By Karen Peattie
CANADIAN IT giant CGI has extended its contract with the City of Edinburgh Council as the primary provider of end-to-end managed IT services to until 2029.
Valued at about £100 million, the contract extension will help deliver Edinburgh’s vision of becoming one of the world’s “smartest” capital cities. Canada-based CGI said that it will achieve this “partly through supporting the creation of a smart city operations centre, which will deliver transformative digital services using artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and advanced analytics to accelerate benefits to Edinburgh’s citizens”.
The partnership between City of Edinburgh Council and CGI will “achieve a significant evolution of services in Edinburgh, with several new systems and processes fundamentally improving the lives of all the Scottish capital’s citizens and workers”. Planned improvements will include providing schools with digitally-advanced networks and equipment, and helping Edinburgh meet its target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
Lindsay McGranaghan, vice-president for CGI in Scotland, noted that CGI will also help enable further efficiencies and savings for the council while building on the relationship between the two organisations. “Edinburgh is a vibrant and diverse capital city that is growing at twice the national Scottish average,” she said. “This growth brings huge opportunities to develop a modern, digital infrastructure that meets the demands of 21st-century living.
“By using the latest digital technology, we aim to help the council make living and working in Edinburgh more transparent, collaborative and dynamic. The council’s vision will enhance its relationship with its citizens, and allow them to live and work in a digitally-advanced smart city.”
CGI’s president of operations in the UK and Australia, Tara McGeehan, added: “We draw on experience from Montreal, Helsinki, and other cities around the world in bringing smart cities to life, and we take a pragmatic approach to enabling technology.”
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