A public-private consortium has been selected for a £10 million project to establish an Internet of Things hub in the UK.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has selected Manchester for the UK’s Internet of Things (IoT) City Demonstrator prize, with the ensuing project to be led by a consortium comprising Manchester City Council, Cisco UK, software platform developer PrismTech, Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Manchester, BT, MSP, and other organizations. The project is called CityVerve, and has the general aim of using IoT development to improve community, culture, energy, environment, healthcare, and transport.
It’s going to use technologies like PrismTech’s Vortex Intelligent Data Sharing Platform device—and cloud-based data transmission, and more broadly the project will see the development of innovative technological systems like a biometric sensor network aimed at improving chronic respiratory issues, physical activity trackers in parks and along commuter routes, smart lighting, air-quality monitors on lamp posts, and so on.
Governments in Britain have been eager to get ahead of the curve with respect to the Internet of Things; earlier this year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £40 million investment into IoT R&D, and in summer Innovate UK announced its own £10 million prize for IoT projects. Given the significant growth expected for the IoT, these could prove to be very smart investments in the near future.
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