FOR REVIEW Boldyn Networks and Sunderland City Council’s long term partnership aims to create the UK’s smartest city, where no one is left behind, says Boldyn’s Danny Kelly Long-term relationships deliver results. Our seven-year partnership with Sunderland City Council is benefiting citizens, start-ups, patients and even the venerable football club of the city in the North East. Over the seven-year period, the council has deployed smart city technologies and infrastructure to improve operations and pave the way for delivering innovative, inclusive, city-wide services into the future. Speaking at UKAuthorITty’s Smart Places & Connected Communities virtual event, alongside Liz St Louis, Sunderland’s director for smart cities, we mapped out how the partnership has been able to take the long view, rather than focus on short term returns, the benefits this had delivered and the possibilities this has opened up. Sunderland has used digital as ‘the new town hall’, bringing its communities together via digital interaction. A set of immersive and interactive exhibitions that use the digital infrastructure investments bring people together, creating what St Louis describes as a ‘vibrant’ city. But it's not just about having fun, important as that is; the same approach to digital has been used to create 37 digital hubs across the city in connected voluntary and community buildings. These hubs spread digital literacy and skills to the city’s residents, helping them with downloading and using the NHS app for example, completing online job applications and learning the digital life skills of our modern world. St Louis believes this not only creates safer and better communities but drives economic growth. Local employers benefit too. Automotive firm Nissan has a major factory in the city and also utilises the nearby port for importing and exporting, and Sunderland is assessing ways to use automation technology on the routes between