UofG’s future as a Smart Campus – what are the benefits?

Michael Burns (Smart Campus Development Manager)
Oct 28, 2017
2 min read

The University of Glasgow is the city’s oldest, largest Higher Education institution and the economic and social anchor of the West End. With the campus expansion as the largest capital investment in the city region – the project presents significant opportunities to develop solutions to the urban challenges of the future.

Developing this as a ‘Smart’ urban quarter, the University and its partners will deliver a large scale, internationally significant demonstrator for new models of

Core infrastructure – energy, water, waste, digital
Built environment (urban space, data, sensors and facilities management)
Societal challenges, mental health, smart mobility, transportation

A Smart Campus will:

Strengthen the University’s international reputation as a centre of excellence in research, design and management of the built environment.
Showcase Scottish research expertise in urban technologies through the development and demonstration of smart city technologies and techniques.
Serve as a powerful driver for the transformation of the city’s West End - working with the wider host community to enrich and repurpose a complex urban space. This will involve leisure, retail, residential economic development, as well as education, thereby attracting even more highly skilled students and academics to the city.
Provide an internationally visible statement from the University and its partners around a commitment to design, develop and deploy the services and technologies supporting a high quality, world-class campus, urban environment, workplace learning and teaching experience.
Maximise economic impact through developing a knowledge economy (social and economic return), employment and training, inward investment, small business support, research spin-out, industry spin-in and strategic commercial partnerships.
Serve as a destination for potential partners and co-investors and as a demonstration of research impact and technology transfer.
Provide a high quality physical environment attractive to staff and students.
Stimulate new research, co-investment and commercial collaboration.