Sunderland has won Digital Leaders UK's Smart City of the Year 2020 award.
Gaining recognition on a national scale as the UK’s fastest growing smart city with this eagerly awaited appearance in the DL100’s top spot, illustrates the advanced smart agenda and digital achievements from across Sunderland over the past year.
Outcomes and successes of the Smart City’s implementation to date, include:
- Upgrades to vital digital infrastructure connecting the city through the continuing rollout of free ultrafast public WiFi with download speeds surpassing the first 5G cities
- Local school, Hudson Road Primary, speeds increased from 13Mb to over 650Mb, enabling virtual teaching and on-line coding clubs
- Social housing tower block tenants in the city centre also benefiting from free ultrafast connectivity
- Transport solution for traffic mapping to inform future traffic flow and allow real-time traffic management
- Expansion of the National Assistive Technologies test-bed, delivering solutions into 350+ properties to enable vulnerable people to live safely at home, reducing social care intervention
- Significant investment securing plans for ubiquitous connectivity to all Sunderland premises
