With the launch of the City of Edinburgh Council’s new website fast approaching, work is progressing well in all areas to have it ready for September.

Partners from the Smart Cities project met in Edinburgh on March 2nd and 3rd to review progress in developing customer contact centres in their municipalities, and to plan the production of a guide to customer contact centres for municipalities.

The City of Edinburgh Council is responsible for providing services such as education, social services, housing and culture and leisure to the City of Edinburgh’s population of 470,000, which is spread over 264 square kilometres.

It's the first day of spring, the sun is shining, and the partners from the Smart Cities project are coming to Edinburgh. Tomorrow's meeting will see partners from Scotland, England, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands meet to review progress in Work Package 3 - Customer Services, and to plan the development of transnational outputs on Customer Contact Centres.

Edge 2010 is a conference about 21st Century public service delivery on 25th and 26th Feb in Edinburgh. The conference will be about digital inclusion, learning and e-government, new approaches to the regeneration of cities and virtual libraries and information services in local authorities.

Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh City Council hosted the international conference on ‘Creating Smarter Cities’ in March 2009. The SmartCities project is an international network of councils and academic partners that will spend the next three years finding ways for cities to think smarter, work smarter and plan smarter by delivering better e-services for citizens and businesses.

Simon Haston presented an overview of attempts to make Edinburgh a 'Smart City'. Starting with an overview of Edinburgh, he set out the city's vision and road map for creating a smart city. He identified the e-services the city wants to deliver, and some of the political and technological challenges it has faced along the way.

Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh City Council succesfully hosted the conference Creating Smarter Cities. Key challenges facing a Smart City have been discussed by a large group of academics, government officials and national and regional bodies represented.

Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh City Council are the Scottish cornerstone of the SmartCities project, an international network of councils and academic partners that will spend the next three years finding ways for cities to think smarter, work smarter and plan smarter by delivering better e-services for citizens and businesses. By the time it has finished, the project will have developed a framework for the future delivery of e-services in Europe.