Smart Place use cases began to be deployed as part of the Lansdowne Smart Place Pilot which represented phase 1 of the Smart Place Programme and was conducted from January 2020 to July 2021. This £1.9m pilot project was funded by Dorset LEP and involves the provision of digital connectivity around the Lansdowne area including the laying of a local gigabit fibre network and the provision of a variety of wireless networks. These wireless networks include a standalone 5G network, an LTE-M network, an NB-IoT network and a public Wi-Fi network.

In order to demonstrate the capability of these networks and to support local businesses in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, a series of preliminary Smart Place proof of concept projects (Smart Place Challenges) were set up. We worked with various client stakeholders and appointed Smart Place Research and Development Consortium members to create Smart Place solutions for local challenges.

Funded by Dorset LEP, the Smart Place Pilot Project is an opportunity to lead a connectivity revolution and pioneer innovation. This will benefit the local community through creating jobs, supporting economic growth and delivering social value

The highly innovative Lansdowne project was completed successfully within an 18-month timescale. The next step is to take the innovative technology that has been developed, as well as the learnings, and to deploy these within Boscombe (Phase 2).