London’s £19bn tech sector is the largest in Europe. And it represents a major opportunity to unlock the capital’s enormous potential, writes Steven Bage.
Pioneering innovations are now being seen on London’s streets, with autonomous robots delivering parcels in Southwark and driverless vehicles being piloted in the Greenwich area. What is all the more remarkable, however, is that these projects, and so many others, are being delivered by tech firms that are often having to use outdated and substandard digital connectivity.
Evolution
Fast and affordable digital connectivity – whether wired or wireless – must now be regarded as the fifth utility, critical to ensuring a thriving tech sector and the evolution of London as a smart city, and to ensuring that agile working practices can be widely adopted.
The City of London Corporation and the City Property Association recently launched the Tech X The City report at Mipim 2017, which outlined the need for the Square Mile to continue to be adaptable to the changing needs of tech businesses and the way emerging tech will accelerate the pace of change and lead to significant disruption of traditional City industries.
The corporation is making significant strides to improve digital connectivity in the Square Mile, and has recently announced a deal with Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd (CTIL). The partnership is working on a world-leading WiFi network that will be free to use and more technologically advanced than that of New York City, our closest financial competitor. The deal also includes 400 4G “small cells” to be built by 2019, which will offer enhanced mobile coverage at street level, and will ensure that the City is in a leading position to adopt 5G when it becomes available in 2020.
We have worked in partnership with a number of other bodies in developing a standardised wayleave toolkit to speed up the installation of broadband and reduce costs for all parties. Developed in conjunction with major broadband operators and landlords, the toolkit has been endorsed by RICS, the BPF and the mayor of London and is now being widely used across the property and telecoms industries, having been downloaded several thousand times.
More needs to be done to facilitate world-leading connectivity across the capital. The GLA and London boroughs have a vital part to play in ensuring that policies support the mayor’s connectivity rating scheme promoted by WiredScore. A common approach must be adopted by planning authorities in agreeing WiFi and small cell technology as a priority to increase London’s profile as a global centre.
Smart technology
With more than 450,000 workers travelling to the Square Mile each day and 5m visitors a year, other forms of connectivity are equally as important. The City, in conjunction with Transport for London, has used smart technology to undertake pedestrian and traffic modelling at Bank junction. The findings highlighted the need for a safer public realm for road users.
Based on this analysis, an experimental safety scheme was launched on 22 May, under which vehicle access through Bank junction is restricted between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday, for a period of up to 18 months. Only buses and pedal cycles will be able to cross the junction. The main aim is to deliver a safer area, reduce casualties and improve air quality at the junction. There is also an expectation that bus journey times will be reduced.
The corporation, along with New London Architecture, is also supporting a series of smart city competitions over the course of 2017 which will elicit cutting-edge, data-based solutions for enhancing the Square Mile.
Three competitions, hosted and run by The City Centre, will challenge experts to tackle various areas, including green spaces and buildings, with the winning idea up for consideration for implementation by the City of London Corporation.
London needs to up its game to ensure that it can join the elite ranks of other global smart cities. Finally, the necessary infrastructure must be deployed to ensure that the tech sector is nurtured to its full potential and that Londoners can be the first to benefit from new innovation.
Steven Bage is strategic infrastructure adviser at the City of London Corporation
