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Glasgow To Be UK's First 'Smart City'

Posted by timothy on from the but-edinburgh-is-the-athens-of-the-north dept.

CowboyRobot writes "Once the 'Second City' of the British Empire, scrappy Glasgow — whose now-demolished Gorbals was once known for urban grimness on a par with Chicago's South Side or New York's Hell's Kitchen — has the chance for a whole new lease on life as the UK's first 'smart city.' The UK's government has just announced a $38 million (£24 million) grant to fund pilot projects in the city that show how mass deployment of sensors and real-time information can help local government run more efficiently while also boosting the quality of life for its 600,000 citizens. Glasgow won the prize in a competition among 30 British towns and cities for state help in looking at the possible contribution of smart technology."

7 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. This is smart? by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "mass deployment of sensors and real-time information can help local government"

    Sounds as much like Big Brother as Smart City.

    1. Re:This is smart? by TapeCutter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It has the potential to be either or somewhere in between, people who are certain they have fore-knowledge of the social consequences of this particular experiment are reveling more about themselves than the future.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    2. Re:This is smart? by Yaa+101 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Knowing the reputation of various UK administrations, it will be put to use to spy on people and fine them for small misdemeanors.

  2. Integration by kylegordon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And this is where integration with existing projects should come first, lest we end up reinventing the wheel. http://www.fixmystreet.com/ http://www.opentraintimes.com/ http://www.openstreetmap.org/ http://www.flightradar24.com/ the 45MB/min MIDAS Gold DATEX traffic information service from http://www.tih.org.uk/ - and many more. And by far not just travel related either, but lets not allow Glasgow to 'create' new apps and datasources that just replicate ideas and services that are already out there.

    I hope the administrators of this fund have a good long hard look through http://data.gov.uk/ for inspiration and partners to work with, and that we as users and techs can help push them to make the right choices.

    I've already emailed a few relevant parties. Have you?

  3. Re:Good news by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 3, Informative

    In Scots Gaelic, however, "glas" (ghlas) is grey, so yes, that works.

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    Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
  4. Scottish Smart City? by TWX · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sure, as long as nothing's voice-activated...

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    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  5. Smart is the new Organic by giantgeek · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Smart" is another overloaded buzz word that works well for marketing but is too vague to use to describe a city. Did you really mean to use more descriptive word such as efficient, effective, informative, or economical?

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    new letter/phrase: hex-u means "www"