Plans are in motion to make Plymouth the home of marine and maritime innovation, with a new network of high-speed mobile data connectivity across Plymouth Sound and 12 miles of the surrounding coastal waters.
Plymouth City Council is making a bid for £1.8 million of capital funding to create the network, which would be freely available to qualifying organisations undertaking research and development.
Smart Sound Plymouth is a proving area for designing, testing and developing cutting edge products and services for the advanced marine sector. It’s run by the Marine Business Technology Centre, a partnership between the Council, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the University of Plymouth, the University of Exeter and the Marine Biological Association.
The new connectivity would enable Smart Sound Plymouth to become the UK’s Centre of Excellence for advanced marine prototyping, testing and certification.
Council Leader Tudor Evans said: “Now is the time for us to look to the future. We’re going through a tumultuous period but the marine and maritime sector are going to be incredibly important as we move forward and implement our economic recovery plan, Resurgam.
“This bid is a huge opportunity for us to be an early adopter of new technology that will allow us to take the lead in this arena, putting us at the forefront of cutting edge technologies and making Plymouth the place to be for those developing new products and services.”
The new technology could help create up to 100 high-value jobs in the city and opens up opportunities for developing technical skills locally that are needed for the future.
If the bid is successful, then Smart Sound Plymouth will be uniquely placed to host trials for new technologies, including:
- Port, shipping and harbour solutions
- Security and safety at sea
- Fishing enforcement solutions
- Border control, customs and visitor movements.