Scottish gov't gives fund to help cities become "smarter"

The Scottish government announced on Monday it will fund Scottish cities and make them "smarter" by using new technology to accelerate and transform the delivery of public services.

A 15-million-euro (16.99 million U.S. dollars) fund has been set aside within the Scottish European Regional Development Fund Program for the period between 2014 to 2020.

The fund will enable the Scottish Cities Alliance to develop a program of projects across Scotland's seven cities to ensure they can compete internationally and boost economic growth, Keith Brown, secretary of the Scottish Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, told a conference on core cities in Glasgow.

He stressed that positioning the seven cities -- Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling -- as hi-tech economic hubs was "being smart about how we use data and technology to improve services, promote innovation and empower people and communities."

Cities and their regions account for 53 percent of Scotland's population and provide two thirds of its exports and 68.7 percent of Scotland's total gross value added, according to Brown.

Brown called on every local authority in Scotland to use "a wide-ranging discretionary power" in the way it was intended, to listen to their communities, understand their priorities and use their power effectively to promote well-being.

Addressing the delegates, British Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander outlined his future vision of ever-greater devolution to boost growth, emphasizing empowering cities and regions and putting in place the policies that they judge will work best for them.

Glasgow, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield are the 10 so-called core cities demanding more control over taxes and public spending to boost growth, which currently contribute almost a quarter of the combined economic output of England, Wales and Scotland, local media reported. Endit