Projects

The Smart Belfast Urban Innovation Framework aims to harness urban innovation to tackle Belfast's major economic, social and environmental challenges.

Businesses showcased and shared insights on the innovative products and services they trialled in real-world settings through a pioneering healthy ageing testbed in the Markets area of Belfast.

Making it easier for local businesses to find and receive support and finance to help them grow.

A new healthy ageing testbed has been set up in Belfast to trial innovative approaches to tackling isolation and loneliness in older people as part of the £2.5 million Connected Places Catapult 'Homes for Healthy Ageing' Programme.

Belfast Met College has joined the Innovation City Belfast (ICB) partnership.

Belfast City Council worked with Connected Places Catapult and the South Korean city of Sejong to develop an Innovative Procurement Playbook to better understand the challenges related to innovative procurement.

This pilot is looking at how machine vision and machine learning can help to identify obstacles along Belfast routes that can reduce the capacity for more active travel.

Belfast City Council is trialling sensors to better understand how litter bins are being used in the city.

Eileen Montgomery has been appointed Digital Innovation Commissioner by Innovation City Belfast.

Belfast is supporting a trial of electric delivery bikes by local company, streetdock.

Belfast City Council has teamed up with the Maritime Belfast Trust for an exciting new European project ‘Hub-In’, that aims to transform historic urban areas through innovation.

Belfast trialled a community currency mobile app which enables people to earn ‘Civic Dollars’ for the time they spend in local parks.

Belfast City Council is working with locals companies Xpand and Allstate NI on two innovative data projects.

Innovation City Belfast and TechTalent Academy are collaborating with Amazon Web Services to deliver a new, free online training programme – AWS re/Start.

Innovation City Belfast, formed by six of the city’s key institutions, aims to accelerate growth in Belfast’s most exciting knowledge economy clusters, while at the same time supporting Belfast to prepare for the impact of innovation. 

Mark Gillan has been appointed as Digital Innovation Commissioner and Clare Guinness as Innovation District Director.

Belfast's public bike hire scheme has introduced 450 new 'smart' bikes with upgraded features using a smart technology framelock, solar energy and GPS technology.

Using data and innovative technologies to ensure our parks are safe, accessible and enjoyed by all.

Belfast's Resilience Strategy aims to transition the city to an inclusive, zero-emissions, climate-resilient economy in a generation.

Belfast is collaborating with other leading smart cities and global experts to refine policies in areas such as privacy protection, cybersecurity, open data and digital connectivity.

Belfast aims to be a global leader in zero emissions maritime technology with the development of the world's most environmentally friendly high-speed ferries.

Belfast City Council has launched a new website to connect organisations and provide solutions to Covid-19 challenges.

Using data and innovative technologies to ensure our parks are safe, accessible and enjoyed by all.

Belfast City Council is working with locals companies Xpand and AllState NI on two innovative data projects.

Belfast is trialling innovative solutions to help manage loading bays and electric vehicle charging points at two sites in the city as part of the Last Mile Delivery challenge.

Northern Ireland's public transport provider, Translink has launched Northern Ireland’s first sustainable fuel cell buses powered by hydrogen from local on-shore wind energy.

Belfast City Council is reviewing its vehicle fleet, with long-term ambitions set for transition to low carbon transport options in the future.

Individuals and organisations across Belfast have worked together to identify the shocks and stresses which make the city more vulnerable, and could threaten our economic, social or environmental future.

The Belfast Rapid Transit Glider service has contributed to 1.67 million fewer car journeys in 2018-19, reducing congestion and enhancing city air quality. 

Smart, low cost solutions to optimise freight and cargo deliveries in urban centres, and improve traffic management, air quality, noise pollution and road safety.

BT brings 5G future to Belfast Harbour with live demonstrations of augmented and virtual reality.

Belfast's public bike hire scheme is helping to reduce car usage and traffic congestion, while offering a low cost and healthy way to travel around Belfast city centre.

Belfast City Council has appointed Virgin Media Business to deliver a full fibre network to connect 200 Council sites across Belfast, guaranteeing the Council’s digital business requirements for the long-term.

We want to understand the needs and ambitions of your company and how digital investments can help you innovate and grow your business.

We explored how data analytics and machine learning can maximise the accurate collection of business rates, as well as maintain an up-to-date register of businesses in the city.

We're part of a pilot project that’s using technology to create an engaging and fun experience for visitors and residents exploring the Maritime Mile in the Belfast's Titanic Quarter.

Queen’s University Belfast researchers win major global award for 5G network research.

Belfast has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mastercard to become the latest member of its new 'City Possible' programme.

Cycling is a key solution to urban mobility. More cyclists means less commuters, reduced congestion and pollution while increasing the health and happiness of our citizens. Knowing more about cycling behaviour can help planners make our city more welcoming to cyclists.

Belfast Region City Deal partners welcome news of £350 million investment from the UK Treasury. As part of the deal, the NI Executive is expected to add at least a further £350 million and councils will contribute over £100 million.

The region offers more than just skilled people, competitive costs and great infrastructure; it's a location that delivers altogether more for investors.

We're part of a UK Space Agency Space for Smarter Government project that’s using satellite technology to help our planners and residents understand urban air pollution.

Belfast is part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities global programme to support us in dealing with the physical, social and economic challenges of the 21st century.

We have been working with partners to explore the future of planning and the potential of new digital technologies to support systems that are more responsive to radical change and more centred around the future needs of citizens.

Belfast has become a magnet for talent in music, theatre, film and television. In a statement of our ambition the city has established a national Immersive Lab that seeks to bring Virtual and Augmented Reality Tech into the home, the office and on to the factory floor.

Working with Invest NI we established the ‘Smart Belfast Collaborative Challenge’ which provides funding to SMEs to work together to explore innovative opportunities in the areas of Active Living, Tourism and Transport.

With a strong aeronautical engineering tradition, it’s not surprising that Belfast is also emerging as an ideal testbed for urban drone technologies.

The concept of a playable city is one which encourages city-dwellers to engage with public spaces in playful, fun and creative ways.

Our tourism industry is thriving; we have a unique offering and our visitors love it. We’re working with partners to find better ways to collect, share and analysis real-time tourist data in order to build the world-class offering.

The Smart Belfast framework is about creating the circumstances in which cross-sectoral innovation can flourish to address urban challenges.

Belfast is gaining a global reputation as a cyber security hub with the Centre for Secure Information Technologies now the largest cyber security centre in Europe.