Overcoming COVID-19: How local authorities can use IoT & digital technologies to tackle COVID-19 and spur recovery

Local authorities are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiencies of operations, to streamline processes, and to cut down costs whilst improving the livelihoods of residents and built environments. Local authorities need to address the key challenges facing their economies and communities during this pandemic, and manage the transition from emergency response activity into long-term recovery support. Central to this will be managing operation efficiencies and cost-cutting without compromising quality of service delivery Join Digital Catapult’s online masterclass on Wednesday, 7 October 2020 exploring the value of the internet of things for local authorities, government bodies, and service providers and how key challenges can be overcome.

The internet of things (IoT) and other advanced digital technologies can enable local authorities and councils to deliver better services and efficiently manage local infrastructure. Deploying advanced technologies can dramatically bring down costs and spark innovation within local boroughs by providing vast amounts of actionable and insightful data.

The government has provided £3.2bn extra in support for councils to meet the additional budgetary pressures caused by COVID-19, highlighting the scale of the challenge. This impacts many areas of business as usual including the following:

• social distancing/isolation metrics
• optimised parking
• enabling of independent living for the vulnerable
• analysing impact of construction sites on air pollution
• footfall monitoring
• effective waste disposal management
• reducing the burden on health and care services.

IoT has huge potential to transform local authority service delivery offering simple, low cost, low maintenance means of connecting thousands of “things” to the internet, such as care homes, parking spaces, rubbish bins, traffic lights and housing estates. However, full exploitation of the benefits by local authorities has yet to be reached as deployments can appear costly and technologically daunting. This webinar will be delivered jointly by Digital Catapult and Connected Places Catapult – both organisations are well-versed in the real issues facing local authorities, technical requirements required for an at-scale deployment and can support your organisation every step of the way.

Why attend

This masterclass will provide an introduction and deeper understanding into how the internet of things and other digital technologies can equip local authorities, government bodies, and service providers with the tools to transform infrastructure, deliver services, and support residents and users.

We’ll cover:

• Introduction into the internet of things
• The impact of COVID-19 on local authorities and budget cuts
• Case studies and use cases from other local authorities who have made significant change
• How to use IoT data as a revenue stream ie. smart parking tickets
• How the Catapult Networks can support local authorities to get involved
• Introduction to the IoT4LA programme, a jointly-run effort between Digital Catapult and Connected Places Catapult to support local authorities in making the first steps towards deploying IoT and advanced technologies

Who should attend

This online masterclass is designed for councils and local authorities, environmental, health or social care organisations, government bodies, and service delivery providers struggling to identify the right technology partners that will meet their specific needs in a rapidly evolving market.

Next steps

To join this masterclass, please register interest below.