The complex process to select tenderers capable of delivering the project is on-going with a contract expected to be awarded early next year and initial work starting in the first half of 2020.
Alan Ross convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee said: “We want Dundee to become a Smart City with the best possible digital connectivity that will improve quality of life and economic development. This project seeks to develop the infrastructure we need to deliver that ambition.
“This is a complicated process that we want to make sure we get right, but I am confident that we are heading in the right direction.”
The council has successfully bid for Growth Accelerator Model (GAM) funding of £2 million from the Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust to invest in Digital Connectivity in and around the Central Waterfront Development and to support the future needs of SMART city management, Internet of Things and wireless communications.
It will create a working testbed for 5G services in the Central Waterfront area and provide high quality free public Wi-Fi services there and in future development areas.
The public Wi-Fi will be connected by fibre-optic cables running through existing ducting, as well as via new fibre infrastructure that will use existing and new street furniture. The service will be capable of being ramped up to support specific events such as concerts in Slessor Gardens.
Work will be planned to minimise disruption and scheduled to avoid conflict with the events programme at Slessor Gardens.
The city development committee will meet to discuss progress on Monday (September 9).
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
