludes that we are unlikely to see any major visual changes to our cities, apart from an increase in electric vehicles and their accompanying infrastructure. A great deal of the smart city technology currently being deployed in UK cities tends to occur behind the scenes, but, these changes will allow councils to harness the power of data to make better decisions about the future day-to-day workings of our cities.

To conclude, this article provides one of the first overviews of the state of the smart city rollout across the UK, allowing for a comparative analysis of the different approaches cities have taken to implement various forms of smart city technology. Establishing a framework of how to evaluate this progress allows those interested in smart city technology to assess which smart city technologies are most prevalent and which cities are at a more advanced stage of the rollout.

In short, this article will be extremely informative for anyone with an interest in learning more about smart city technology and its deployment in the UK.

Further reading
Articles on smart cities on The Knowledge Exchange blog

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A Scottish National Investment Bank: the solution to growing Scotland’s economy?

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By Steven McGinty

On 28 February, the Scottish Government’s ambition to establish a Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) moved one step closer, following the publication of an implementation plan.

Welcoming the plan, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (who announced the policy last September) set out why she believed the time was right for a Scottish National investment bank. She explained:

“To realise our ambitions for Scotland’s economy, innovative companies need access to strategic, patient finance to grow and thrive, while the business environment must encourage our young people to be the entrepreneurs of the future.”

What does the plan say?

The plan – developed by Benny Higgins, CEO of Tesco Bank – provides recommendations for the governance, operating model, and financing of the new bank. It proposes that the new financial institution should:

  • be publicly-owned and focused on creating inclusive growth
  • operate in an ethical and transparent way
  • be supported by £2 billion of capital over the first 10 years
  • work with private investors, not crowd them out
  • help creative new markets for private investment
  • provide investment for smaller and larger projects
  • become self-sufficient in the long-term, including raising its own capital to fund investments

Why a publicly owned bank?

The idea has circulated in British politics for a number of years, particularly since the 2008 financial crisis. In 2010, Lord Mandelson – then Secretary of State – seemed keen on the idea, even going so far as having fact finding lunches with representatives from the KfW banking group, Germany’s state-owned bank. In 2017, the UK Labour party manifesto included a proposal to establish a National Investment Bank and a network of regional development banks.

In Scotland, environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth have been working with New Economics Foundation and Common Weal to build a case for a national investment bank. In their 2016 report ‘Banking for the Common Good’, the group argued that the UK banking system is not fit for purpose, highlighting that over two million people in the UK don’t have a bank account and that 1,500 communities have no access to banking services. They also noted that small businesses struggled to access finance, particularly in Scotland.

The plan has also been influenced by the work of University College London professor Marian Mazzucato – a member of the Scottish Government’s council of economic advisers. At the launch, she explained:

“Innovation requires patient strategic finance, and there is simply not much of that in the UK. Yet around the world state investment banks are taking centre stage in providing such finance for key social and environmental challenges of the 21st century.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) have also published research on the rationale for publicly owned banks. This includes work by Nobel Prize winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz, who suggests state banks can help overcome market failures by promoting investments which lead to important social benefits. In addition, the report notes that state banks have the ability to invest resources in strategically important areas which the private sector has been unwilling to invest in. Providing this capital can be crucial for developing innovative technologies, helping them to emerge as profitable industries, and eventually creating economic growth.

Opposition to a Scottish National Investment Bank

In the Scottish Parliament, Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, claimed that the bank was just a re-announcement of previous policies, highlighting that there is already a Scottish Investment Bank, which sits within Scottish Enterprise.

However, this was robustly refuted by the First Minister, who argued that the new Scottish National Investment Bank was on a different scale and of a different nature to previous programmes.

National investment banks in practice

Germany – Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW)

The KfW is owned jointly by the German government (80%) and German states (20%). The bank raises about €60-70 billion each year through issuing bonds and due to its’ public status is able to provide loans at better rates than commercial banks. It has interests in a wide range of areas, from funding small and medium sized enterprises looking to export abroad, to cities looking to invest in new road infrastructure.

The bank has won a number of awards including ‘World’s Safest Bank 2016’ and ‘Best Responsible Investor 2016’.

Nordic Investment Bank (NIB)

The NIB was formed in the mid-1970s by five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. By 2015 the bank had grown to include three new members: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Based in Helsinki, its mission is to create a ‘prosperous and competitive Nordic-Baltic region’. This is achieved through funding projects that improve infrastructure, increase market efficiency, and support the development of new technologies.

In 2016, €3,373 million was disbursed in loans, with the largest share of lending going to local governments to fund wastewater systems, electricity transmission, and heat generation projects.

Final thoughts

Since the 2008 financial collapse, a number of political leaders have supported a national investment bank. However, what really matters is that any new bank – whether public or shareholder owned – is able to meet key economic goals, including increasing finance for small and medium sized businesses and supporting the technologies of the future.

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