The Liverpool tech community gathered on the 7th November 2019 to network and discuss the opportunities and challenges surrounding sensor technology and internet-of-things. The event was organised by Whitecap Consulting and Sensor City and featured various speakers sharing their insight and experiences in the sector.

Stefan Haase, Director Whitecap Consulting: Smart City A Market Overview

Stefan provided an overview of the market opportunity for sensor technology and the current global trends in the sector:

  • The Smart City market was valued at $737 billion in 2018 and expected to increase by 250% to $2.6 trillion in 2025.
  • Stefan also provided two case studies of pioneering smart city examples: smartPORT in Hamburg and CityZone in Tel Aviv.

Dr Joanne Phoenix, Executive Director, Sensor City: Smart Ecosystem, Liverpool City Region Approach

Joanne was our second speaker and provided an introduction to Sensor City – an innovation hub backed by the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. The hub bridges the gap in innovation by bringing together both academic and industry players, specialising in sensor technology.

  • Sensor City provides rapid prototyping facilities and access to sensor and IoT tech support
  • It also has over £1m of state of the art equipment and access to expert engineers and academics to provide hands on support to deliver proof of concept developments

Danny Jennings, IoT Solutions Development, Arrow – IoT, Digitalisation and Smart Cities

Arrow is a sensor and IoT solutions based in UK and USA. Danny Jennings presented an Arrow case study of a city implementing a smart city initiative – Drammen, Norway.

  • Sensor technology can be used to track water and air quality, helping governing bodies measure pollution levels
  • Another sector that holds a significant opportunity for IoT is Healthcare –  helping connect data from the home to the hospital

Ann Williams, Liverpool 5G Consortium / Liverpool City Council: Smart Health & Social Care

Ann Williams was next up to present the work Liverpool City Council have done in the IoT space. Much of the innovation in the public space is being led by cost-cutting solutions that can provide the same quality of services in new ways.

  • Liverpool City Council have brought in a 5G network, providing a faster network in key areas of the city
  •  One of the ways this 5G network is being utilised is in the adult social care sector – whereby care operators communicate with patients using a connected video device

Upendra Dharmadhikary Vice President, TechMahindra: Smart city cases from Tech Mahindra.

Tech Mahindra joined us next to present their work across numerous countries in the sensor technology space.

  • The Tech Mahindra smart city initiative in Singapore helps citizens better navigate the city-state by providing real-time traffic, live CCTV video angles of busy roads as well as real time parking availability.
  • Further examples showed how Tech Mahindra are developing smart solutions for energy management in Milton Keynes and waste disposal in Jabalpur, India.

Mark Lowe, Business Development Director, Pinacl Solutions: Smart City Blueprint, the key to success.

Our final speaker was Mark Lowe from Pinacl, which has 35 years of industry experience in smart city technology.

  • Pinacl have worked with numerous councils across the UK helping to implement both public WiFi networks as well as Internet-of-Things devices that manage air quality, smart lighting and road safety.
  • A specific solution Pinacl have worked on involves a smart device that helps monitor social housing temperature, humidity, and CO2 to help predict damp and mould.

 

The next event in the Sensor City & Whitecap Consulting Smart Series will focus on Smart Healthcare & MedTech, and will include speakers from Liverpool Health Partners. This event will be hosted at Sensor City, Liverpool on the 4th February 2020. Register here.