Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, has published its new Smart Belfast Urban Innovation Framework. The centrepiece of the framework, which sets out how the city will use technology and data to address issues such as the cost-of-living crisis, as well as meet strategic goals, is a smart district spanning the city centre, according to an article from the platform Cities Today. There is a particular focus on the climate, the economy, urban design, health and resilience.
As the home of corporate companies, research institutions and co-working hubs, among others, the city centre is ideal for testing new ideas and technologies that “maximise investment opportunities, while directly addressing the challenges associated with the city centre”, according to Councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown, Chair of Belfast City Council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, in the article.
The district will develop through individual initiatives. The first will be a £1 million collaborative innovation funding call in the spring or summer that explores the potential of mixed reality (XR) technologies to “re-imagine the city centre experience”, explains the article. A challenge fund competition will also launch in the spring to support local entrepreneurship, and a waterfront programme on the city’s “maritime mile” is ongoing.
Funding for the smart district comes from the Belfast Region City Deal, which is providing £120 million for digital investments across the city. Additionally, the council’s City Innovation Office is “working with partners to maximise the opportunities for innovation through £2 billion of private and public sector capital investments”, Mark McCann, Belfast’s City Innovation Programme Lead, told Cities Today. em
