At an event in City Hall this morning Dublin City Council announced the arrival of SoftBank to its smart city testbed and detailed how the two parties will facilitate the exchange of smart city solutions across Japanese and Irish cities.
SoftBank’s key focus is on developing IoT business opportunities to expand its business domain and this is the first European IoT outreach for the company. The company, who already provides smart solutions for a number of local authorities in Japan, plans to roll out next generation of IoT solutions to address the current and future needs and challenges of Dublin and other cities, learning and adapting to scale globally.
The SoftBank team led by Hidebumi Kitahara, (Vice-President Global Business Strategy Division), are in Dublin to finalise project details while also setting out their vision for global IoT and smart city expansion.
Softbank say Dublin was chosen for this unique collaboration due to its open approach to smart city development developed through the Smart Dublin programme. The city council alongside the CONNECT centre for future networks based in TCD provides opportunities for SoftBank to pursue its IoT strategy and smart city developments in Dublin.
Speaking this week, Chief Executive at Dublin City Council, Owen Keegan said, "Our Smart City Programme has gone from strength to strength with many of the world’s leading companies now collaborating with Dublin to deliver technologies that can transform city life. SoftBank has a great vision for the city of the future and we are proud to be the first city outside Japan to work with them to deliver solutions for our citizens and those across the globe."
Mr Kitahara added, "The development of an innovative IoT platform is a key strategy for SoftBank and we are delighted to collaborate with Dublin, with its unique smart city test bed, supported by a cluster of technology companies and an open and collaborative approach from Dublin City Council. We want to deploy technologies that can make the lives of citizens and companies easier and more productive in a variety of ways."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
