The broadband rollout across all social housing in North Lanarkshire aims to close the digital divide, unlocking access to knowledge, skills and jobs. Beyond connectivity, it can help to enable independent living, enhance care and safety through smart tech that can monitor health needs, security, and home conditions, and streamlines council services for a better customer experience. School pupils will also benefit from increased digital access through integration with in-property connectivity to school devices and systems, improving home learning.

The pace of the project has advanced significantly with timings reduced from 10-15 years to between 5-7 years; meaning a fully affordable, ultrafast, secure and reliable internet service will be installed in all council housing, connecting people and communities even quicker than first thought.  A tender exercise to procure a supplier for the connectivity and identifying project pilot sites were also agreed at the recent council meeting.

A test of change initiative which will provide valuable insights into how digital tools can support tenants and inform us of the future plans for our housing services, will now progress at sites selected to represent a diverse cross-section of housing types across the area. Nearly 2,000 properties chosen reflect the full spectrum of housing and include a high-rise tower block; temporary accommodation units; retirement complexes; a rural village and new build developments. We’ve also included homes located within the most deprived areas to ensure the initiative addresses inequalities and supports those who may benefit most from innovation. As part of the test of change initiative, nearly 400 of the 2000 will form a focused pilot for tech-enabled homes. These pilot sites will be equipped with smart home technologies tailored to tenant needs, enabling early evaluation of digital solutions in real life settings.

North Lanarkshire Council Leader, Jim Logue, said: “This project demonstrates that North Lanarkshire is leading the way to close the digital gap to level the playing field across economic, educational, and healthcare sectors, as well as social inequality.

“Our project will have far reaching benefits, offering increased choice and control over how tenants interact with key services. Benefits range from people being supported to live independently and having greater control over their care, to the use of SMART technology which measures temperature, CO2 levels and humidity, optimising heating and providing alerts to faults. It also helps improve customer service and experience by enabling seamless end-to-end processes to fulfil service requests.

“The effects of this programme will be felt for generations to come, improving access to increase opportunities and reduce inequalities allowing people to reach their full potential and prosper.”

Reports on progress will be reported to future committees.