North, internet of things (IoT) service and solutions provider, is working with six Scottish local authorities to provide real time data insights on waste management, air quality, social housing solutions, building health and water monitoring capabilities.
IoT Accelerator Packs, supplied by North, will be trialled but the councils alongside Scotrail, Blackwood Homes and Care and Borders College.
According to the project, if used in the right way the packs have the potential to transform the ways in which local communities live and work, as well as delivering a wide range of societal and economic benefits.
With access to the Scottish government-backed national Internet of Things network, IoT Scotland, and the packs, the organisations involved can investigate and evaluate the power of IoT technology.
Working closely with each organisation and council, North determined the services which would most benefit from smart solutions. Comprising of sensors and the back-end services, the IoT Accelerator Packs are accompanied with professional services to facilitate the rollout.
The North team will then evaluate and capture feedback, with deployment and support fully funded by the provider.
Fife Council has selected intelligent waste management technology. This will help to reduce their carbon footprint and operational costs using data to monitor smart bins, which align waste collection frequency with demand, reducing costs and emissions.
Scotrail, Edinburgh City, Angus and East Renfrewshire Council will have the ability to measure air quality within train stations, council buildings or across a busy town centre. The sensors will measure and report on temperature, humidity and pressure, alongside primary air pollutants. This will allow environmental teams to access and collate measurements in real-time more easily and frequently than traditional manual processes.
Similarly, Blackwood Homes and Care will be implementing the use of sensors within its social housing to monitor and improve living environments. This will ensure parameters such as moisture control and ventilation are adequate, providing a healthy living environment for tenants whilst also protecting the fabric of the building.
Borders College will use the technology to monitor levels of CO2 within the working environment across its building. With high levels of CO₂ saturation proven to have a detrimental effect on an occupant’s health, affecting productivity, comfort, absence rates and learning retention.
Aberdeen City Council will implement smart sensors to monitor its water, alongside Highland Council, which has already successfully adopted the smart IoT sensor technology across its schools, care homes, leisure centres and council offices to gather a range of data and insights. The addition of water monitoring is set to help each of the organisations maximise their water safety, by continuously monitoring and measuring water temperature to identify and reduce the risk of legionella and other bacteria.
Cabinet secretary for finance and the economy, Kate Forbes, said: “These innovative accelerator packs have been designed to help organisations explore Internet of Things (IoT) solutions which can deliver sustainable social and economic benefits for local communities.
“Digital technologies like IoT help drive forward our economic recovery while reducing business costs and enabling progress towards net-zero emissions.”
