City of Edinburgh Council has revealed details of its plan for a new CCTV control room as part of its City Operations Capability project.
It said is making a £2.6 million investment in the control centre and high definition cameras through deal with internet of things service and solution provider North.
The project, which is scheduled for completion in September, will involve North integrating the security system with traffic and transportation platforms to support city operations.
The council said this will improve efficiency, quickly identify and address issues, provide simple and rapid retrieval of footage, and integrate with remote security systems not connected to the existing control room.
It added that this will lay the ground for integration with other technologies such as air quality sensors, smart parking applications, flood sensors and intelligent camera analytics to monitor low emission zones.
North is also providing apprenticeship opportunities, work experience placements and volunteer schemes as part of the deal.
Big ambitions
City of Edinburgh Council Depute Leader Cammy Day said: “Edinburgh has big ambitions in becoming a world leading Smart City – a digitally inclusive, data rich and sustainable city with services that are easily accessible by all of our residents no matter where they are in the city, or what their circumstances are.
“We’re looking to deliver a more digitally enabled proactive service to help make everyone’s lives in our Scottish Capital better and so we can continue our work towards ending poverty, meeting our net zero targets and improving wellbeing for all.
“With this smart city partnership with North we’re looking to make transformative differences to the way we manage our city - gathering real time intelligence to improve safety on our streets, manage services more effectively and better serve the wellbeing of our residents.
“Through North, alongside our other partners, we believe we’ve found a strong partnership that will deliver on our world leading vision, changing the way we provide our services to all, while improving our communities.”
Scotland's Smart City
The City Operations Capability project is jointly funded by the City of Edinburgh Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme named Scotland’s 8th City – the Smart City.
The project with North is also part of Edinburgh’s 2050 City Vision strategy. Speaking to UKAuthority in 2020, the council’s director of resources Stephen Moir said it wanted to integrate the CCTV system with police, bus companies and the roads network through the operations centre.
Image from iStock, Mario Guit
