Agenda item

Wolverhampton Digital Infrastructure Strategy

[To consider the attached report which was received by Cabinet on 22 January 2020 on the Wolverhampton Digital Infrastructure Strategy. The decision by Cabinet was, “that the Wolverhampton Digital Infrastructure Strategy be approved”]. 

 

[A presentation will also be given]. 

Minutes:

The Digital Innovation Champion, Councillor Beverley Momenabadi gave a presentation to the Panel on the Wolverhampton Digital Infrastructure Strategy.  She commented that the Council was committed to future proofing the Digital Infrastructure within the City.  One of the ways to do this was through the rollout of full fibre.  She spoke about bringing 5G to the City, which operated at a speed ten times quicker than 4G.  5G had the potential to deliver services more efficiently.  The demand for greater digital connectivity was accelerating.  She cited the example of businesses increasingly using the software package, Microsoft Teams.  This package had the ability to allow you to connect to colleagues in a different way.  It had an instant messaging service and could facilitate conference and video calls, which meant less in person meetings were needed.  5G would allow more mobility for businesses and using a package like Microsoft Teams could transform the way a business worked.

 

The Digital Innovation Champion stated that a study had been completed by Regeneris in January 2018.  Their study had predicted that over 15 years full fibre would lead to a £27 million direct impact, £64 million business impact and £58 million of benefits to households in Wolverhampton.  The Council were working closely with West Midlands 5G and developing use cases, exploring how 5G could be used to improve service delivery and productivity through test beds.  Local businesses in the City could benefit through involvement in the test beds and the WM5G application accelerator allowing them to explore the opportunities that 5G could provide to their business.  All four mobile phone network operators had announced the roll-out of 5G in Wolverhampton.  Wolverhampton was the first in the nation to have a 20 metre, 5G Mast.  It was hoped that the digital investment would make Wolverhampton more attractive to big companies to establish themselves in the City. 

 

The Digital Innovation Champion remarked that they wanted Wolverhampton to become a “Smart City.”  Bristol was currently considered the UK’s leading Smart City.  A short video was shown to the Panel about what Bristol were doing and what Wolverhampton could aspire to in the future.

 

The Digital Innovation Champion commented that full fibre and 5G offered great opportunities with the traffic management system.  There were also great opportunities in the monitoring of air quality, public safety solutions, the control of street lighting, car parking, smart waste collecting and the monitoring of footfall.  The new smart lamp posts would be able to monitor day light to determine when to turn on.   Wolverhampton Homes would be piloting a Smart Device proof of concept in five homes embracing Internet of Things, which included temperature and humidity sensors, Smart boilers, Smoke and CO2 alarm and energy monitoring.  She outlined the timetable over the next few years for Wolverhampton becoming a Smart City. 

 

The Digital Innovation Champion described a future opportunity known as 3D Mapping.  This allowed realistic modelling of Wolverhampton allowing a better visualisation of the current environment.   An area where 3D modelling would be useful included, public consultations showcasing new schemes in 3D, promoting city investment opportunities and supporting funding bids.  She cited a second example as smart planning, where planning applications could be viewed from every angle to assess impact of change and determine feasibility allowing fast track planning.  She cited as a final example smart traffic management where live traffic reports would be overlaid redirecting traffic.  A short video and VR demo was shown demonstrating the use of 3D modelling solutions. 

 

The Digital Innovation Champion gave some details on Esports (electronic sports).  It was the second fastest growing entertainment and media sector in the UK growing 21% year on year.  Global Esports revenue was set to reach £1.1 billion in 2019 a year on year growth of 26.7%.  Esports had 450 million viewers globally.   Wolves Esports was the professional gaming arm of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.   The Wolves Esports team had signed the 14th and 16th globally ranked Esport players and were the first Premier League Club to sign a Brazilian. 

 

A Member of the Panel commented that only four responses had been received to the formal consultation and he asked why this was and who had actually responded.  The Digital Innovation Champion responded that the consultation had been available online.  There had also been posts about the consultation on the Council’s Facebook social media page.  The Manager of Strategic Project Funding responded that the two responses were from residents and two were from other interested party’s.      

 

A Member of the Panel commented that it was the right decision for the Council to appoint a Digital Innovation Champion, as communication was key.  Digital Innovation was clearly of huge importance to the City.  He asked how the Council was able to determine what the correct priorities were of the strategy, particularly given there was a small response to the consultation.  The Digital Innovation Champion responded that Officers were well informed and were not powering ahead blinkered.  The Officers had setup a Digital Infrastructure Programme Board working alongside Highways and Regeneration, to reduce the amount of disruption.  The Director of Strategy commented that in addition to the formal consultation there was a broader engagement period including the pre-decision process and engagement with organisations like West Midlands 5G.  The strategy was formulated on a very strong business case including a strong economic case.  The ongoing dialogue and consultation would be with the development of the use cases.  Digital Infrastructure was an enabler of how the Council Plan was delivered and this could include changes to the way services were delivered.  In September 2019, the Chair of WM5G, Igor LePrince had commented that there was no 5G in some internationally known major cities such as Paris and Munich, but there was in Wolverhampton.  

 

The Director for Communications and External Relations commented that 5G was critical to the connectivity of the City and would help to give Wolverhampton a competitive advantage in the future.  Wolverhampton was further advanced in this area than some of the neighbouring cities in the West Midlands.  5G could form an important part of marketing and branding the City in the future. 

 

The Panel expressed their thanks to the Digital Innovation Champion and the Officers supporting the work of Digital Innovation within the City.        

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