Public-private consortium wins £10m Internet of Things investment for Manchester

Manchester has been awarded a £10m investment boost by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport after a public-private consortium won a national competition for the city to be named the UK’s Internet of Things (IoT) City Demonstrator.

Working alongside Manchester City Council, the multi-sector CityVerve consortium included BT, the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, service and property partner MSP, tech giant Cisco Systems UK, media firm Kiltr and festival operator Future Everything.

Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester City Council, said: “I’m delighted that Manchester has been selected as the UK demonstrator city to test and demonstrate how the imaginative use of smart technology can make a real positive difference to our people and businesses.

“The lessons learned from this project should benefit the country as a whole.”

Speaking further, Sir Richard said he believes the “pioneering” work the city is carrying out on devolution makes Manchester the “perfect test bed” for an IoT hub.

He continued: “Our plans build on Manchester’s strong tradition of public, private and academic partners working together for the greater good.

“They are focused on Corridor Manchester, our innovation district, home to the largest clinical academic campus in Europe and the UK’s leading science and technology park operator, MSP.

“The Corridor has already generated £3bn of investment - supporting 21k jobs in the knowledge economy alone. As such, it’s not just important to Manchester’s economy but to whole goal of helping to rebalance the country’s economy.”

Now, a UK IoT Centre of Excellence will be created at Manchester Science Partnerships’ city centre campus, where SMEs and startups will be able to access an innovation programme and work with global firms like Cisco to develop new smart city solutions.

Manchester Science Partnerships’ CEO, Rowena Burns, commented: “This is a huge win for Manchester and for the brilliant team which pulled the project together.

“The IoT Demonstrator will enable innovators, new and established businesses in every part of the economy to access world leading technology, and work together to develop better public services and new products - supporting our already flourishing digital technology sector, growing our economy, and making the city a showcase for technology-driven innovation.”

The managing director of innovation at Cisco Systems UK, Andy Chew, said he is “delighted” with the competition win.

He said an opportunity exists for tech companies in the UK to lead the IoT revolution, adding: “This consortium brings together the best ofManchester and the North’s IoT tech talent.

“Combined with Cisco’s industry-leading technologies and global presence, there is a powerful consortium that will establish Manchester as the Smart City, and open up digitisation opportunities for UK companies across the world.”

The chair of the Greater Manchester LEP, Mike Blackburn, called Manchester a city “built on innovation”.

He commented: “From business to healthcare information is a valuable resource, this project will enable us to better use it to enhance services, increase performance and improve efficiency.

“Science and innovation is key to Manchester’s economic future. This project will enable us to be an example for the rest of the country, showing how new technology can aid the delivery of both business growth and public services.”

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