Miranda Matoshi the Council’s ERDF Project Manager; Council Leader Cammy Day; Scott McEwan acting CEO at North
The City of Edinburgh Council Leader Cammy Day has officially opened a new City Operations Centre.
The new centre has been delivered in partnership with IT service and solutions provider North as part of a £2.6m contract, funded by the Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2014-2020 programme known as ‘Scotland’s 8th City – the Smart City’, which is contributing £712k in grant funding towards the project.
Replacing an outdated control centre which was no longer fit-for-purpose, the new smart Operations Centre will be manned and receive real-time data from the CCTV network 24/7. This will integrate other technologies which will help to improve traffic flow, transport infrastructure and city planning – subsequently improving the city’s collective carbon footprint.
Given the accessibility to real-time data, advanced analytics will drastically help the Council and partners respond to emergencies and manage large-scale events like Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and August Festivals.
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “This new operations centre has been years in the making and it’s fantastic to see it live in action. With low-carbon technology designed to keep the city moving and our communities safe, it drastically steps up our capabilities as a Council.
We’ve completely overhauled the technology we use within the control centre and across the city – replacing outdated analogue cameras with internet-enabled devices. This means we can analyse events and traffic in real time. Particularly as our city grows, our investment will support the safety of the public and wider community, deterring and preventing anti-social behaviour and crime like we sadly experienced on Bonfire Night and Remembrance Sunday.
