SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Sunderland

In the latest SmartCitiesWorld City Profile, we showcase how Sunderland in the North of England is redefining itself as one of the UK’s most ambitious smart cities. This in-depth profile explores how the city is using 5G, data platforms, low-carbon innovation and inclusive digital policy to power long-term economic renewal.

From citywide connectivity to community digital inclusion, Sunderland is demonstrating how technology can support both competitiveness and social value.

Our City Profiles act as a toolbox for other cities, splitting out the city’s challenges and matching them to solutions that demonstrate exactly how technology, policy and investment come together to overcome both every-day and long-term issues. In this City Profile, we focus on:

• Sunderland as a blueprint for post-industrial transformation
  How the city is shifting from heavy industry to a digitally enabled, innovation-led economy.
• Building digital infrastructure at scale
  Inside the city’s “Layer Cake” model – full fibre, 5G, LoRaWan and a live smart city data platform.
• Delivering data-driven public services
  How real-time analytics are improving social care, event safety, traffic management and environmental monitoring.
• Demonstrating connected and autonomous mobility in action
  Lessons from real-world trials in self-driving shuttles and 5G-enabled logistics.
• Tackling digital exclusion head-on
  The governance model behind Digital Health Hubs, free public wifi and inclusive digital services.
• Developing net-zero plans with measurable impact
  How smart buildings, rainfall sensors and air quality monitoring are supporting Sunderland’s 2030 carbon-neutral target.
• Creating economic growth aligned with inclusion
  How the City Plan 2025–2035 connects regeneration, skills and digital investment to create high-value jobs.

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In partnership with Sunderland City Council and Microsoft, we have also hosted a companion webinar for this City Profile, looking at how Sunderland has laid the groundwork for practical, responsible AI by building a secure, scalable data foundation that connects insight to action. The webinar explores how the city has designed its smart city data platform in partnership with Boldyn Networks, and supported by Microsoft, to transform how data is collected, analysed and visualised across the city.

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