Bristol’s ongoing smart city transformation has picked up pace with the launch of a new five-year strategy including an updated approach to innovation to help solve the challenges facing its citizens.
Bringing together existing smart city functions such as the Bristol Operations Centre, Bristol is Open, City Innovation Team and Connected Cities Programme, the city’s first Smart City Strategy outlines a responsible innovation approach to the problems and issues facing the city.
The strategy takes an holistic approach to refocus our innovation to a challenge-led approach – tackling the real world problems of citizens and the city – and identifies six pillars. This approach acknowledges that smart cities need a smarter council willing to work in new ways conducive to innovation:
Working with stakeholders, the City Office and other partners across the city, the strategy will be updated regularly and aims to ensure smart city projects will provide opportunities to more people and communities to assist in the city’s inclusive growth and help towards solutions to issues such as public safety, traffic congestion, energy poverty and health and social care.
The Connecting Bristol strategy will support the One City Plan, which outlines the vision for the city up to 2050 in areas such as Connectivity, Health and Wellbeing, Homes and Communities, Economy, Environment and Learning and Skills.
It was was unveiled during the Bristol and Sweden Future Cities Summit at City Hall on 12 September 2019, where stakeholders from industry, research as well as the city council and Scandinavia discussed their respective approaches to enhancing cities via innovation, green energy, sustainable transport and connectivity.