The East Birmingham Smart City Demonstrator, led by Nicola Bryant and Digital Birmingham, aims to enhance digital capabilities and infrastructure while addressing high unemployment and low skill levels in the area. The project focuses on healthy aging, economic activity, and urban connectivity by developing integrated solutions and collaborations. Key next steps include defining projects through user engagement and working with partners to elevate project ambition and impact.

1. East Birmingham Smart City Demonstrator
Presented by Nicola Bryant

2. Overview
Role of Digital Birmingham
 Lead on digital and smart city strategy and implementation
 Increasing digital capabilities
 Accelerating access and use of open data
 Devising digital inclusion activities
 Driving investment in digital infrastructure
 Leading smart cities development

3. Established Smart City Commission
Embed smart city principles across all aspects of city life: Accelerate city outcomes

4. An opportunity!
Smart City Demonstrator – East Birmingham
“a piece of the city to play with”
Working with smart city thematic leads
Spatial demonstrator
Focus on key outcomes
 Healthy Ageing
 Economically active citizens
 Greater connectedness along urban
clusters

5. EAST BIRMINGHAM
Population: 280,000
Erdington
Tyseley
Stockland Green
Nechells
Saltley
Washwood Heath
Hodge Hill
Shard End
Capitalise on the skills and innovations that
are expanding in high investment areas in the
city centre and around UK central

6. Jobs and Skills
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Totals
AB
C1
C2
DE
DE - Semi-skilled &
unskilled manual
occupations, Unemployed
and lowest grade
occupations
Key Challenges – East Birmingham
Unemployment rates higher than city average (9.5% cf 6.5%)
20% of claimants aged 18-24
Low skills base – only 27% of jobs held by local people are in high skilled occupations cf. 38% for
the city
Around 10,000 jobs remain vacant on monthly basis , which could be filled by local residents

7. Birmingham Connected – provision of Sprint Bus
Mobility
High level of congestion
making it difficult to travel to
work or do business both
inside and outside of the area
Lack of high quality pedestrian
and cycle routes
Limited alternative models of
travel
Wider package of connectivity
improvements – A45 corridor
and proposed Metro route

8. Our shared agenda
Work with the Future Cities Catapult
Identify core issues and baseline what is already happening
Identify those key clusters of projects in the East Birmingham
Corridor that have the potential to be integrated and enhanced
by insights, data and technology and contribute to the
opportunity and quality of life of people and businesses in the
area.
Work with those partners already delivering projects, existing /
planned investments; those willing to make it happen.
Develop 6-8 projects, outcome driven, delivered with focus,
rigour and impact
Create vision and framework for Eastern Corridor but
demonstrate how it will help crack the bigger nuts

9. Developing smart city demonstrator ideas – Stakeholder sessions
___________________________________________________________________
Holistic and integrated approach
Layered strands of activity in areas of skills, mobility, health, and physical assets
Embed smart city principles – data, integration, use of digital; citizen & business enabling
Birmingham Bikes; I-Centrum; HS2; Birmingham Connected; Sport England; Public Health; WM Police
_______________________________________________________
TECHNOLOGY ENABLERS
Sensors & Wearables
Urban IoT
Behaviour economics
Economic modelling
Data visualisations
Integrated data hub
OUTPUTS & OUTCOMES
Evidence based decisions validated /
disproved
ROI/ performance of solutions
New collaborations (public/private/3rd
sector)
Influence the future council - urban
innovation
KEY FILTERS
Budget holder on-board /
identified
visibility and impact in 12-18
months
Priority / themes
Key advocates / stakeholders
MAKING IT RELEVANT
Live
Work
Play
Learn
Move
Organise
KEY DRIVERS / PROJECT IDEAS
Health
Quality of place
Mobility
Active parks / Active Travel / Canals
Tackling crime &perception of safety
HS2 Smart Campus
Urban freight LEZ

10. Next Steps
Work with Future Cities Catapult to further define projects from existing
and emerging ideas
Identify those to lead and interested partners
Define governance and direction of travel
Work from project spending already there but liaise with them to raise
level of ambition – initial starting point
Do user engagement to further develop project ideas – iterative design
Presenting the new roadmap – clearly articulated – ‘lived experience of
citizens’
Use roadmap to unlock bigger projects that can help others test, develop
and deploy for others

11. To get involved or to find out more please get in touch:
nicola.bryant@birmingham.gov.uk
digitalbirmingham.co.uk
@digibrum