Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has appointed a specialist consortium to deliver an action plan detailing how to achieve Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s pledge to make the city region the most digitally connected in the UK.
The Digital Infrastructure Plan will map the city region’s existing infrastructure assets, identify opportunities to best use those assets and suggest potential operating models for the city region’s digital infrastructure. The plan will also set out specific actions to maximise the city region’s digital connectivity and drive economic growth.
Following an open tender, the contract was won by a specialist consortium formed by CBN Limited and Adroit Economics. The project will be managed by the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said:
“We have extraordinary resources here that can put us at the forefront of the fourth Industrial Revolution.
“In Southport, the GTT transatlantic cable provides ultra-fast broadband connectivity between the UK and North America. At the Hartree Centre in Daresbury we have one of the most sophisticated super computers dedicated to research and development in the world, as well as IBM’s Watson cognitive computing platform. And we are working to harness the power of the River Mersey to create predictable, plentiful, sustainable energy.
“My vision is to link these incredible resources together to connect every business, school, university, hospital and home in our area, with the best connectivity speeds in the whole country.
“It is vital that we get this right which is why we needed to go out and find experienced specialists in the field of digital infrastructure deployment.
“This Digital Infrastructure Action Plan will provide clear recommendations for how we can make our vision a reality, modernising our economy, and driving innovation in areas like health and social care, enabling us to build a healthy and prosperous future for our people and the region as a whole.”
Iain Bennett, BOP Consulting, representing the winning consortium, said: “We believe the position of the City Region and the Metro Mayor’s vision opens an opportunity to apply genuine new thinking in the development of digital infrastructure, and a chance for the Liverpool region to lead. We can’t wait to get started on this important project.”
Lee Omar, CEO at Red Ninja Studios, and LCR Digital/Creative Board co-Chair, said: “Innovative businesses like ours rely on fast digital connectivity. We see it as a utility that is more important than running water. With a fit for purpose digital infrastructure in the city region businesses will be able to produce cutting edge digital products that we can sell across the world.”