Cambridge has made it into Britain’s top 10 smartest cities for the first time this year showing the rapid progress of the pioneering Smart Cambridge programme, supported by the Greater Cambridge Partnership.

The city has jumped straight to 10^th place in the second UK Smart Cities Index report published by Huawei UK this week (23 Oct) because of its pioneering work using data and technology to help improve transport, air quality and other urban challenges.

Peterborough and Milton Keynes are also top ten smart cities. Together with Cambridge they are part of a growing ‘smart region’ at the cutting edge of emerging technology, which is driving the regional economy.

The report commends Cambridge for its collaborative work in cutting edge research, setting up an Intelligent City Platform to collate real-time data, establishing a Lora network and enabling innovative Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Cllr Francis Burkitt, Chair of Greater Cambridge Partnership, which established the Smart Cambridge programme in 2015, said: “We are delighted that Cambridge is featured among the top ten of this year’s Huawei Smart Cities Index along with neighbouring Peterborough and Milton Keynes, which shows we are a smart region realising the benefits of collaboration at the cutting edge of emerging technology.

This is a great accolade for our growing Smart Cambridge programme, which is using data and technology in smart ways to improve transport, air quality and connectivity for people living and working in and around the city.”

The rapidly evolving programme has been allocated £1.6million by Greater Cambridge City Deal over the next three years, as part of its investment plans to improve the transport infrastructure and promote economic growth in and around Cambridge.

The report can be found here.

Watch the Smart Cambridge video and view the Smart Cambridge guide here.

Background

The report is based on evaluations of 20 cities and their strategies, key projects and overall readiness in using digital technology to improve crucial civic services from transport infrastructure to healthcare.

Cambridge is one of 12 “contender” cities, which also include: Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Milton Keynes, Glasgow, Nottingham, Peterborough, Oxford, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Newcastle. The overall leader in the report is Bristol, followed by London.

The Huawei UK Smart Cities Index rankings were calculated by an in-depth analysis of ten criteria within the cities’ strategy and execution, covering areas such as their vision, digital innovation, implementation record, environmental impact and community reach.