Sensor City lies in the heart of the city of Liverpool at the gateway to Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, and is a global hub for the development of not only sensor and IoT technology, but also wider digitisation across the manufacturing process.
Opening back in 2017, we have worked over the last few years to develop close partnerships across academia, with prominent industry names and with SMEs and start-up businesses.
All of this has been done to create an ecosystem whereby ambitious businesses can access state-of-the-art equipment and knowledge to better digitise various areas of their business, as well as tap into emerging IoT technologies without the usual requirement for extensive time and money investment.
At Sensor City, organisations both big and small are able to tap into a vast resource of laboratory facilities, meeting spaces and office spaces, to facilitate improved engagement with digital technologies and better scale their business.
Facilities and services on-site include a whole host of technological capacities including that of electronics, manufacturing, prototyping, testing and development, and a vast resource around the topic of IoT and sensor technology which can easily be tapped into.
Not only has this worked to support technologically inclined businesses around Liverpool itself, but it has helped to draw an increased range of such businesses to Liverpool City Region and enhance the city’s reputation as a technological hub.
Daniel Watson, Head of Engineering at Sensor City, explains: “IoT was very much in its infancy at the stage of Sensor City’s conception, so there was quite a lot of interest from SMEs and start-ups in terms of how they could leverage IoT related technologies; that naturally led into digital manufacturing technologies.
“Our title might be Sensor City, but we’re about much more than just sensors and sensor deployment. We’re also involved in the manufacture of components and have quite a broad range of hybrid facilities on offer.
“Primarily, it is about allowing SMEs to access IoT technologies, sensor technologies and digital manufacturing technologies.”
Most importantly, Sensor City also allows for far greater control over data management and critical information which organisations wish to either manage or secure more effectively.
As opposed to subcontracting services or research and development out to a member of the supply chain, who may have individual interests, processes, and potentially are far further away geographically, organisations working with Sensor City are able to enjoy a far more enhanced level of partnership.
Companies are able to insert their own operatives into the manufacturing process, directly monitor the flow of information during it, and have better controls around data and IP, thanks to the more impartial nature of Sensor City itself. This has gone a long way in establishing a great degree of trust in the concept.