Wireless Innovation Region showcases projects to Government team

Wireless Innovation Region showcases projects to Government team

The River Severn Partnership Advanced Wireless Innovation Regions has hosted officers from the Department of Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to showcase its ground-breaking work in the region.

The DSIT guests were invited to see how the RSPAWIR has supported innovation in agri-tech and water management and heard from partners developing use cases across the region.

Matt Smith, RSPAWIR project manager, said:-

"The RSP Advanced Wireless Innovation Region is one of the River Severn Partnership's flagship projects. So much has been achieved in the short period of time, and numerous opportunities are emerging to expand and scale up the programme of activity.

"The Innovation Region has also been able to bring a genuine benefit to every corner of the region with organisations and businesses from across the economy engaging with activities designed to improve the adoption of wireless technology."

The visitors were hosted at Harper Adams University where the RSPAWIR has enhanced the digital farm offer, using wireless technologies to monitor everything from crop production, water management to security.

Gloucestershire's Hartpury University was present to explain how the RSPAWIR had supported their digital farm offer and to explain their Rural Roadshow project which demonstrates how mobile technology can be used to improve and enhance connectivity and its applications in rural areas.

There were also demonstrations from VMO2 of how a private network can be configured on an estate to manage a range of applications including pest control, liquid fertiliser storage security, soil condition and hydrology and water levels in feeding troughs.

The visit took in a field trip to the Strine catchment, north of Telford, where partners from Cranfield University were able to demonstrate the benefits of smart water abstraction, allowing water from the catchment to be contained or released depending on environmental conditions and demand.

The Cranfield team was also able to demonstrate its smart irrigation project. This has seen academics working in collaboration with salad producer PDM, to remotely monitor soil moisture content above and below ground, informing when and where crops are in need of irrigating, saving the producer's resources, time and money.

The day concluded with a demonstration of a pioneering collaboration aimed at reducing ammonia emissions in the poultry sector.

The trial involves trial will involve installing ammonia sensors enabled by wireless connectivity in approximately 25 farms across Herefordshire, Powys, Shropshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. It is led and facilitated by Specialist Farm Enterprises Ltd, who already support these farms with advice and data services.

The River Severn Partnership was awarded £3.75 from DSIT to create one of 10 Wireless Innovation Regions in the UK. The award is focused on the delivery of the Government's Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April 2023.

Innovation Regions will demonstrate and adopt 5G and other advanced wireless 'use cases' across key sectors of the economy and the benefits this 'smart technology' can bring, including transforming public services and growing the economy, making farms, factories, and workplaces more productive and creating better paid jobs. The project aims to generate further inward investment in 'wireless networks' and smart technology in the region and the adoption of the opportunities by its key sectors.