Menter Môn are working in collaboration with Anglesey County Council and Welsh Government to develop Anglesey into a SMART Island.
The project aims to provide public Wi-Fi along with SMART technology across the Island. SMART technology is a type of technology responsible for monitoring, analyzing and reporting on specific area activities.
This development will assist high street recovery after the pandemic as well as ensuring better connectivity within rural areas.
Businesses and organizations can gather useful information on visitor habits using the data as a basis for considering different factors and holding potential events to attract customers to stay local – either in the town centre or in coastal locations.
Councillor Carwyn Jones noted: “Access to valuable data will provide insights for analyzing the success of community projects. Success will be measurable by assessing the impact the decisions have on visitor numbers and the length of time they spend in the locations”.
Since April 2020, a free Wi-fi service has been installed in Llangefni. By providing a free Wi-fi system it has been possible for the town to use Patrwm, a data collection software to identify town practices.
By identifying the benefits of using the system, the scheme will work with different towns as well as coastal areas such as Traeth Bychan and Amlwch Port. The service in the coastal areas will enable better communication between fishermen, port users as well as the coastal communities.
Tomos Jones, Innovation Projects Manager at Menter Môn said: “We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Isle of Anglesey County Council to enable the Island to make decisions based on data. The SMART Island scheme also provides valuable insight into the businesses trading on Anglesey’s high streets.”
The project is mainly funded by the Welsh Government’s Rural Development Fund and any funding gaps from the Welsh Government will be filled through Anglesey Council’s Arfor program. The Wi-Fi service in the coastal areas is funded by the Welsh Government, through the FLAG scheme.
The SMART Island initiative complies with the ‘Year of SMART Towns’ project, run by Menter Môn and funded by the Welsh Government to support the Town Transformation Program.
For more information about the projects, please contact elenf@mentermon.com or call 07376431446.
