City of York IoT Plans

City of York talks about plans to use IoT for smarter transport and better public housing.

19:27 19 July 2018

Roy Grant, City of York’s head of ICT, has confirmed the council’s plans to use Internet of Things (IoT) for smarter transport and better public housing. An advocated of LoRaWan, Mr Grant wants to utilise the network in building smart city solutions and extending them into rural areas. York has already deployed a LoRa wide area network around the city under a deal with its managed service provider Pinacl Solutions.

 

“The big advantages in LoRa are the lower power requirements, and it’s so agile,” he says. “The fact that you can lift and shift these things, as long as they are in range of the base stations, is the beauty.

 

“We can throw access points up overnight and, because they are not permanent, you can strap them to anything. The agility of a LoRaWAN platform is very refreshing.

 

“Because it is a maturing market the sensors and their uses are going to develop, and the market opportunity for people who provide the technology will grow very quickly. In the past few months we’ve seen a change in the quality and adaptability of sensors.

 

“I think we’re at a tipping point where it’s beginning to become mainstream and should be part of our default thinking as authorities and providers of housing. In the residential space it seems to have stuck and it should be moved into our thinking.”