In 1879, Mosley Street in Newcastle became the first street in the world to have electric lighting. Now, Connexin in partnership with Cisco and Newcastle City Council has installed multiple sensors and cameras to make this same street the smartest in the UK.
Connexin has built a network of sensors in to the street’s bins, road surfaces and lights that will together provide intelligence about how the city is working.
The Cisco Kinetic for Cities platform will track and monitor data to demonstrate what is possible in an environment where you add digital technology to a road in a normal city.
As the key delivery partner on the project, Connexin is working within an eco-system of partners. The project lead Cisco is providing the Kinetic for Cities platform; Mayflower is providing the smart lighting; Newcastle University’s Urban Observatory is collecting data in real-time; Quantela are providing advanced analytics tools and a smart artificial intelligence engine called Atlantis.
From 22 June until 09 September, visitors to Newcastle will be able to experience a number of applications of smart city technology throughout the Great Exhibition of the North. These will be available at the smart street installation, and through data displayed on screens throughout the city and integrated with the exhibition through the Wayfinding App.
Furqan Alamgir, Founder & CEO, Connexin said:
“Just like all those years ago when electricity began to run through our streets -connecting our cities will open up possibilities that haven’t even been imagined yet.
No single organisation can make smart cities happen on its own. Governments, businesses, the education sector and citizens need to work together to grasp the opportunity. The sum is way greater than the individual parts. This project is a perfect demonstrator of all the parts working together.
This project will be that leader that will show and enable and inspire people to see what can be achieved if technology is mixed with people.”
Stu Higgins, Head of Smart Cities and IoT, Cisco UK and Ireland said:
“Newcastle has innovation in its DNA, and we are thrilled to be working with Newcastle City Council and our partners to create the UK’s smartest street, and to build on the pioneering innovation which took place on Mosley Street over a century ago.
The creation of smart places through the deployment of Internet of Things solutions brings amazing possibilities to enhance the lives of people living and working in a place. It is this type of innovation which is crucial to the UK cementing itself as a global digital leader.”
