The Limerick Digital Strategy is a new lens on Limerick’s strategic development and especially on the ambition to transform its economy and physical space under the Limerick 2030 Economic and Spatial Plan.
Cities and their environs, as the main drivers of world economic growth, are attracting an ever increasing number of people that are seeking new opportunities, prosperity and a better quality of life. While this urbanisation trend is contributing to the development of stronger regions, it can be unsustainable if not properly managed. Alongside this urbanisation, the past two decades have seen advances in digital technologies that have changed the world.
The Internet, mobile communications, social networks and the “cloud” have turned us into a connected, “always on” society with new expectations on how we seek and find information, how we access services, how we work, how we engage with our peers and how we communicate (for example, the Internet enables a worldwide $21 trillion global Digital Economy).
It is no surprise therefore, that cities across the world are examining how they can increasingly use integrated digital technologies, ICT, data and analytics to operate in a smarter, more efcient way.
As Limerick’s renaissance under the Limerick 2030 plan is building momentum we want to take advantage of digital technologies, transform the way we work at local and regional level, enable better citizen engagement through digital channels, double the number of digital startups in Limerick, double the number of SMEs trading online, double the use of data, create equal opportunities for all citizens and accelerate the development of a Sustainable Smarter Limerick that can grow to become a Tier 2 City Region with strong interdependence on the surrounding regions.
This document presents the Limerick Digital Strategy which joins up the digital and smart cities agendas for Limerick. It sets out the vision for a Sustainable Smart Limerick in 2030 and will guide Limerick to a new level of digital maturity between 2017 and 2020.
The first version of this document is based on the Digital Strategy Framework developed in 2016. It contains projects and initiatives which have been implemented in parallel with the development of the strategy in order to reach a common language and understanding between local stakeholders of new concepts, approaches and technologies and to demonstrate their manifestation in practice, e.g. the launch in 2017 of the new Limerick.ie as a integrated digital customer experience platform for Limerick.
This concurrent top-down (strategic) and bottom-up approach (implementation) enables support for a commonly shared vision and using an agile approach to quickly move from strategic thinking into action.
This strategy will support both national and EU digital programmes, the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan, and other local plans and strategies. It will especially underpin the Limerick 2030 Economic and Spatial Plan.
- By 2020 local people, businesses and visitors will:
- Be able to participate in 80% of public consultations using digital channels
- Be able to access more information on some 2,000 attractions, services, community groups and businesses with more than 1,000 events each year in a integrated digital experience platform - Limerick.ie
- Be able to access information about 25 local communities which will have an online presence with integrated content
- Access six programmes for digital skills, digital culture & digital inclusion
- Have 10 local networks actively engaged in smart collaboration using digital technologies
- Be able to access 50 new online services, payments, licences, permits and grants in ‘My Limerick’
- Be able to browse the Internet in 20 public WiFi zones in 17 town centres
In addition we will have:
- 37,137 premises connected to high-speed broadband under the National Broadband Plan (NBP extends beyond 2020) [1]
- 12 Strategic Community Access Hubs established to support the National Broadband Plan
- 40 new Smart CCTV cameras to enable safer communities
- Access to 14 Live Cameras from city & town centres for tourists, for Limerick people living abroad and to support and expand the Global Limerick Network
- Six community centres will be equipped withfootfall counters
- 10 Digital Public Displays
- 100 sensors deployed across city & county - Noise, Air, Water and Soil quality and Footfall counting
- A network of four digital quarters will be established between Limerick City, Rathkeale, Newcastle West and Kilmallock
- 100 open datasets published in the Insight Limerick Service
- Four new dashboards for Economy, Tourism, Transport and Community Safety
- 20% reduction in the average response time when accessing Council services
- 5% increase in customer satisfaction when accessing council Customer Services
- 20 new smart ageing and mature entrepreneur led start-ups
- 20 local companies digitally enabled in a pilot project for digital retail
- Local representatives participation in three major international best practice networks
The progress made on achieving these targets will be published online at digitalstrategy.limerick.ie