Edinburgh turns to kids to develop IoT smart city ideas

As part of the scheme, run through the Data Education in Schools programme, CityFibre will provide schools with IoT technology kits and invite pupils to solve challenges using data, much of which will have been gathered from sensors over the company’s network.

CityFibre is currently investing more than £100 million on the city-wide full fibre installation and the idea is to develop ideas for using the IoT for projects, such as monitoring air quality in playgrounds, to turn Edinburgh into a "smart" city.

A number of pupils from both primary and secondary school year groups will be invited to showcase their ideas at an event in May.

Professor Judy Robertson, chair in digital learning at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Education, Community & Society, said: “The project will encourage young people to think about how they can use sensors and data to understand their environment and to develop tools that can improve their local communities, learning how data can be used for good. The project is a fantastic addition to our Data Education for Schools initiative.”