City Regions across the UK are stepping up — delivering transformative services, accelerating social and economic growth, and creating meaningful local opportunities. At the heart of it all is a shared ambition: enabling societal digital equality. And while this mission is vast, we’re proud to be contributing to it in our own way.
I recently attended the Connected North event held in Manchester. It was an incredible event, filled with energy, insight, and inspiring conversations. I had the privilege of moderating a number of fantastic panels, one of which was to discuss progress around 5G Innovation Regions programme funded by DSIT — a real honour to guide discussions with such knowledgeable and passionate individuals from Glasgow City Region, North Ayrshire Council, Connecting Cumbria and Shropshire Council. Great to discuss the progress being made and moving the development into adoption and benefits realisation- with some real tangible examples of commercial models delivering sustainable outcomes.
What progress is being made with 5GIR?
As we move deeper into conversations about the future of our Northern Regions and how these can be underpinned through advanced wireless technologies, one theme continues to rise to the top — the need for smart decarbonisation and the how next-generation connectivity can power socially enabled communities.
Creating socially enabled communities
Through our partnerships with social housing providers, we’re not just talking about innovation — we’re actively embedding it into places that need it most. Our own GM 5GIR programme focuses on expanding affordable, high-speed 5G access across underserved areas — particularly within social housing but integrating into decarbonisation and retrofit programmes. This helps bridge the digital divide, enabling residents to engage with online services, education, and employment opportunities and delivering real, tangible benefits to residents such as supporting in addressing fuel poverty by enabling smarter energy and heating management in homes. These programmes and interventions are ensuring that progress isn’t just seen in headlines or boardrooms, but felt in everyday lives.
Use Case Study – Social Adult Care
Barry McNally, as Programme Manager for the Smart & Connected Social Places (SCSP) Programme in the Glasgow City Region, plays a pivotal role in advancing digital innovation to enhance community well-being and promote sustainability. The SCSP Programme, part of the UK’s 5G Innovation Region initiative, encompasses several projects aimed at transforming social housing and health & social care services through advanced wireless technologies – using Alexa’s to help assisted living and wellbeing programmes, and introducing a whole range of IoT devices to focus on preventative care and managing pathways away from clinical interventions. The project also involves deploying sensors in social housing to monitor environmental conditions such as CO₂ levels, humidity, and temperature. The data collected helps in early detection of issues like dampness and mould, enabling timely maintenance and improving residents’ health. Additionally, it aids in identifying energy inefficiencies, contributing to fuel poverty alleviation.
Driving green tech and decarbonisation
And when we talk about green tech, we’re not just looking at the tech itself — we’re looking at how it integrates into the fabric of communities to drive decarbonisation. Whether it’s through smarter energy management, connected devices that reduce waste, or platforms that support behaviour change, our work is contributing to a greener, more inclusive future.
Use Case Study – River Severn
Matt Smith, Programme Manager for the River Severn Partnership Advanced Wireless Innovation Region (RSPAWIR), is spearheading transformative initiatives that leverage advanced wireless technologies to foster decarbonisation and promote green technology across three key sectors: water management, agri-tech, and public services, aiming to enhance sustainability and flood risk resilience in the region. One of the flagship integrates cutting-edge technologies to optimise agricultural practices, including AI-Enabled pest monitoring to help detect and manage pest populations and reducing the need for chemical pesticides and installing water quality sensors to monitor nitrate levels in the River Severn and local steams – with these sensors using advanced wireless connectivity to provide real time data.
Enabling smart decarbonisation and social equality isn’t just a goal — it’s a responsibility. And with the right partnerships, inclusive innovation, and community engagement -first thinking, we can make it happen.
Use Case Study – Economic Clustering
Julia McMurdle from North Ayrshire discussed the importance of fostering innovation hubs which bring like minded businesses together and integrate their ambitions with the regional economic framework. Underpinning this is advanced wireless technology which unlocks innovation such as advanced manufacturing and creates and eco-system where businesses can thrive alongside their supply chains.
Use Case Study – Rural Tourism
Jonathan Harris enlightened us on the challenges of rurality when it comes to connectivity. Whilst the Sharen Rural Network has done wonders in supporting mobile connectivity in our deepest green shires, valleys and coasts – we are still lacking in many tourist destinations – and Cumbria and the Lakes is no different. With some world class site locations like Hadrian’s Wall, Lake Windermere and Kielder Forest – the challenge is providing inclusive connectivity to support tourism and leisure activity. Connecting Cumbria are trailblazing in this space providing private and public 5G networks, with sustainable commercial models anchored by public sector use cases such as payments and cashless vending on the Windermere Ferry.
I am looking forward to picking up and exploring the progress some of these projects are making at the next Connected Britain event in September 2025.
Contact:
Should you wish to discuss 5GIR in more detail, please contact me: chris.founds@cjfoundsassociates.co.uk
