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London is the听濒补谤驳别蝉迟听city in听western Europe and the world’s leading听financial centre.听

Founded by the Romans in 47AD, its infrastructure combines听thousand–year–old听buildings听with听modern听structures听housing听cutting-edge technology companies.

The canvas of听listed buildings and tight streets听is听undoubtedly听a difficult one upon which to听outline听smart city initiatives such as听autonomous vehicles听and听fibre connectivity.听

“How do we make a city that was built over the last 2,000 years a smarter city?鈥� asks Theo Blackwell听MBE, London鈥檚 first Chief Digital Officer, before the launch of London Tech Week today.听

Appointed听in 2017听to lead on London-wide digital transformation, data and smart city initiatives at City Hall, Blackwell听joined from听GovTech听accelerator Public听and听helped听regenerate听King’s Cross听as a long-standing Camden councillor with responsibility for technology.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, whom听Blackwell describes as 鈥�’pro-technology and pro-innovation鈥�,听launched Smarter London Together in 2018, a roadmap to improving collaboration听between the tech sector and听the capital’s听33 boroughs, 40+ NHS Trusts听and听major universities, in order to feed advancements back into the public sector.听

鈥淭his听‘fix the plumbing’ work we’ve been doing will help make London a more responsive place and a better place to do business,鈥� he tells听老九品茶Cloud.听鈥淲e want to improve the听citizen听experience by embedding innovation听where most people get their services: local government.听

鈥�Our city听[of nine million people]听is scheduled by the middle of the century to grow by additional听two听million 鈥� eight听boroughs鈥�听worth.听What could apply to one borough听could also apply to six,听eight听or 14听others.听

鈥淭hat kind of linkage between all of them wasn’t really happening before.鈥�听

He听says听smart cities are听often听driven by an “overly solutionist” approach which involves “getting a big platform and feeding loads of data into it, and then doing something with it”.听

Instead,听Blackwell is听taking听on the best traditions of design and experience with data to do something which is more purpose–led.听

The likes of the Oyster card, which he credits with the wider adoption of contactless tech, has built confidence in TfL as an innovator.听The transport body听has since provided Wi–Fi across the capital鈥檚 tube network, anonymising the resultant data to support analysis of听underground passenger flows and enabling the pricing of advertising to raise revenue for the听Tube system.听

“It allowed us to price advertising on our estate in order to generate that extra investment,” he says.听

London鈥檚 ‘copper legacy’听of wires, as听Blackwell听puts it,听will听also听need to be completely replaced by fibre in preparation for the 5G revolution, and to speed up internet connections across the city.听The听Tube network is the perfect place to begin this update:听Blackwell听says 600 public buildings will be听connected up听to this fibre听鈥榮pine鈥�, also lowering the cost for private investment in outer London.听

“Our pivot has been towards a digital transformation approach to smart cities, rather than how some people see it:听drones and connected autonomous vehicles.听Although we do have those听too.鈥�听

The CDO keeps in close contact with leading US cities such as听New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles,听regularly exchanging information听around听mobility, for听example;听however he looks closer to home for real smart city inspiration.听

鈥�I听draw听a lot of really good knowledge听from European cities,鈥� he听says.听鈥�It’s not just about the听amount of technology firms that you have:听it’s about the kind of posture of the city and the quality of that relationship.听听

鈥�Helsinki have a similar progressive direction to us,听as does Amsterdam,听Manchester, Leeds,听Glasgow听and Belfast.听They really听stand out.鈥�听

While London is considered the FinTech capital of the world, it is the city鈥檚 success with data which has allowed it to听claim听that title, says听Blackwell.听Data will听also听create the best outcomes for London鈥檚 inhabitants, rather than shiny new toys:听“It’s not about the piece of kit, it’s about how you do things.”听

Evidence of the change that big, open data can quietly make to the city is found in TfL’s network of 700 cameras.听These听collect data听which is sent to听the Turing Institute, the national institute for data science and artificial intelligence.听

Via machine learning, the feeds from these cameras can be interpreted into measures of air-quality, and reports of how busy streets and pavements are.听This data is then added to an open API which anyone can use to create apps and insight.听

Blackwell says听this听particular project听is on the cusp of 48-hour reporting, bringing faster insights about the city as a whole.听鈥淪omeone can create an app听saying听鈥榯his is the healthiest route to take your child to school鈥�; and it might change day by day, depending on the weather and traffic patterns,鈥� he explains.听

Blackwell says the technology could be used for resilience purposes during lockdown, measuring the economic activity of high streets as compared to a more normal year, and adherence to social distancing.听

This type of data can give policy makers more ‘levers’ to decide where the likes of economic support would be听best–placed.听

鈥淢oving away from traditional ways of doing things and using data can only come from good dialogue听鈥� and听creating a听sense of the听鈥�art of the possible鈥�听when it comes to using听the technology.鈥�