Smarter Cities: Transforming Safety, Efficiency, and Sustainability

Across the UK, local governments are facing a complex balance to deliver safer, more sustainable, and more efficient services in the face of rising demand and tightening budgets. The challenge is no longer simply about doing more with less, it's about doing better with less.

Smart connected technologies present a powerful opportunity. From intelligent video surveillance and intelligent street lighting to IoT networks and sensor-based monitoring, creating the right foundations can help cities work smarter, safer and more sustainably.

At the heart of a smarter city is data-driven decision-making. By integrating multiple systems and harnessing real-time insights, local authorities can take proactive steps to shape safer, more connected communities.

Unlocking Intelligence through Integration

While local government has made significant progress in recent years, there is still a long way to go in breaking down silos, where departments manage separate infrastructures, datasets, and budgets. This fragmentation creates barriers to identifying shared challenges or opportunities for joined-up innovation.

By integrating disparate data sources into centralised platforms and control centres, local authorities can gain a clear, real-time view of what’s happening across the city. This visibility improves public safety, enhances service delivery, and enables more targeted investments based on actual community needs.

One standout example is the City of Edinburgh Council, who partnered with North to design and deliver a revolutionary Smart City Operations Centre. By integrating video surveillance, advanced analytics and multiple data sources into a single control centre, Edinburgh has benefited from improved safety, sustainability, and public services.

Building Smarter Infrastructure for Sustainable Cities

Smarter city technologies aren’t just about safety, they are also a critical opportunity to advance sustainability goals and reduce operational costs. IoT-supported sensors can monitor everything from air quality to flood risk in real time, enabling action to be taken quickly to safeguard citizens and protect public health.

In Aberdeen, North helped roll out an intelligent street lighting system, introducing a centralised management platform that automatically adjusts based on movement, time of day and environmental conditions. The result? A 40% saving in associated energy use in the city centre alone, significant reductions in maintenance costs, and a measurable improvement in carbon emissions, all while creating safer, better-lit public spaces.

The project forms a core part of Net Zero Aberdeen, a city-wide approach for decarbonisation, and was recognised with the Sustainable Customer Project of the Year at the CRN Tech Impact Awards.

Scaling Innovation through Shared Services

While smart city initiatives can be viewed as major undertakings, shared service models are making innovation more accessible, especially for smaller councils. These collaborative partnerships allow neighbouring authorities to share resources and access technologies that may otherwise be out of reach.

Take Hammersmith & Fulham Council, who transformed its public space CCTV network with North’s support. The project included a new, future-ready control centre equipped with AI-enabled analytics for proactive crime prevention. As a result, Hammersmith & Fulham is seeing a measurable decline in crime and has now extended its control centre services to neighbouring boroughs including Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, all managed from the same integrated control room.

Shared services like these don’t just reduce or help avoid costs, they raise the bar for public safety, operational resilience, and the citizen experience.

A Smarter Future for the Public Sector

Transforming public services doesn’t require massive upfront investment or disruptive overhauls. It starts with identifying high-impact, achievable projects that address immediate challenges while laying the groundwork for longer-term change.

At North, we partner with local authorities to deliver smarter, stronger public services, built on robust infrastructure, guided by data and aligned to local priorities. Through our ‘Stronger Networks, Smarter Places’ vision, we integrate intelligent technologies with scalable, future-proof platforms to help cities evolve with agility and purpose.

Whether it's creating integrated smart city control centres, deploying AI-driven analytics, or delivering IoT sensor networks, we help councils make smarter decisions that improve lives today and into the future.

Local Public Services Programme activities

Our Local Public Services Programme helps techUK members to navigate local government. We champion innovation that can create truly digital local public services helping to create thriving, productive and safer places for all. Visit the programme page here