Salford Digital Infrastructure Prospectus The Salford Opportunity

Reference: , Industrial Assets and Opportunities Document/ A Rapidly Growing Economy

Salford has the fastest growing economy in Greater with significant development-led investment and growth underway. The city’s ambition is to deliver at least 40,000 new homes and 40,000 new jobs by 2040. Strategic development opportunities include the Salford Crescent Masterplan area and the future opportunity areas North of Broadway/Eccles New Road and St industrial areas.

The city has strong economic and transport links between three existing centres of excellence in key growth sectors - the University Campus and Salford Royal to the north and MediaCityUK to the south. These represent a potent source of new economic activity. This ‘Innovation Triangle’ provides a major opportunity to accommodate new investment and activity and to act as a focus for innovation and digital activity – and hence for growth across the Greater Manchester economy.

It is important that Salford acts positively now to attract investment in the digital connectivity and technologies that will enable this growth. Following the Government’s LFFN and 5G programmes, Local Authorities around the country such as the GLA, Leicestershire Council, Worcestershire County Council and the Sheffield City Region are working to attract inward investment, and suppliers are responding, changing the natural dynamics of the market.

Salford has the potential to develop as one of the most attractive cities for digital enterprise and innovation. Time is of the essence to ensure Salford’s digital infrastructure makes the city an attractive and competitive place to innovate, invest and live in. A Digital Strategy for Salford

A Digital Future

Salford has a clear vision for its digital strategy: The delivery of the strategy will be led by Salford’s Chief Digital Officer and the Digital Salford collaborative, a partnership of , To make Salford the most attractive city for digital enterprise and to Salford Royal Foundation Trust, MediaCityUK, University of Salford and The establish Salford as a leading digital economy; and in doing, so, to ensure Landing. that innovation and growth is directly connected to outcomes for Salford people.

Underpinning the Vision are three core measures: • To unlock MediaCityUK/Salford Quays as an exemplar smart city, and to apply and deploy this innovation capability to transforming Salford’s physical environment, public services and citizen well-being.

• To continue to drive Salford’s tech economy across all of its sectors to realise the potential that digital provides to stimulate innovation, and to further contribute to Greater Manchester as a global digital economy.

• To innovate in health and digital skills across our communities for measurable social impact and enhanced essential services. Reference: Salford Digital Strategy/

Digital Salford’s strategy goes beyond the transformation of internal local authority systems and the deployment of digital infrastructure. It places digital connectivity and technologies at the forefront of social change and economic growth. The Salford Digital Infrastructure Project

A Catalyst for Growth & Social Impact

The economic and cultural transformative effect of high-speed digital connectivity cannot be understated. The National Infrastructure Commission now recognises that digital connectivity is as important as any other essential utility, such as water and electricity, and highlights that this importance will only increase over time as businesses, home and services become increasingly ‘smart’.

Salford sees digital connectivity as a critical enabler to the achievement of its economic growth and social impact ambitions.

Salford’s ambition is to be a fully connected digital city by 2021. In real terms this means connecting 100% of its residents with access to fibre or next-generation radio networks.

We believe that Salford’s combination of economic capital, social diversity and scope for growth offers a wide range of opportunities for companies from Reference: https://ig.ft.com/gb-broadband-speed-map/ every sector of the market to develop and deliver new services that will be profitable for them, while also making a difference in Salford.

Using digital connectivity as a foundation, Digital Salford wants to develop a series of programmes and collaborations that improve productivity, drive social mobility and support the achievement of local and national sustainability objectives. The Salford Digital Infrastructure Project

A Testbed for Future Solutions Potential Use-Cases Remote monitoring of patients who Holographic communication would otherwise require to be kept The next generation of mobile connectivity is emerging and Salford is enabling collaboration and shared in hospital for observation or experiences anywhere in the world. determined to ensure that it is well-placed to exploit the benefits delivered unable to live independently. by these technologies. Digital Salford is considering how it can enable and On-demand, multi-modal transport support new and enhanced digital connectivity across the city. Potential Intelligent management of street services that provide consumer opportunities include the use of street furniture to support the roll-out of lighting and creation of interactive convenience whilst adjusting to displays depending on weather, small cell services and the use of buildings to host macro infrastructure. climate conditions, accidents and time of day and pedestrian usage. Specifically, Salford is keen to drive the deployment of: changing demand.

• NBIoT Networks and Devices: The Internet of Things provides the potential for Smart routing for police, fire and The smart routing of rubbish ambulance services needing to collection vehicles according to the monitoring everything from traffic flow, weather, noise pollution and greenhouse reach incidents by the fastest route. levels of waste in particular areas. gas emissions, to aspects of individual people’s health and wellbeing. Analysis of the resultant data allows services to be targeted and tailored accordingly. Smart logistics services that Smart monitoring of crime hotspots improve optimisation of deliveries • 5G: Salford is the first location in the UK with a commercially enabled 5G or areas of the city prone to late and reduce congestion and night noise around clubs and bars. network covering its Quays area and centred upon MediaCityUK. In addition, pollution. we have created a successful tech hub, The Landing, at MediaCityUK which will Smart monitoring of air quality be the UK’s first Innovation Centre for 5G and NBIoT use-cases. Salford is keen Interactive, multi-player games and dynamic wayfinding and to continue this leadership in the 5G space by expanding the deployment of 5G and immersive theatrical traffic control to create a healthy networks across the city to allow the testing and scaling of new solutions. presentations which combine environment for walking, cycling virtual and real-world experiences. and public space.

Salford must capitalise on the opportunities presented by future mobile connectivity networks and big data in order to streamline city operations, improve service delivery and attract and retain high-growth businesses. Together with a strong fixed connectivity foundation, these initiatives will catalyse economic growth and deliver meaningful change for the people of Salford. The Salford Digital Infrastructure Project

A Collaborative Approach

Digital Salford cannot achieve the ambitions of the Digital Infrastructure Project Digital alone. We must bring together the needs, skills and assets held by other public Salford sector organisations, infrastructure operators, service providers, local businesses, local communities, telecommunication and technology companies in order to deliver a fit-for-purpose, city-wide connectivity infrastructure.

Digital Salford has already started an engagement process and is keen to continue Local Data Sensors Local gaining valuable insights about how the listed stakeholder groups can work together Economy Community to deliver the Digital Infrastructure Project.

In July 2019, Digital Salford issued an engagement questionnaire to the Connectivity telecommunication and technology provider markets, which explored the appetite for involvement in this project and helped progress thinking on the potential investment opportunity. The very many enthusiastic responses confirmed that Salford is seen an attractive place for digital infrastructure investment. Its combination of Telecom Public economic capital, social diversity and scope for growth offers a wide range of and Tech Sector opportunities for companies from every sector of the market to develop and deliver Companies new services that will be profitable for them and make a difference in Salford.

This prospectus document outlines our current thinking about how we could facilitate a collaboration that is focused on accelerating Salford’s digital agenda. We have a real desire to enter into dialogue with the market to understand the ‘art of the possible’ and shape future procurement specifications. Salford’s Digital Infrastructure Vision

A Four Layer Model This diagram outlines one potential approach to forming a collaboration to deliver the Salford Digital Infrastructure Project. It is based on national and international examples of best practice which are referenced throughout this prospectus. A dialogue- driven procurement process will be used to determine the formal structure of any future collaboration.

4 Governance Smart City Steering Group

Smart City Innovation Alliance

Public Sector 3 Sensitive Data & City Operations Business, Start-Ups and Social Enterprises Council Sensors Data City Operations Centre Mobility Sensors Data

NHS Sensors Data Data Lake Education Sensors Data

… Sensors Data … Sensors Data 2 Extended Connectivity & Open Data Data Lake Contracted Service Providers Incubators and Business Support Services Sensors & Connected Devices Highways Sensors Data The Landing Workspace Knowhow Extended Connectivity (Fibre gap, IoT, 5G, etc) Waste Sensors Data MediaCity UK Workspace Knowhow

… Sensors Data 1 Core Connectivity … Workspace Knowhow Fibre Infrastructure Salford’s Digital Infrastructure Vision

4 The Governance layer ensures alignment and coordination, and enables collaboration and disruptive Governance innovation, between the project and its stakeholders, collaborators and the wider ecosystem. Led by Smart City Steering Group Digital Salford and comprised of senior representatives from the local authority and a range of public sector, industry and third sector organisations, it sets strategy, drives and monitors progress, ensures Smart City Innovation Alliance benefits are distributed across stakeholder groups, and enables access and support for innovators.

The Sensitive Data & City Operations layer is driven by the local authority on behalf of citizens and 3 Sensitive Data & City Operations service providers throughout the city. It facilitates the use of data in a safe, secure and properly governed way to improve service operations, efficiency and efficacy across the city. They will also City Operations Centre utilise policy powers and relationships with local organisations to encourage other data owners and service providers to leverage digital connectivity and data to improve and target service delivery. Data Lake The Extended Connectivity & Open Data layer involves the delivery of next-generation mobile 2 connectivity networks, such as NB-IoT and 5G networks, along with complimentary connected devices Extended Connectivity & Open Data and an open data platform. It also includes provision of core connectivity to any areas not served by Data Lake the commercial market, possibly through the provision of fixed wireless access points. Wherever possible, data will be made available to the wider ecosystem to encourage innovation and the Sensors & Connected Devices development of new products and services. Digital Salford is cognisant of the uncertain outcomes associated with the deployment of new technologies, therefore proposes this layer be delivered by an Extended Connectivity (Fibre gap, IoT, 5G, etc) operating company owned by a collaboration of local public and private sector bodies, leasing any core connectivity required from the market, and accountable for operating in the interest of the city.

1 The Core Connectivity layer involves the deployment of the critical fibre and mobile infrastructure Core Connectivity which will serve as the foundations of the Project. It is envisaged that this infrastructure will be Fibre Infrastructure delivered by commercial providers. Digital Salford collaboration members will allows their assets to be used to improve the viability of deployments in less commercially attractive areas. 1 Core Connectivity

A Strong and Robust Core Commercial Network attractive areas, but also those areas which are currently less commercially viable and could benefit most from improved connectivity. The deployment of a comprehensive fibre, fixed wireless and mobile network is critical in delivering Salford’s Digital Strategy.

In commercially viable areas, Digital Salford understands that the market may have already deployed or be planning to deploy networks to meet demand for connectivity. However, we also understand that areas with less demand may not be so commercially viable and hence may not receive access to the same levels of connectivity or variety of services.

Digital Salford will seek to improve the commercial conditions for investment in city-wide full-fibre and fixed wireless networks by leveraging assets owned by members of the partnership. Specifically, Digital Salford will look to provide access to assets such as mobile network operator masts, CCTV cameras, streetlighting columns, ducting, land and property on a non-exclusive basis.

By utilising Digital Salford’s assets to catalyse commercial investment, it is Mobile network operator masts Land and property hoped that industry partner(s) will deliver a first-class, city-wide digital communications infrastructure that connects not only the most commercially CCTV cameras Streetlighting columns

Our ambition is for the high-speed digital connectivity and services delivered by the Salford Digital Infrastructure Project to cover all of the Salford City Council authority area, and be accessible to all citizens, visitors and businesses. 1 Core Connectivity

Removing the Barriers to Infrastructure Deployment

Digital Salford will support the deployment of fibre infrastructure by removing • Providing links with the business community, Chambers of Commerce and a barriers that have historically deterred investment or impaired progress. In line plan for how to engage and use these relationships. with the Government’s Digital Infrastructure Planning guidance, Salford City • Identifying areas of low/no connectivity and quantifiable business demand. Council (a key member of the Digital Salford collaboration) will develop an • Implementing initiatives that reduce the cost of deployments such as ‘Dig in-house ‘barrier busting’ policy which may involve taking the following actions: Once’.

• Making available an economic development resource with responsibility for working with local authority colleagues and network operators • Ensuring our planning and highways teams work proactively with network operators • Avoiding classifying network deployments as ‘major’ works • Supporting the use of narrow trenching in pavements and highways • Providing access wayleaves on sites at no more than cost and aligning Salford to Greater Manchester’s standardised wayleave programme • Encouraging proactive local planning policies to support digital connectivity • Engaging with key landlords to help secure private landlord wayleaves • Developing comprehensive knowledge of operators’ footprints and future commercial plans Reference: https://www.cityfibre.com/news/prysmian-appointed-strategic-partner-cityfibres-gigabit-city-roll/

Members of the Digital Salford collaboration will endeavour to make Salford the easiest place in the UK to deploy fibre connections, in order to encourage more commercial investment in gigabit capable infrastructure for the benefit of businesses, communities and local services. 1 Core Connectivity

Stimulating Demand

Digital Salford will be supported in its efforts to deploy a city-wide fibre connectivity infrastructure by a number of public-sector led demand stimulation activities. For example, Salford City Council (SCC) is working to maximise demand for high-speed fibre connectivity in several ways, including:

• Ensuring that all new build plots are fully fibre connected.

• Undertaking a detailed mapping exercise to provide a clear view of demand across the city. Particular attention will be paid to identifying aggregation opportunities such as clusters of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), as these areas are where high-speed connectivity may have most impact.

• Running a series of targeted awareness campaigns to local businesses and Private sector demand is forecast to increase across Salford in the future. communities to highlight the opportunities and benefits associated with MediaCityUK is now established as a leading European centre for digital and high-speed connectivity. creative industries, comprising more than 250 innovative firms. Building on its success, MediaCityUK is expected to double in size over the next ten years, These activities are expected to increase the presence of commercially viable which in turn will attract further inward investment across a range of diverse deployment areas, thus making the ambition of a city-wide fibre network a and specialised sectors. These new firms will undoubtedly require high-speed more achievable reality. connectivity to thrive and grow.

By augmenting business-as-usual market-led network expansion activities with a series of public and private-sector driven demand stimulation measures, Digital Salford is confident that a comprehensive high-speed fibre infrastructure can be deployed across the breadth of the city, ensuring that no-one is left behind in the digital city of the future. 1 Core Connectivity

Case Study: Connecting Cambridgeshire (CC) Case Study: York – City-Wide Connectivity

The Connecting Cambridgeshire programme successfully combined multiple In 2009, York tendered for a new consolidated connectivity platform and sources of public sector funding with significant private sector investment to service. Rather than simply providing internet connectivity for council rapidly accelerate the deployment of digital connectivity infrastructure buildings and key infrastructure platforms such as traffic lights, the city saw across the county. In particular the programme allocated £4m of LFFN the potential in a bid that proposed levering this consolidated demand and funding to provide fibre upgrades to 30 public buildings, increase full fibre large contract to install a fibre optic ring. As well as fulfilling the original availability along a ‘digital innovation corridor’ from St Ives to Linton, and specification, it allowed more of the public-sector estate to connect support businesses to access Gigabit fibre networks. affordably and easily to a high-speed network to the benefit of workers and consumers. The network has also underpinned a free, high-speed Wi-Fi CC is among the first in the country to set up a dedicated "Enabling Digital network in the city centre. Delivery" team that proactively removes barriers to the rapid delivery of digital connectivity across the country, making best use of public sector To improve city management, York has installed LoRaWAN sensors on its assets and attracting private sector investment. Interventions to date include roads which record transit data and monitor road temperature. This the setting up of an Enquiries Register to manage real-time issues affecting information will allow the council to only grit the roads that need it in cold infrastructure delivery, trialling the DCMS National Streetworks Toolkit and weather situations, saving time and money and improving the service. The promoting the use of public sector assets by telecom providers for digital city is also in the process of installing moisture and temperature sensors in connectivity delivery. social housing to save money and improve housing quality for residents.

Reference: https://www.connectingcambridgeshire.co.uk/ Reference: https://www.connectingcambridgeshire.co.uk/ 2 Extended Connectivity & Open Data

Embracing the future networks utilised by IoT technologies. Digital Salford understand that due to technological immaturity and the lack • Address core connectivity for any areas not served by the commercial of certainty around use-cases and levels of demand, the commercial market is market, potentially through use of fixed wireless access points. unlikely to self-invest and provide us with our preferred suite of next- generation connectivity technologies and data infrastructures; and also that We envisage that these investments are likely to be driven by the Digital despite the best efforts of all parties, some areas may fail to attract Salford collaboration partners, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and commercial investment in core connectivity. the Greater Manchester LEP. Additional co-investors could be selected through a dialogue process (please see page 23). Therefore, we envisage forming a joint venture operating company or alternative form of collaboration with local public and private sector We are optimistic that these activities could also leverage private investment organisations in order to share the risk and opportunity of investing in new from organisations with interests in wider smart infrastructure investment solutions based on these technologies. opportunities. Examples of these organisations are John Laing and DIF capital Partners, the two investment funds that own the UK’s Street Lighting PFIs. Specifically, we expect the collaboration to: Digital Salford is also keen to engage with new market entrants that are • Host a city-wide data lake utilising disruptive business models based on emerging technology to change the digital connectivity landscape. • Invest and deploy sensors that will be open for use by cross-sector initiatives In order to maintain and continuously improve the infrastructure, we intend to • Invest in new communications networks such as 5G, NB-IoT and other investigate commercial models that will enable us to continually reinvest in new technologies and digital infrastructures as they emerge.

By deploying future connectivity networks, along with the accompanying sensors and data infrastructure, we hope to encourage the development, trialling and scaling of new solutions. This in turn will drive the creation of new businesses, the growth of existing businesses, and the resolution of local challenges such as air pollution, congestion and health and social care provision. 2 Emerging Connectivity & Open Data

Case Study: Bristol is Open (BIO) Case Study: LoRaWAN and the City of Calgary

BIO is a joint venture between the University of Bristol and Bristol City In 2016, Calgary launched a collaborative project to build a municipal Council. Together, the partners have created a research and development LoRaWAN network, based on an ‘open to innovation and experimentation’ testbed, that enables ‘smart’ city-wide experiments and pilots to be concept, which engaged researchers and students from the University of undertaken and assessed with the intention to scale for the benefit of all. Calgary and IoT developers from the local industry. Completed in September 2017, the network provides low-power wireless signal coverage The test bed comprises a fibre ring linked to a number of nodes and for a large footprint in the Calgary region. Thanks to the city’s previous a diverse range of wireless technology connectivity, from Wi-SUN low investments in underlying communication infrastructure (including a fibre power mesh wireless across lampposts, to WiFi and LTE across the city. network), the LoRaWaN network was built at minimal additional cost. It is funded by local, national and European governments, along with academic research funding and private sector contributions. New IoT pilot projects can now proceed to develop service-based solutions for City Business Units. Example projects include: In addition to enabling the testing of smart city solutions, the project also • City-wide air quality sensors enable us to monitor the environment. aims to support the city achieve it broader ambitions, such as reducing • River sensors provide ongoing updates on flood concerns, allowing us to carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 and creating 95,000 jobs in high growth better plan and prepare for any high-water events. sectors including the creative industries and green technologies. References: https://www.bristolisopen.com/overview/ https://www.tmforum.org/press-and-news/bristol-open-case-study-innovative-smart-city/ Reference: https://www.calgary.ca/General/Pages/SmartCity/LoRaWAN.aspx 3 Sensitive Data & City Operations

Streamlined and Optimised City Services could benefit substantially from this approach are social care and public safety.

Public sector organisations in Salford, including the council, healthcare trusts Digital Salford wish to engage local service providers to better understand and blue light services, have access to a critical mass of sensitive personal and whether this operations centre would materialise as either: operational data sources. • A single physical centre with multiple services using it, or; Digital Salford believes that there is an opportunity to better utilise this data • A ‘virtual’ centre comprised of a single secure data platform utilised by to improve service delivery, more effectively manage resources and optimise multiple service providers from their own physical premises. infrastructure operation, through the creation of a City Operations Centre. Regardless of the model chosen, the operations centre will be underpinned by This proposed operations centre would integrate sensitive data from different the advanced communication networks deployed in layers 1 and 2 of the services and organisations into a common data platform that would provide a Salford Digital Infrastructure model. High speed connectivity and sensor real-time, consolidated view of the status and condition of critical components networks will be required to gather data inputs and feedback resultant of the city. Using advanced analytics and visualisation techniques, the data decisions. In the future it is envisaged that the city operations centre would contained within this platform will enable more informed decision making and expand to include more complex services such as remote healthcare provision ultimately lead to the provision of more efficient and effective services for the and energy monitoring. people of Salford. Aside from the benefits enjoyed by local citizens, the optimisation and Services and data feeds with the most immediate potential for inclusion in this streamlining of service delivery has the potential to enable significant cost operations centre include traffic management, parking management, waste savings for individual service providers. We also expect that there will be management and emergency service response. More sensitive services that opportunities for revenue generation by utilising the operations centre infrastructure to optimise services for other local authorities. We want to deliver more efficient and effective services for the people of Salford through the creation of a City Operations Centre which integrates and analyses sensitive data from multiple organisations to streamline service delivery, optimise infrastructure operations and reduce the cost of providing critical services. 3 Sensitive Data & City Operations

The Role of Digital Salford and its Members

The Digital Salford collaboration will play an integral and multi-faceted role the digital infrastructure project. For example, procurement policies will within the Digital Infrastructure Project, especially regarding the use of require all providers to: sensitive data to improve city operations. Specifically, Digital Salford member • Provide services which exploit connectivity, sensors and data to organisations will act as: deliver better outcomes at lower costs. • Contribute data to data lake. as open data wherever possible, or Data Owners and Managers as semi-open data accessible through a defined protocol that Many of the organisations within the collaboration are owners of significant protects sensitivity. sets of data about local people and communities. Some of this data, such as • Provide services which meet the organisation’s requirements as well social care information is highly sensitive, while other data types are more as Salford’s Smart City objectives as defined by the Smart City operational in nature and could be made available to a wider audience. Steering Group. Digital Salford will work with its comprising organisations to identify, categorise and moderate data sources, collecting and utilising sensitive data Facilitators: to improve city services, and opening up operational date to allow others to Digital Salford will also use its convening power to facilitate the formation of generate new insights and develop new solutions. the Smart City Steering Group and Smart City Innovation Alliance. These groups will work to strengthen relationships and enhance collaborations Policy Makers: between organisations in the city, as well as setting the future strategic Together the members of the Digital Salford collaboration deliver a critical direction for the Project. More detail is provided about these groups on pages mass of services across the city. Digital Salford will work to ensure that each 19 to 22. organisation’s internal policies reinforce and help to deliver the objectives of

The members of the Digital Salford collaboration will utilise their position as trusted and central figures in the city ecosystem to proactively support innovation and digitisation through their policies, foster relationships between local organisations and drive the responsible use of data to deliver positive outcomes for local communities. 3 Sensitive Data & City Operations

Case Study: Sunderland City Intelligence Hub Case Study: Bristol Operations Centre

Sunderland City Council have led the way in Local Government with he Bristol has created a multi-purpose centre that brings together some of the creation of an Intelligence Hub for the city. The hub brings together multiple city’s critical support services and acts as a control centre in the even of a data sources from a range of public sector bodies, including the Police, the major emergency. The centre operates 24 hours a day and 365 days a Clinical Commissioning Groups, Highways Agency and the Environmental year. It provides a list of services including emergency response to telecare Agency to gain a joined up view of the needs of the citizens of Sunderland. and assistive technology users, alarm and security monitoring, lone worker support, CCTV management, traffic signal monitoring, set up and review of Owned and managed by the council, it provides the authority and its traffic signals and many others. partners with the ability to analyse this data to make intelligence-based decisions. Use-cases include: To manage the range of services provided, the centre has been built around • Adult 360: brings together information about a person and their life an advanced communication platform that links into the city’s high speed across a number of source systems with an aim of reducing the risk of fibre network. The link to this high speed network will also allow the centre hospital admissions and delivering more tailored social care services. to explore communications developments that could one day provide • Impact of Alcohol: brings together information about licenced premises services in areas such as health protection, traffic management, waste and incidents relating to alcohol in order to better engage local management and energy monitoring. communities, target licencing visits and more effectively deploy resources. Reference: https://digital1st.co.uk/our-work/sunderland-city-council/ Reference: https://news.bristol.gov.uk/news/state-of-the-art-operations-centre-opens-in-bristol-2 2 3 The Opportunity for Public Service Transformation

5G, IoT and Extended Reality Case Study: Liverpool 5G

A confluence of new technologies including 5G communications, Internet of The Liverpool 5G testbed supports Liverpool City Council, the NHS, Things and Extended Reality is driving a renewed momentum in the university researchers, local SMEs and a leading UK 5G technology vendor transformation of traditional services. to deliver new, 5G-enabled services in health and social care.

5G offers not just great bandwidth, but improved resilience; lower latency The project has seen technologies including low-cost 5G networks, artificial of communications; and the possibility to connect vast numbers of intelligence, virtual reality and IoT deployed across deprived communities, communicating devices. reducing the digital divide whilst improving service outcomes in patient monitoring and support, the management of loneliness in older adults, As an example, 5G will enable safety-critical, mobile applications of support for independent living in the home and the facilitation of Extended Reality technology – a combination of virtual and augmented communication between hospitals, pharmacists and patients. It is helping reality delivered anytime, anywhere. In a trial, BT and the University small teams of service providers to offer a greatly improved level of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) have demonstrated a service to the many individuals and families they support, and reducing the remote diagnostic procedure using a 5G-connected ambulance in level of demand for hospital beds, social care beds, GP and A&E visits. Birmingham, allowing a remote expert consultant to collaborate with paramedics to deliver urgent treatment to patients in transit.

Reference: https://www.governmentcomputing.com/digital-citizen-services/news/bt-uhb-5g-connected-ambulance Reference: https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/liverpool-5g-testbed 4 Governance

Monitoring Progress and Driving Future Direction

To support a thriving economy and a community that realises the potential The right governance structures can help both of these forms of activity work benefits of digital infrastructure and technologies, a combination of “top- constructively together, so that top down policies and initiatives support and down” and “bottom-up” activities will be required. enable bottom-up innovation; and so that bottom-up innovation contributes effectively to Salford’s overall objectives. “Top down” measures are those that are driven by the leadership and institutions responsible for Salford and the major organisations operating and We envisage the creation of two governance entities in relating to the Salford investing here. They include the setting of overall objectives and strategy, and Digital Infrastructure Programme: the development of policies and practises that embody them. They could also include investments in infrastructure or the inception of major programmes. • A Smart City Innovation Alliance, and

“Bottom up” activities are those that happen organically. This could be in the • A Smart City Steering Group. form of new entrepreneurial businesses, individual projects led by organisations based in Salford, or in the use of technology by innovative social These are discussed on the following pages. enterprises or community groups. These activities already take place, and will continue to do so; but as Salford seeks to maximise the potential to benefit from digital technology, it is important to ask what could be done to encourage more of this innovative behaviour, and what could be done to maximise its impact?

A strong and effective governance structure will ensure alignment and coordination between direct collaborators and the wider ecosystem. The structure will monitor progress, work to define the future direction of the Project and ensure that benefits are distributed across stakeholder groups. 4 Smart City Innovation Alliance

A Front-Door to the City

The Smart City Innovation Alliance is a group of organisations active or interested in the city’s digital and smart city agenda. It will focus on:

• Building and maintaining a thriving innovation ecosystem

• Stimulating and catalysing a pipeline of innovation activity

• Providing an entry point into the city’s organisations for entrepreneurs and innovators.

While the group does not have a mandate to set local or regional strategy, the Alliance is an entrepreneurial body that can act more disruptively than those concerned with setting corporate policies or public directives.

Ideally the Alliance will consist of a mixture of people representing large businesses, traditional city institutions, communities, universities and the start-up ecosystem. Each member organisation should be sponsored by a C-Level, Director or equivalent to ensure continued and meaningful commitment. Their key characteristics will be passion, an open mind, an ability to listen, and a passion to get things done. Reference: https://medium.com/@SmartLondon/smart-london-camp-2018-how-it-happened-ce5ffe84fc80 4 Smart City Innovation Alliance

Case Study: Case Study: Birmingham Essex & Herts Smart City Digital Innovation Alliance Zone (DIZ)

The city of Birmingham had set out its vision for its future as a ‘smart city’ in a The DIZ was established by 10 partner organisations from top and second tier series of digital and sustainability strategies. A number of individuals realised local government, health and social care providers, and the private sector. It that to achieve the objectives in those strategies, Birmingham would need to covers a geography that contains around 500,000 residents and 50,000 collaborate across its public and academic institutions and businesses. By businesses, and has been created to deliver the following vision: coordinating organisations’ resources and activities, they believed they could foster and support a sustainable, thriving economy that creates financial and “To be the best connected place of its type in the UK. A place of innovation social growth amongst local businesses and community organisations, by and inclusion. A place where the benefits of digital investment are harnessed, helping them develop innovative, technology-based solutions to city maximised and shared across residents, commuters, businesses and borders.” challenges. Through its partnership approach, the DIZ is in a unique position to enable the The Birmingham Smart City Alliance was formed as a cross-sector network region to seize the opportunities the digital economy presents to the UK. By whose membership includes practitioners from universities, local authorities, establishing this cross-border partnership, it can better leverage investments businesses, voluntary organisations and SMEs from across the West Midlands. happening in any part of the partnership. It aims to bridge the needs and aspirations of its members and coordinate action to harness digital technology The group meets bi-monthly and provides visiting speakers with a platform to for the benefit of the economy and society and the transformation of public share their smart initiatives and the opportunity to forge relationships with services. Alliance partners. Thematic workshops also look to drive collaborative activity in response to current opportunities.

Reference: https://birminghamsmartcityalliance.wordpress.com/about/ Reference: https://diz.org.uk/ 4 Smart City Steering Group

Setting Salford’s Future Direction Case Study: Smart London Board

We see the Salford Smart City Steering Group as being a collaborative body that has a ‘mandate’ to define strategy for the City.

We envisage Digital Salford taking a leading role in the steering group, alongside senior representatives from other local and regional organisations such as the LEP, police, transport, universities and community leaders.

The role of this group is to agree a common strategy and outcomes for the city, and encourage all members to drive those into their organisation’s behaviour The Smart London Board shapes the vision for London’s smart cities agenda and planning. For example, they may all adopt procurement practices that and investment in data infrastructure. It advises the Mayor on implementing incentivise suppliers to provide ‘smart’ services, or services that demonstrable new digital technologies aimed at the highest level of performance across support the Steering Group’s strategy and outcomes. London’s infrastructure, utilities and public services.

We also expect this body to create a roadmap of investment opportunities The board also advises on how technology should influence and feature in that can contribute to the achievement of the Project’s objectives. These may the wider set of mayoral strategies and policies. It helps open up included opportunities such as upcoming InnovateUK competitions, research opportunities for new digital public services and to improve existing public funding and large-scale property and infrastructure developments in the local services. area. The board meets four times a year and is made up of leading figures from the tech sector alongside entrepreneurs and academics. Next Steps

Indicative Process

Step 1: Salford Digital Infrastructure Project Prospectus

We have written this prospectus to outline our current thinking about how we could facilitate a collaboration that is focused on accelerating the delivery of Salford’s digital agenda.

Step 2: Market Awareness Exercise

We will conduct a Market Awareness Exercise to further publicise the Salford Digital Infrastructure Project and its objectives, to ensure that a broad spectrum of organisations are aware of the opportunities it presents. Following the circulation of the prospectus, Digital Salford intends to initiate a competitive dialogue process to explore the opportunities presented in more Step 3: OJEU Dialogue Process detail. We will run a competitive dialogue process to understand the ‘art The objective of this procurement will be to select MNOs, service providers of the possible’ and encourage the formation of consortia to bid and other entities that will help deliver this vision, either individually or as a for Digital Salford assets on preferential terms and to make a consortia. This process will identify the form and structure of the collaboration. co-investment in the Emerging Technology Joint Venture.

The appointed organisations will be given access to a range of Digital Salford collaboration members’ assets and the opportunity to take a non-exclusive stake in the emerging technology joint venture. Salford Digital Infrastructure Market Engagement Response Summary Market Engagement Responses

Commercial Potential: Response Summary

Potential Partnership Structures • Create an innovation committee that focuses on identifying and trialling new and emerging technologies. The majority of respondents proposed the use of public-private partnership • Utilise a ‘circular’ approach to identify new innovations that deliver models to achieve the various desired outcomes of the Salford Digital efficiency savings or create revenue generating opportunities, and recycle Infrastructure Project. Respondents were open to discussions with SCC about benefits back into the partnership. forming the following types of partnerships: • Demand the involvement of external parties, such as educational organisations and innovation hubs, to diversify the range of outcomes • Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) delivered. • Joint Venture (JV) contracts • Put in place clear KPIs, a Profit Share Scheme and/or other incentivisation • Framework agreements to develop the digital infrastructure, committing to programmes linked to innovation outcomes and other soft targets such as invest in its development and expansion. increased customer feedback scores. • Clearly communicate any ambition to extend or renew contracts to further Respondents supported the need for any partnership structure to foster incentivise continued investment. innovation and incentivise continued investment. To achieve this, responses stated that SCC should: Respondents also states that regular progress reviews would help ensure the success of the partnership. • Demand upfront investments to deliver higher yield returns downstream • Request an investment plan to be executed during the entire duration of the concession. This investment plan should consider network maintenance and technological refreshments to guarantee that the infrastructure remains updated. Market Engagement Responses

Commercial Potential: Response Summary

Risks Suggested Mitigation Actions

Respondents identified the following risk areas: Respondents suggested the following risk mitigation actions: • Appropriateness of contracting vehicle and selected approach. • SCC to establish an appropriate and strong governance function including: • Clarity of scope. • A formal escalation process in case of unforeseen difficulties. • Sufficient governance. • Aformal partnership board with a purpose to work towards the vision • Risks that emerge due to the complexity of the project and the various of the city. stakeholders involved. • SCC should guarantee that the ducts are viable for a fibre rollout and there • Unsuccessful implementation of new products and new technologies or are chambers/manholes to install joint boxes and derivations. technological changes over the term of the contract (demand risk). • Provision of sufficient levels of quality assurance and monitoring to ensure • Lack of collaboration amongst the various parties or lack of engagement the identification of difficulties, including establishing robust and effective from key external stakeholder groups or potential network tenants. KPIs. • Fast moving market and capital investment may be diverted elsewhere • Adopting a longer contract term to help mitigate risks around return on due to increased investment opportunities in the market. investment and potentially establishing an exclusive concession zone which • Procurement exercises can be lengthy and take up key resources which can allows competition whilst delivering security for investors. distract the service provider from the key market. • Being flexible around deployment techniques and reinstatement materials • Clear ownership and responsibility structure of the assets. etc. • Lack of affordable open access dark fibre or ducts which is critical for • Combining the deployment of wireless and fibre under the same advancing to 5G. partnership agreement. • Lack of support from key SCC departments in providing access and • Conduct an initial audit of the existing infrastructure and inclusion of assets approvals in a timely manner to assist in the initial build phase. i.e. and provide seamless access to them for the consortium. Moreover, any sites permissions, street works and wayleaves. not owned by SCC need to be identified early in the programme to enable • Changes in the underlying demand for the services being provided wayleave discussions to begin early in the process. (market risk). Market Engagement Responses

Commercial Potential: Response Summary

Suggested Mitigation Actions (Continued) Asset Ownership Structure

• Focussing the selection criteria in the ITT on the capability of the respective Most service providers agree that SCC should retain ownership of all assets bidders and the investment plan, rather than on the revenue opportunity. throughout the entire duration of the contract (retaining asset stewardship risk). • Fixing any charges payable to SCC for using SCC assets at a level that Respondents state that a viable model could involve Salford deploying and would be difficult to challenge (state aid compliance). owning the new ducts and civil infrastructure (passive infrastructure owner) and • SCC forming a barrier-busting team and site contacts via a formal service providers investing in fibre and mobile connectivity networks (active communication plan to ensure all access is pre-agreed and work is infrastructure owners). scheduling to meet any specific requirement including site induction requirements. This approach allows SCC to deliver their own services across the assets they own but will see them realise a returnable revenue stream. Several key Open Access respondents agreed with this approach. SCC has a desire to ensure fair access for a competitive fee to the assets. The Other respondents believe that the best digital infrastructure asset ownership market engagement responses highlight that fair and open access to assets is structure is that ownership stays with the organisation responsible for the vital to foster 5G rollouts, and the majority of service providers agree with the maintenance of the asset. concept of an Open Access Model. This business model will ensure the: • Realisation of maximum benefit from the available assets and underlying network infrastructure. • Reduction of CAPEX and OPEX. • Reduction of complexity. • Reduction in the need for new sites. • Increase in competition and the avoidance of SCC being tied to a single operator. Market Engagement Assessment Framework

Technical Feasibility: Assessment Criteria & Response Summary

# Assessment Criteria From a technical feasibility perspective, the market engagement questionnaire focused on the type of SCC assets the service providers would be interested in TF1 Does the respondent detail which asset types they think would be utilising to deliver the Salford Digital Infrastructure Project. valuable and how they would use them? TF2 Does the respondent convey an interest in utilising assets from other While this is one important aspect of understanding the technical feasibility of organisations to host their equipment? potential deployment approaches, there are other angles to be examined. TF3 Does the respondent detail their approach to ensuring open access to With this in mind, the scoring criteria aims to assess the responses to the asset their infrastructure? use questions, while also helping to shape thinking about what aspects of technical feasibility should be discussed in future market engagement TF4 Does the respondent clearly articulate their expectations regarding their rights to use existing SCC assets - street furniture and buildings? exercises. TF5 Does the respondent clearly consider the spatial requirements of Respondents were positive about using a range of SCC assets to deliver the digital infrastructure, including the safeguarding of space for ducts, rackspace, PoPs, etc. Project, including street cabinets, fibre routes and their breakout points, SCC buildings, bus stops and shelters and other digital assets such as GIS, planning TF6 Does the respondent consider the need to future-proof/ensure and highways information. Respondents were also open to using assets from readiness of the infrastructure for emerging technologies? eg: IoT, 5G, etc other local public sector or academic institutions reasoning that the greater volume of assets available, the greater the service delivery, capability, reach TF7 Does the respondent consider the use of the digital infrastructure to and income opportunities. deliver innovative use-cases. eg: health and social care, predictive maintenance, etc While the questionnaire did not explicitly ask further questions on technical TF8 Does the respondent consider the use of innovative installation delivery approaches, some comprehensive answers discussed potential techniques such as slot cutting, reuse of ducting, use of wireless backhaul, etc deployment models, installation techniques and installation risks. Market Engagement Assessment Framework

Total Value: Assessment Criteria & Response Summary

In this instance, ‘Total Value’ is used to describe the wider economic, social and # Assessment Criteria environmental benefits that could be delivered by the Salford Digital Infrastructure Project. TV1 Does the respondent explicitly mention the linking the assets in Salford's Innovation Triangle? While the market engagement questionnaire did not explicitly ask about TV2 Does the respondent recognise the importance of direct social impact respondents intentions to deliver these objectives, it did make clear the aims to SCC? and objectives of SCC’s Digital Strategy, including its ambitions to transform TV3 Does the respondent articulate tangible proposals for supporting Salford into an exemplar smart city that stimulates growth in the tech economy social impact? and innovates in health and digital skills across the region’s communities. TV4 Do the proposals respond to the SCC Digital Strategy priorities for social impact? Similarly to the Technical Feasibility scoring criteria, the Total Value scoring TV5 Are those proposals realistic and/or adoptable? criteria aims to reward those that did consider total value outcomes, while also providing direction to future market engagement exercises. TV6 What level of impact will they have (indicative)? Many of the respondents did not touch on the indirect economic, social and environmental benefits that could be delivered as a result of the Digital Infrastructure Project.

Responses from three key organisations were notable in their references to the varied social benefits that can be delivered as a result of good connectivity and digital infrastructure. They also set out an intention to set formal KPIs to ensure these benefits were delivered, alongside more traditional delivery and operational outcomes. Glossary

Acronyms

BIO Bristol Is Open LFFN Local Full Fibre Network CAPEX Capital Expenditure LoRaWAN Long Range Wide Area Network CC Connecting Cambridgeshire LPWAN Low-Power Wide Area Network DCMS Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport LTE Long-Term Evolution DIZ Digital Innovation Zone NB-IoT Narrowband IoT EDD Enabling Digital Delivery OJEU Official Journal of the European Union GbVS Gigabit Voucher Scheme OPEX Operating Expenditure GIS Geographic Information System PFI Private Finance Initiative GM Greater Manchester PSAR Public Sector Asset Reuse IoT Internet of Things PSAT Public Sector Anchor Tenancy ITT Invitation to Tender PSBU Public Sector Building Upgrade JV Joint Venture SCC Salford City Council KPI Key Performance Indicator SPV Special Purpose Vehicle LEP Local Enterprise Partnership Salford Digital Infrastructure Next Step Recommendations Next Step Recommendations

In order to take the Digital Infrastructure project forward to create both a Detailed Project Defintion strong commercial offer for Salford and to deliver broader social, economic Prepare for further market engagement by baselining existing capabilities, and environmental benefits from it, we recommend the following steps: clarifying scope, preparing commercial options and clarifying "total value" objectives. 1. Detailed Project Definition 2. Market Engagement Market Engagement 3. Business Case Development Prepare the governance for and carry out a collaborative competitive dialogue process. For efficiency, early stages of Business Case Development could be commenced in parallel with market engagement once scope is sufficiently well Business Case Development defined. Enable delivery by securing the investment required by the outcome of the dialogue process. These steps are further described in the remainder of this report. Next Step Recommendations

1 Detailed Project Definition enablement, infrastructure, standards, policies and planning, skills, procurement and measurement. This could be achieved through: To successfully execute the Digital Infrastructure project, Digital Salford must • Desktop reviews of existing strategies, data and information. have a clear and concise understanding of the project scope and a realistic • Stakeholder interviews to understand what is currently being done in appreciation of the outcomes that can be delivered. With this in mind, we the local area around digital and the perceived opportunities and recommend that Digital Salford take the following next steps: challenges associated with digital infrastructure and services. Activity 1: Project Scoping Activity 3: Options Analysis We recommend that Digital Salford clearly define the scope and To make the Digital Infrastructure project a reality, Digital Salford will need a boundaries of the project, including but not limited to: clear understanding of the size of investment required from collaboration • The core organisations involved and their roles partners, as well as an appreciation of what they are asking for from the • The assets to be included commercial market. Using the project scope defined above, we recommend defining a short-list of deployment and operating model options for the • The areas to be targeted various layers of the Project. For each of these options, we would recommend • Indicative timelines undertaking analysis to understand the indicative investment requirements, Having a clear and shared understanding of the project scope will be both in terms of financial and in-kind contributions, including both capital and critical to enabling further progress in market engagement. operational costs offset against potential revenues.

Activity 2: Digital Baseline and Gap Analysis Activity 4: Total Value Framework The more complete information that can be provided to potential partners In order that the market engagement exercise produces clear statements from through the market engagement exercise, the more accurate and specific their potential partners describing the broader social value their proposals would responses will be. We therefore recommend an undertaking to collate and deliver to the people of Salford, we advise creating a "Total Value analyse reference information from relevant local organisations including Framework" to provide the basis of assessment. This should express the existing infrastructure and assets, governance, data management, citizen financial, social, economic and environmental objectives of the Digital Infrastructure project, aligned to strategies of the core organisations involved. Next Step Recommendations

Bristol's Smart City Strategy Birmingham Data Platform Business Case

Arup led Bristol City Council’s feasibility study and competition entry for the UK Technology Strategy Board’s Future Cities Demonstrator competition in 2012. The study involved complex scoping and feasibility analysis of smart city solutions with multiple partners and a wide public stakeholder community. Arup developed a coherent and realistic strategy with the City Council for an innovative two-year project that focused on integrated urban infrastructure using digital technology. Bristol’s feasibility study was successfully shortlisted as one of the final four cities in the competition and received £3 million of government funding. Arup was appointed by Digital Birmingham, a team within that is dedicated to accelerating digital investment and opportunities Since the competition, Arup has been working with the Council on a range for businesses and citizens in Birmingham. They wanted to understand the of initiatives to deliver the Council’s future cities vision. These have included business case for a prospective data platform called Citi-Sense. Citi-Sense setting up an innovation unit within the council to take Bristol’s future city would provide the public with access to data from the public and private service to the next level, along with an advisory board, and developing the sectors with the aim of stimulating the development of data-based solutions city’s living lab model. Arup has also been involved on future city projects for the city. Arup worked with Digital Birmingham to assess the market including Avon Strategic Flood Defences Study, Bristol Temple Meads conditions and potential socio-economic benefits of Citi-Sense, and to outline Interchange, and Bristol Workplaces. Arup also produced the business case the technical requirements for its deployment. to justify investment in a Smart City operations centre which the local authority has since procured and implemented. Next Step Recommendations

2 Market Engagement

To deliver the Digital Infrastructure Project, Digital Salford will require the Activity 3: Competitive Dialogue Process formation of a new commercial partnership between multiple public and Having raised awareness of the programme, we suggest that Digital Salford private sector stakeholders. To secure this collaboration, we recommend that initiates a dialogue with market participants to understand the ‘art of the Digital Salford undertake the following activities: possible’. This could progress into a formal OJEU competitive dialogue process aimed at encouraging the formation of consortia to bid for access to Digital Activity 1: Market Awareness Programme Salford assets on preferential terms and to make co-investments in the We recommend that Digital Salford delivers a market awareness programme emerging technology joint venture. consisting of events, digital communications and targeted discussions to publicise the aims, desired outcomes and opportunities associated with the Project. This will ensure that a broad spectrum of organisations are aware of the project and will help to gauge the market’s appetite for participation in the various layers of the Project.

Activity 2: Formalise the Smart City Innovation Alliance Following the market engagement programme, Digital Salford should have a good idea of which organisations are most interested and aligned to the objectives of the Project. We recommend that Digital Salford seek to formalise their involvement in the Project by initiating the Smart City Innovation Alliance. The roles and responsibilities of organisations within the Alliance should be set out in a clear Terms of Reference document. This would then help potential commercial partners to express what commitments they could make to it through the procurement process. Next Step Recommendations

Olympic Park and Stratford City, London Nine Elms Telecoms Infrastructure Coordination

Arup was appointed by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to give Arup were commissioned by the Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership to produce strategic direction for the procurement of utilities for the 2012 Games. This a vision for a World Class Telecoms Infrastructure across the Nine Elms included identifying and executing a procurement process for fixed and District. Arup understood that coordinating the timeframes of the different wireless telecoms that utilised the commercial value of operating utility developers across the district would be key in achieving the telecoms vision, infrastructure and shifted part or all of the initial capital cost away from the due to the considerable period of time between the start and finish of the landowner or developer. Arup supported the ODA to deliver one of the UK’s current Developers’ works. To support this coordination, Arup delivered a first FTTH networks to approximately 10,000 houses planned in the area, series of engagement activities: providing advice on technical design and commercial aspects of the network. • Developer Engagement: Arup engaged with the 12 developers across the district to understand their telecommunication infrastructure requirements, current plans, timescales and challenges. • Telecom Operator Engagement: Arup engaged with relevant fixed and mobile telecoms operators to understand their plans around meeting the demand generated by this new district. • Joint Engagement: Arup brought together the developers and telecom operators to debate a common vision for the Nine Elms District, discuss the associated opportunities and challenges and identify potential solutions.

Following this engagement exercise, Arup were able to identify opportunities for coordination and cooperation between developers and operators. Next Step Recommendations

3 Business Case Development

Once sufficient feedback has been received from the market and the project scope has been clearly defined, we recommend that Digital Salford produces a business case in order to clearly articulate how the project will be delivered, when outcomes will be realised and what levels of investment will be required from the core partners in Salford. For efficiency, early stages could begin in parallel with market engagement once scope is sufficiently well defined.

Activity 1: Business Case Development We recommend that Digital Salford produce their business case in line with HMG’s Green Book guidance. This advocates the production of a business case in 5 sections as shown in the graphic opposite: • Strategic Case • Economic Case • Commercial Case • Financial Case • Management Case

We recommend starting with the development of a Strategic Outline Business Case, before progressively adding more detail to arrive at an outline business case and full business case respectively as competitive procurement competes and the investment required from Salford becomes clear. Again, this in aligned with the process advocated in the Green Book. Next Step Recommendations

West Midlands 5G Business Case Hyperconnected City Business Case

After assisting the West Midlands The Future Cities Catapult (FCC) commissioned Arup to Combined Authority in the creation of their advise on aspects of the business case for the Hyper successful proposal to be appointed as the Connected and Data Rich City (HCDRC), a proposal for hosting authority for DCMS’ Urban a city-scale demonstrator in the UK for innovative Connected Communities (UCC) project, products and services based on transformative digital Arup was appointed as lead advisor to the WMCA in their delivery of the technologies such as next generation telecoms project, supporting the creation of a Business Case to secure the DCMS technology. This business case informed what later funding and a “pop-up” delivery organisation. became the Urban Connected Communities 5G Demonstrator, a public/private collaboration that will accelerate the The Business Case was built in accordance with HMT Green development and deployment of technologies that support innovative city- Book Guidance, incorporating supplementary guidance provide by wide services and operations. DCMS. The Arup team supported the construction of all 5 cases providing insight into the strategic vision, analysing delivery models, shortlisting and Arup’s work included: appraising options and creating a commercial and procurement strategy • Analysis of possible use cases that could be demonstrated and scaled for the preferred options. We also highlighted key project, procurement across the HCDRC, such as Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, mobile and engagement risks and developed robust mitigation strategies. media and entertainment, logistics, smart utilities, healthcare, and city services. Our work also included consideration of State Aid issues, ensuring • A financial model for the duration of the programme. that the processes within the business case, including procurement, • Implementation details, such as the infrastructure and data assets needed delivery and commercial pricing structures, were compliant. The for the suggested use cases. business case was supported by a bespoke financial model to aid • Assessment of the regulations and commerthat would affect the management in their decision-making processes and to quantify the deployment of the suggested use cases. benefits provided by greater connectivity in the region.