How Bristol became the best smart city to live in UK

1. Smart Cities & Bristol Is Open
Barney Smith, CEO, Bristol Is Open

2. Bristol Residents
• 180km due West of London
• 450,000 people; the 8th most populous city in England over 110km2
• Grown by nearly 11% in last 10 years
• The population of Bristol has become increasingly diverse and some
local communities have changed significantly. There are now:
• over 15% not born in UK
• at least 45 religions,
• at least 187 countries of birth represented and
• at least 91 main languages spoken by people living in Bristol.
• Expected to grow by a further 23% over next 25 years (above national
forecast of 16%)
• A relatively young population

3. Wealth, Health & Wellbeing
• 9 year life expectancy difference for men between best and worst
wards (7 for women) (ave = M 78.3 & W 83.0)
• More people commute to work by bike or foot than any other City in
England and Wales
• Approx. 40% of the World’s wildlife film making has links to studios in
Bristol
• 13% of businesses are in the creative sector
• Home to one of Europe’s largest Robotics laboratories
• 2nd highest rate of business start-ups per head of pop. for a core city
• Largest number of patents per head of any core city (double national
ave.)
• Most productive tech industry in UK
• Digital GVA £1.8bn (with Bath)

4. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Engineers & Innovators

5. Other interesting facts
• In 2014 – was named the best city to live in the UK
• It has its own currency – the Bristol pound. The Mayor is partly paid
in it
• Wallace and Gromit (Aardman Productions) was created there –
statues are scattered around the city for a treasure hunt
• European Green Capital
• It has its own Energy Company – which champions social equality and
local renewables
• Banksy is based in Bristol

6. Home to Banksy

7. Challenges
• Inequality
• Growing population in same physical land area
• Prosperity bringing increased demand for space and parking
• Existing traffic challenges in Bristol: the most congested city in UK
(23km/h on main roads in peak hours)
• Municiple Austerity: (Rev & Capital)
• 2010 £550m (~€620m)
• 2016 £460m;
• 2020 ~£400m (~€450m)
• Demand for data services from growing industry

8. INTRODUCING BRISTOL IS OPEN

9. Bristol is Open is delivering programmable digital infrastructure, to facilitate R&D,
innovation and experimentation at a city scale.
A joint venture between the University of Bristol and Bristol City Council, BIO is a unique
combination of advanced infrastructure and an experimentation platform.
Collaborating with an ecosystem of academics, corporate partners, SMEs, and the citizens
and communities of Bristol, BIO facilitates experimentation, exploring the development of
software, applications and services.
Together, we are creating a smart society for smart citizens – and a smart future.

10. A Joint Venture Company between the Council & the University
‘Why’ are we doing this? ‘How’ are we doing this?

11. BIO Board & Advisory Boards
Graeme Hobbs,
Independent Chair
Nishan Canagarajah, Pro-
Vice Chancellor (Research
& Enterprise)
Neil Bradshaw, Director
Enterprise
Alison Comley, Strategic
Director, Neighbourhoods
Barra Mac Ruairi
Strategic Director, Place
Partnership
Strategy
Board
Dick Penny, Director, Watershed
Nick Sturge, Director, Engine Shed
Phil Winfield, Director, @ Bristol
Carolyn Hassan, Director, Knowle West
Media Centre
Alex Minshull, Head of Innovation, BCC
Sophie Ross-Smith, Project Manager,
UoB:BIO Engagement
Technology
Strategy
Board
Prof Dimitra Simeonidou, Chief Science
Officer (UoB)
Prof Andy Nix (UoB)
Dr Gavin Beckett (BCC)
Prof Misha Dohler (Kings College London)
Simon Fletcher (CTO, Real Wireless)
Glenn Ricart (Founder & CTO, US Ignite)

12. BIO Board
Graeme Hobbs,
Independent Chair
Nishan Canagarajah, Pro-
Vice Chancellor (Research
& Enterprise)
Neil Bradshaw, Director
Enterprise
Alison Comley, Strategic
Director, Neighbourhoods
Barra Mac Ruairi
Strategic Director, Place
Partnership
Strategy
Board
Dick Penny, Director, Watershed
Nick Sturge, Director, Engine Shed
Phil Winfield, Director, @ Bristol
Carolyn Hassan, Director, Knowle West
Media Centre
Alex Minshull, Head of Innovation, BCC
Sophie Ross-Smith, Project Manager,
UoB:BIO Engagement
Technology
Strategy
Board
Prof Dimitra Simeonidou, Chief Science
Officer (UoB)
Prof Andy Nix (UoB)
Dr Gavin Beckett (BCC)
Prof Misha Dohler (Kings College London)
Simon Fletcher (CTO, Real Wireless)
Glenn Ricart (Founder & CTO, US Ignite)
Former Chair,
Motorola Solutions

13. BIO Board
Graeme Hobbs,
Independent Chair
Nishan Canagarajah, Pro-
Vice Chancellor (Research
& Enterprise)
Neil Bradshaw, Director
Enterprise
Alison Comley, Strategic
Director, Neighbourhoods
Barra Mac Ruairi
Strategic Director, Place
Partnership
Strategy
Board
Dick Penny, Director, Watershed
Nick Sturge, Director, Engine Shed
Phil Winfield, Director, @ Bristol
Carolyn Hassan, Director, Knowle West
Media Centre
Alex Minshull, Head of Innovation, BCC
Sophie Ross-Smith, Project Manager,
UoB:BIO Engagement
Technology
Strategy
Board
Prof Dimitra Simeonidou, Chief Science
Officer (UoB)
Prof Andy Nix (UoB)
Dr Gavin Beckett (BCC)
Prof Misha Dohler (Kings College London)
Simon Fletcher (CTO, Real Wireless)
Glenn Ricart (Founder & CTO, US Ignite)
Professor, High
Performance Networks

14. BIO Board
Graeme Hobbs,
Independent Chair
Nishan Canagarajah, Pro-
Vice Chancellor (Research
& Enterprise)
Neil Bradshaw, Director
Enterprise
Alison Comley, Strategic
Director, Neighbourhoods
Barra Mac Ruairi
Strategic Director, Place
Partnership
Strategy
Board
Dick Penny, Director, Watershed
Nick Sturge, Director, Engine Shed
Phil Winfield, Director, @ Bristol
Carolyn Hassan, Director, Knowle West
Media Centre
Alex Minshull, Head of Innovation, BCC
Sophie Ross-Smith, Project Manager,
UoB:BIO Engagement
Technology
Strategy
Board
Prof Dimitra Simeonidou, Chief Science
Officer (UoB)
Prof Andy Nix (UoB)
Dr Gavin Beckett (BCC)
Prof Misha Dohler (Kings College London)
Simon Fletcher (CTO, Real Wireless)
Glenn Ricart (Founder & CTO, US Ignite)
Dean of Engineering &
Head of Communication
Systems & Networks

15. BIO Board
Graeme Hobbs,
Independent Chair
Nishan Canagarajah, Pro-
Vice Chancellor (Research
& Enterprise)
Neil Bradshaw, Director
Enterprise
Alison Comley, Strategic
Director, Neighbourhoods
Barra Mac Ruairi
Strategic Director, Place
Partnership
Strategy
Board
Dick Penny, Director, Watershed
Nick Sturge, Director, Engine Shed
Phil Winfield, Director, @ Bristol
Carolyn Hassan, Director, Knowle West
Media Centre
Alex Minshull, Head of Innovation, BCC
Sophie Ross-Smith, Project Manager,
UoB:BIO Engagement
Technology
Strategy
Board
Prof Dimitra Simeonidou, Chief Science
Officer (UoB)
Prof Andy Nix (UoB)
Dr Gavin Beckett (BCC)
Prof Misha Dohler (Kings College London)
Simon Fletcher (CTO, Real Wireless)
Glenn Ricart (Founder & CTO, US Ignite)
Chief Digital Officer,
Bristol City Council

16. Funding partners who are helping to make it happen

17. Watershed is a social enterprise and a registered charity, and the
leading film culture and digital media centre in the South West
At-Bristol is a two-floor science centre filled with interactive exhibits, activities and
live shows. Specialising in using the very latest multimedia techniques to inspire
people of all ages.
An arts organisation and charity supporting individuals and communities to get the
most out of digital technologies and the arts. In practice, this means providing exciting
and relevant ways for people to get involved in community activism, education,
employment, and local decision-making.
Stimulating long term economic growth. An exciting hub for activity where
entrepreneurs, business leaders, academics, students and corporates can collaborate,
inspire and be inspired, enable and be enabled.
The enterprise collaboration between the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter,
Southampton and Surrey. Supporting high tech start-up companies, providing
student enterprise and enabling academics to maximise the impact of their research.

18. Who we are working with so far
Experimentation
Partner
Experimentation
Partner
Experimentation
Partner
Software Defined
Network Capability

19. BIO Management Team
Barney Smith, CEO
Joan A. Garcia Espin,
Platform Delivery Director
Jessica Ellis, Customer
Success Director
Kelston Shiner, Finance
Director
Nina Taylor, Executive
Assistant

20. BIO Management Team
Barney Smith, CEO
Joan A. Garcia Espin,
Platform Delivery Director
Jessica Ellis, Customer
Success Director
Kelston Shiner, Finance
Director
Nina Taylor, Executive
Assistant
The Organising
Guy

21. BIO Management Team
Barney Smith, CEO
Joan A. Garcia Espin,
Platform Delivery Director
Jessica Ellis, Customer
Success Director
Kelston Shiner, Finance
Director
Nina Taylor, Executive
Assistant
‘The penny
stretcher’

22. BIO Management Team
Barney Smith, CEO
Joan A. Garcia Espin,
Platform Delivery Director
Jessica Ellis, Customer
Success Director
Kelston Shiner, Finance
Director
Nina Taylor, Executive
Assistant
Evangelism &
Partnerships

23. BIO Management Team
Barney Smith, CEO
Joan A. Garcia Espin,
Platform Delivery Director
Jessica Ellis, Customer
Success Director
Kelston Shiner, Finance
Director
Nina Taylor, Executive
AssistantThe Technical
Brains of the
outfit

24. BIO Management Team
Barney Smith, CEO
Joan A. Garcia Espin,
Platform Delivery Director
Jessica Ellis, Customer
Success Director
Kelston Shiner, Finance
Director
Nina Taylor, Executive
Assistant
Our Engineering Team:
IoT
Wireless
Network
SDN
&
Project Delivery

25. Laying cables in rivers, modifying lamp posts

29. The
Data
Dome

30. The Data Dome

31. INITIATIVES IN BRISTOL WITH
BRISTOL IS OPEN

32. An arts organisation and charity based in Bristol and have been supporting individuals and communities to get the
most out of digital technologies and the arts since 1996. In practice, this means providing exciting and relevant ways
for people to get involved in community activism, education, employment, and local decision-making.
Their mission is to achieve social, environmental and economic regeneration by involving the community in media
activity, education and action.

33. The Factory’s Sensor
and Innovation
Space: Vision
“For people in South Bristol to have access to
the opportunities new technologies provide
to build inclusive and fairer communities”
To bridge the gap between those thriving and those struggling in the city by increasing opportunities for skills and
employment in South Bristol by making accessible digital manufacturing facilities, smart citizen innovation and
enterprise thinking, and creating cross city networks that support open, scaleable, inclusive civic participation.
• Building tools, skills and places with people, that support positive social change. We will provide skills training
and opportunities to experiment with ‘making and producing’ leading to enterprise and jobs.
• Shaping the way we live in the future through experimentation and sharing ideas with people. We will provide
opportunities for a wide range of people to test out ideas, and technology in communities, public spaces and
homes.
• Making visible the existing cultural wealth of communities. We will build on the manufacturing experience that
exists in South Bristol.

34. Innovation
Data Dome Content
Citizen Engaged Co-DesignAcademic Research
Collaborative Public and Private Sector Projects

35. Example - Citizen Sensing
and REPLICATE

37. Towards Ultimate Convergence of All Networks
TOUCAN aims to achieve ultimate network
convergence enabled by a radically new technology
agnostic architecture targeting a wide range of
applications and end users. The architecture will
facilitate optimal interconnection of any network
technology domains, networked devices and data sets
with high exibility, resource and energy efficiency.
Bristol Is Open with support with the deployment of
developed technologies.

38. REPLICATE
The REPLICATE project (Renaissance in Places
with Innovative Citizenship And Technology)
is a European research and development
project that aims to deploy integrated
energy, mobility and ICT solutions in city
districts.

39. Flourish
Flourish is a Connected & Autonomous
Vehicle (CAV) project which will support
the Bristol-City Region’s ambition to
establish a worldwide reputation as a
center of excellence for CAV technologies.

40. 5GXHaul
Dynamically Reconfigurable Optical-
Wireless Backhaul / Front haul with
Cognitive Control Plane for Small Cells and
Cloud-RANs
5G-XHaul proposes a converged optical
and wireless network solution able to
flexibly connect Small Cells to the core
network.

41. BigClouT
Big data meeting Cloud and IoT for
empowering the citizen clout in smart
cities. The overall concept of the BigClouT
project is to give an analytic mind to the
city by creating distributed intelligence that
can be implanted in the whole city
network.

42. Mobility Management in Smart City Scenario
In this project we aim to showcase the
knowledge extraction and knowledge
dissemination process based on mobility and
handover of information. The deployment
will work as a service which will provide
interfaces to other services, like Content
Delivery Services, and work as part of chain
of services.

43. Bristol Waste Innovation Pilot
Waste is only service delivered to every
property in Bristol every week. Bristol Waste
undertakes 20,000,000 collections per year
from 195,000 households, and spends
approximately £45m annually to deliver all
services.

44. Traffic Mobility Pilot
We aim to experiment with a potential enhancement to
the functionality of existing urban traffic control detection
equipment. Currently inductive loop detectors only provide an
indication of vehicle presence four times a second, however by
installing a simple interface board (being designed as part of this
project) it is possible to obtain a full inductive loop pro le of the a
vehicle as it passed over the loop. This could significantly increase
the information gained about the traffic fows in a city.

45. Federated Union of Telecommunications Research
Facilities for an EU-Brazil Open Laboratory
The FUTEBOL project combines a federation of
research infrastructures in Europe and Brazil. The
project aims to develop a supporting control
framework, and conduct experimental based
research in order to advance the state of
telecommunications through the investigation of
converged optical/wireless networks.

46. VENTURER will involve tests investigating
legal and insurance issues, as well as
public reaction to self-driving cars.
The technology needed for cars to drive
themselves in simple scenarios is proven.
The barriers to adoption are how they
respond to the real events that happen on
real roads, e.g. cyclists and pedestrians.
Dense cities are the most challenging
scenarios.

47. 5G & BIO
• UK Government describe 5G as
a ‘network of networks’
combining fibre and Wireless.
Delivering seamless ultra-
broadband connectivity to
emerging and critical
applications:
– Determined to be at the leading
edge of the 5G revolution
– Looking to focus support on 5G
and integrated fibre trials
– Seeking representative ‘use
cases’ to trial 5G technologies
and services
• Bristol / BIO / University of
Bristol uniquely positioned to
be at forefront:
– Dedicated fibre and wireless
R&D testbed across the city
– World Class academic
research @ UoB
– An existing programme of
government funded and EU
research associated to 5G
– SDN is key to 5G service
delivery
– Working with an ecosystem of
corporates (including SMEs)
– Collaborating with other leading
centres in UK and beyond

48. CHALLENGES

49. So why do this?

50. Delivery Challenges
Smart cities have passed the inflection point from visioning to
implementation, but there are still three main challenges.
1. an identifiable client;
2. the smart policies needed to drive smart
delivery; and
3. the vendor community needs to work more
closely together to develop the market by
agreeing a scalable, open, interoperable
platform on which city solutions can work.

51. Societal Challenges
1. Institutional Distrust
2. (Dis)empowerment & (Dis)engagement
3. Being sold tech that sanitizes lives
4. Loss of serendipity & creativity

52. Pilots/technology looking for
a problem!
One of two things:
Don’t run long enough to show demonstrable results that can turn into
a business case, no clear KPI’s set out up front
Are repeated time and time again across Cities in the UK and globally
- How do we share our knowledge?

53. Final Question
Think as a citizen, not a city, not a vendor not a smart city expert and thing
of an issue, challenge problem that you face in your daily lives in your
homes or villages , towns or cities, that you think perhaps technology could
solve.
Please tweet it to us @bristolisopen #everyoneisacitizen