IoT services provider North is to implement a smart waste collection scheme as part of the city of Edinburgh’s vision to become a smart city.

North has signed a five-year contract with IT and business consulting firm CGI to support Edinburgh Council’s plans to transform the capital.

The deal is supported by a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant as part of Scotland’s smart city programme. Edinburgh Council will deliver three projects budgeted at £6.4m, of which £2.5m is part of the ERDF grant. Funding secured by the council from Zero Waste Scotland through its Recycling Improvement Fund will also be used towards the scheme.

The development of a smart city operations centre aims to transform and enhance city management and the citizen experience by using data captured through a range of emerging technologies to drive transformational change. Driven by CGI’s smart city platform, North was selected to provide smart waste sensors and connectivity through the IoT Scotland network.

Intelligent sensor data will be used to develop and drive improvements for better waste management, transmitted using North’s IoT Scotland network, allowing Edinburgh Council to improve services across the city.

The project will see North provision 11,000 smart waste sensors in waste containers throughout the city. The technology will enable waste management by detecting waste levels and predicting usage trends, enabling the council to optimise waste collection and manage routes more efficiently. The smart technology should help create a cleaner and greener city and reduce the council’s environmental impact.

The IoT Scotland network will also be used to transmit data for other critical services to enhance the council’s digital vision. In parallel with the waste project, the council will roll-out a digitally enabled proactive service for social housing across the city, using the IoT Scotland network.

This will capture insightful data through real-time management and monitoring of the conditions in social housing properties. The proactive approach for the maintenance of properties and asset management will deliver efficiencies for the council while enhancing the living conditions of their residents and improving wellbeing.

“Edinburgh has big ambitions for becoming a world-leading smart city, a digitally inclusive, sustainable and connected capital with services that are easily accessible by all of our residents no matter where they are,” said Edinburgh Council deputy leader Cammy Day. “The use of intelligent sensors will help us to deliver a more digitally-enabled proactive service and address many of the challenges a rapidly growing city like Edinburgh faces and will support our work towards providing clean and green communities, meeting our net zero targets and improving living conditions and wellbeing for all.”

Scott McEwan, chief commercial officer at North, added: “Edinburgh is one of seven Scottish cities working collaboratively on a smart city programme. The introduction of the smart city platform will enable the council to reach its ambitions efficiently and North is proud to accelerate this vision. The use of technology to introduce intelligent waste management services will create a cost-efficient solution to everyday duties, while improving the streetscape and health of communities, and increasing sustainability. Working with CGI, the roll-out of the smart waste scheme is an important step that will help Edinburgh reach its ambitions.”

And Tara McGeehan, UK and Australia president at CGI, said: “Edinburgh is a vibrant and diverse capital city that is home to more than 518,000 citizens and CGI has been the primary provider of transformational ICT services to Edinburgh Council since 2015. We very much look forward to taking Edinburgh’s vision of a smart city and making it real through our innovative use of technology, analytics and data. Together, we will turn Edinburgh into one of the world’s leading smart cities.”

North provides intelligent integrated technology that transforms the way people, organisations and places work, with expertise across the IoT, networking and connectivity, and safety and security. North operates IoT Scotland and provides affordable and accessible connectivity to businesses and organisations across cities, towns and rural areas enabling them to tap into the use of smart sensor technology.