Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to help London become digital world leader

The details are included in a new ‘Smart London plan’ released by the Mayor today (19 December) which sets out how he intends to use digital expertise to tackle challenges posed by the capital’s increasing growth.

In his ‘Smart London plan’ the Mayor’s team set out how the transformation of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into thriving new neighbourhoods provides a unique opportunity to showcase how digital technology can improve the way we experience cities. The aim is to use the Park as a testing ground for the use of new digital technology with transport systems and energy services. New technology would potentially be used to help people planning to visit the Park and on new Park transport schemes like electric bikes or electric car charging points. Smart technology is already being used to provide zero carbon renewable energy on the Park, and it would also be used to track residents energy use so that they would be able to easily find out whether simple changes in behaviour might allow them to run their homes in cheaper and more energy efficient ways.

The Park has already secured the presence of iCITY – a one million square foot digital quarter for London that will support the growth of London’s technology sector. iCITY is underpinned by the most advanced digital infrastructure in Europe - almost unlimited bandwidth connectivity, the highest capacity power, and London’s highest capacity data centre delivered by Infinity. It was also recently announced that University College London would work with the Mayor on plans to bring a new centre for culture and heritage, a design school, a new biotech hub and an educational technology centre, as well as a space for entrepreneurs on the Park.

The population of London is expected to approach 10 million by 2030. We will have at least another 641,000 jobs, another 800,000 homes and more than 600,000 extra passengers will need to travel by public transport at peak times by 2031. There will be the challenge of dealing with increasing waste and meeting extra pressure on healthcare and energy supplies.

Earlier this year the Mayor appointed a board of digital experts with the brief of establishing how technology and innovation can be used to meet those challenges head on. The ‘Smart London’ plan released today is the first detailed assessment of how the Mayor will achieve that.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “London is blessed with an extraordinary array of digital expertise. We have more tech firms than any other European city and this plan is about using that talent to ensure that we are able to spur new jobs, encourage growth and respond to the amazing increase in population that is happening here. I want to harness the extraordinary creativity and technical prowess of our IT wizards to ensure we miss no opportunity to use intelligent technology to maintain London’s claim as the world’s number one city.”

In the ‘Smart London plan’ released today the Mayor’s team of experts set out how they believe new technology and innovation can be used to help the capital work in a better way. Those plans include:
· Establishing a Smart London Innovation Network that will bring London’s entrepreneurs and innovators together with the organisations already delivering and financing London’s new infrastructure and services.
· Launching a Smart London Innovation Challenge that will ask entrepreneurs, researchers, businesses and Londoners to develop creative solutions to challenges posed by the growth of the capital.
· Increasing the uptake of computer science in the capital’s schools and doubling the number of businesses taking on technology apprenticeships.
· Ensuring London has one of the fastest wireless networks in the world.
· Working with London’s boroughs on ‘smart approaches’ to shared challenges through freeing London’s local level data and scaling up innovations across London.
· Creating a ‘Smart London’ export programme that will sell London’s expertise to the world.

Today the Mayor called on all Londoners, businesses and universities to view the plan, feedback their thoughts submit their own ideas online at: www.talk.london.gov.uk/smart-london

Dennis Hone, Chief Executive, London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “There can be no better place to seek to showcase the Smart London Plan than on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It is home to the iCITY technology and creative cluster which will create thousands of jobs in the digital and creative industries and boost east London’s economy.”

Professor David Gann CBE, Vice President (Development & Innovation) at Imperial College London and Chair of the Smart London Board, said: “London is better placed than other global cities to exploit current technological innovations to improve the way we live, work and play. Our world-class universities, Tech City cluster and pioneering citizens endow the capital with a peerless combination of specialist talent. The Smart London Plan provides the leadership we need to secure London’s future for next generation digital infrastructure to create a smarter city. We cannot afford to stand still. Londoners get that, businesses need it, and the Mayor is taking action to deliver it.”

Sir Nigel Shadbolt Chairman of the London Data Institute said: “London is an open data pioneer. The London Datastore was one of the first platforms of its kind and the products and services that have been built using it have delivered direct social, economic and environmental benefits to Londoners. By placing open data at its core, the Smart London Plan becomes an important catalyst for opening up more data in a usable and accessible form. But it is critical that all those involved in this initiative understand that opening up data is not, in itself, enough. Developing better businesses and services for Londoners using open data will require high-level political effort and investment long in to the future. The ODI looks forward to working with the Mayor and his team in pursuit of these goals.”