What is a “Digital Town”?

A digital town is a geographical and information space that adopts and integrates information and communication technologies in all aspects of town life where a town is a contiguous grid of cells with a density of at least 300 inhabitants per KM2 , is at least 3% built up and has a total population of at least 5,000 people. (Lynn et al, 2022)

Why is a “Digital Town” needed?

Digital Towns will provide benefits to the citizens of the town and will increase innovation in the digital town. Digital Towns will provide additional data to town planners to improve the infrastructure of the town. The information collected will promote economic growth and will improve the overall quality of life for the citizens of the Digital Town.

What are the benefits of a Digital Town?

Digital Towns will have a wide variety of benefits available to the town that implements a digital approach.

Benefits include:

• Economic Growth.
• Increase Footfall.
• Increase tourism.
• Better Decision Making.
• Increase Innovation.
• Identify New Business Opportunities.
• Improve infrastructure.
• Improve traffic flow.

What sensors will be installed in Gorey to make it a “Digital Town”?

A number of specialised sensors and monitors will be installed throughout Gorey town. These sensors will collect information on noise levels, temperature, humidity and other elements in the environment. Data for vehicle and people flow throughout the town will also be collected by using specialised sensors to provide information on the traffic flow through Gorey town.

No personal data is collected or stored by these sensors. Each of these sensors are GDPR compliant.

How will the data collected improve Gorey Town?

The data collected will help to improve Gorey Town in a number of ways.

1. Increased footfall and increased town feedback – The implementation of the Hello Lamp Post interactive technologies on lamp posts and benches will help to increase footfall and tourism in Gorey, which local businesses will benefit from. Wexford County Council and Gorey citizens will benefit from the increase in feedback opportunities.
2. Increased data will improve the public realm and stimulate research and innovation – The data collected in Gorey can be used to make informed decisions for improving the town of Gorey. The availability of this data can help to stimulate innovation and research for the town.

No personal data is collected or stored by these sensors.

Will the data collected be accessible to the public?

Yes, this data can be access by anyone through an open data platform which will provide real time data about Gorey. All data collected is GDPR compliant and no personal data will be stored on this platform.