Reading Borough Council and Stantec win ADEPT President’s Award for Digital Innovation and Technology

A smart cities project devised and developed by Stantec for Reading Borough Council has won an award for Digital Innovation and Technology at the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Places and Transport (ADEPT) President’s Awards.

The award, received at a ceremony on 27^th May, was given to the authority and its partners in recognition of the success of the Thames Valley Berkshire Smart Cities Cluster project.

This £2.1m project, which was funded by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through Government’s Local Growth Fund and the Business Rate Retention Pilot (BRRP), and devised by Stantec, has brought together all six of Berkshire’s local authorities to address complex local authority service delivery issues using new technology developed in the County by local businesses.

Among the new developments were an app to tackle social isolation, a device to monitor and minimise electricity consumption, a chatbot which answers frequent resident website enquiries, and sensors to prevent falls among elderly people living in supported accommodation.

It has also seen the rollout of a new Long Range Wide Area communications Network across the county which can be used with Internet of Things (IoT) devices to exchange data and monitor assets as well as a wide range of other applications, such as flood and frost warnings.

Stantec played an instrumental role in the project, designing the concept, developing the business case and securing the LEP funding. The project has been such a success Stantec is exploring adopting the electricity consumption technology internally to help achieve our own net zero commitments.

Bill Hicks, Head of Infrastructure at Thames Valley Berkshire LEP, said:

“We’re thrilled to receive this award for a project which has seen true partnership working between the LEP and the six Berkshire local authorities. This technology has wide-ranging and demonstrable benefits for many reasons and has already been used to transform local authority service delivery across a number of areas.

“Not only this, but we’ve injected capital into innovative local businesses who have created solutions to real life issues from scratch. We look forward to building on this success as we find more uses for IoT Technology which will benefit both residents and businesses. I’d like to thank the local authorities for their role in the project as well as Stantec for helping us to create meaningful outcomes in the region.”

Rob McDonald, Director of Future Mobility and Smart Cities at Stantec said:

“It has been exciting to work collaboratively with the authorities and with the enterprises that have demonstrated real innovation in addressing the challenges faced by the public sector in delivering its services. Whilst the last year has been challenging with the impact of COVID on all aspects of the project, we have been pleased to see not only excellent pilots within the project, but also the emergence of follow-on investment and opportunities for many of the pilots which is a testament to the quality of what has been achieved. It is great that ADEPT have recognised the achievements in Berkshire with this award.”

About Stantec
Communities are fundamental. Whether around the corner or across the globe, they provide a foundation, a sense of place and of belonging. That's why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind.

We care about the communities we serve—because they're our communities too. This allows us to assess what's needed and connect our expertise, to appreciate nuances and envision what's never been considered, to bring together diverse perspectives so we can collaborate toward a shared success.

We're designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers, innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Balancing these priorities results in projects that advance the quality of life in communities across the globe.

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