London & Bristol leading the way in smart city technology

Report from Huawei and Navigant research ranked top 10 “smart cities” in the UK. London and Bristol are leading the way in adopting smart city technology in the UK, according to Huawei’s first UK Smart Cities Index. Other cities included as contenders were Manchester, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Leeds and Peterborough, while Navigant ranked Nottingham and Sheffield as challengers.

The study, which was carried out by Navigant Research, looked at the breadth and depth of smart city strategies across the 10 leading UK smart cities, assessing specific programmes across digital innovation, social care, urban mobility, energy education and sustainability.

Navigant spoke city leaders and stakeholders about smart city strategies, projects and performance, and looked at supporting documents, to evaluate each city.

Huawei and Navigant assessed cities based on five criteria: Vision, digital innovation, service innovation, sustainability plan, stakeholder engagement.

With a score of 80.5 London, Navigant explained, was a pathfinder for a number of innovations including the congestion charge, and shown a strong commitment to open data and data analytics.

Bristol also performed well, scoring 80.2, with Navigant praising its “Bristol is Open” joint venture with Bristol University, that seeks to deliver research and development initiatives on the development of a smart city and the ‘Internet of Things’.

Huawei UK chairman Lord Browne of Madingley said: “In commissioning the UK Smart Cities Index, our aim is twofold: to highlight and celebrate the best practice across the UK and to identify policy challenges and barriers which national and local government need to overcome for cities to become smarter.

“This index provides an excellent overview for city leaders and councils, demonstrating how significant Smart City projects can, and have, been implemented successfully up and down the UK, and the benefits they have brought to local communities.”