The £4.4 million research project, funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) through the £22.9 million ADEPT SMART Places Live Labs programme, will use innovative technology to look at ways to improve the quality of Suffolk residents’ lives, by revolutionising some of the services the highways deliver across urban, rural and coastal areas throughout the county.
The new communications campaign aims to engage with and inform Suffolk residents on how smart technology is being used to adopt a far broader social function. Examples of this include: collecting data to improve maintenance interventions such as gully cleansing and gritting in winter; adapting street light levels to ensure the right light is in the right place at the right time; monitoring air quality; and reviewing how to support council services such as adult and social care.
Suffolk County Council is working with Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT), BT, University of Suffolk, Proving Services and British Standards Institute to deliver the project, which will not only benefit residents of Suffolk but could help highways authorities across the rest of the UK, as well as internationally.
The funding has been granted by DfT as part of the Live Labs programme, developed to help transform the use of digital innovation and smart data use in the highways sector. The Live Labs programme includes eight authorities across the country, with Suffolk being one of the largest projects. Visit Live Labs - Transforming Local Places | ADEPT for more details.
