All Ireland Smart Cities Forum Launches

Cork, 9 December 2016:

Advancing smart city programmes across Ireland is the focus of the All Ireland Smart Cities Forum, which was launched this week at the “Getting Smarter about Smart Cities” event in Cork, hosted by Minister for Data Protection, Dara Murphy TD, in conjunction with Cork City Council and Maynooth University. 

This collaborative initiative, supported by Maynooth University, will see 7 cities working together to share insights, support collaborative research and advise stakeholders on collective city priorities. The cross border initiative includes local authority representation from Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Belfast and Derry who together will explore common challenges related to implementing smart city policies and projects.

Speaking at the launch, All Ireland Smart Cities Forum Chairperson, Professor Brian Donnellan said, “All over the world, rapid urbanisation is putting enormous stress on resources and infrastructure which cannot be solved in a traditional way. For example, vulnerability to climate change, growth in energy consumption, water and waste management, demand for food production, in addition to the need for better citizen participation and more effectiveness in public service, amongst others. However, cities can remedy these challenges by adopting a new approach and embracing innovative solutions and smart technologies to not just manage problems, but to enhance sustainability and competitiveness.”

“The All Ireland Smart City Forum will foster collaboration and enable cities across Ireland to identify pragmatic solutions for shared smart city challenges, exchange experiences and work together to develop cities that are livable, sustainable and prosperous.”Claire Davis, Programme Manager, Cork Smart Gateway.

Various smart projects are already in operation across Ireland which address major common concerns including flood detection systems, waste and water management tools, LED lighting projects, agritech, smart retail and tourism innovations and smart congestion and parking solutions. The forum will work to share best practice learning’s from these projects and collectively drive Ireland’s smart agenda.

For more information, please contact: Claire Davis, Programme Manager, Cork Smart Gateway, claire_davis@corksmartgateway.ie

About Cork Smart Gateway

A smart agenda is being developed in Cork, one which will build on the existing assets, attributes and experiences in the region and will help position Cork as a ‘World-Class Smart Region’.

The Cork Smart Gateway is a smart city and smart region initiative which was established by Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Nimbus Research Centre and Tyndall National Institute to pursue and facilitate the delivery of this agenda.

The Smart Gateway aims to enhance the reputation of Cork as an attractive place to live, work, visit and invest. A place where public infrastructure and public service provision utilise best in class technology solutions and one which allows all stakeholders to participate in decision making and enjoy an enhanced environment. This initiative will compliment and support the already large number of organisations in Cork who are working on smart solutions to improve the physical realm, from energy conservation to open data. The Smart Gateway will create a forum to allow these organisations to share and collaborate together while also marketing the Cork region as a smart destination internationally – www.corksmartgateway.ie

About Smart Dublin

Smart Dublin is an initiative of the four Dublin Local Authorities to engage with smart technology providers, researchers and citizens to solve city challenges and improve city life. They aim to position Dublin as a world leader in the development of new urban solutions, using open data, and with the city region as a test bed.

 Objectives of the Smart Dublin Initiative include:

• To stimulate the economic competitiveness of the Dublin Region, through collaboration between private, public and academic partners.
• To drive public sector efficiencies and improve services by using the Smart Dublin platform to call out for innovative solutions to identified city region challenges
• To promote transparency and open government through the publication of local government data on the Dublinked open data portal in open, free and reusable formats

Smart Dublin is delivering a programme that encourages the creation of solutions to address city needs. It has an emphasis on using the opportunities offered by emerging technology and public data available through Dublinked- Dublin’s open data platform. Smart Dublin has identified mobility, environment, energy, waste and emergency management as priority challenges – www.smartdublin.ie