(Towards a) West Midlands Digital Strategy

Introduction

LUCID stands for Location, User and Context-Aware Information Delivery. The LUCID project explores the opportunities in context- based information on mobile devices. There have been eight different projects, all demonstrating how location or context specific information could be used to provide information, sell product or engage audiences in consultation. These projects were presented in turn at the dissemination event in Birmingham on March 26th 2009.

The demonstrators were:

• FIZ GPS Trails – Digital Birmingham developed a variety of rich media content specific to audience types – the info. Would be pushed out relevant to location.
• Urban Pie/383 Project.com – promoting customer information via a mobile page pushed from a sales point using Bluetooth
• QRcode trail – an exploration of the use of QR codes in a treasure hunt around Digbeth.
• NEC Bluetooth ads – An application to push time specific adverts via Bluetooth
• RFID nav – An investigation into the use of RFID for indoor navigation.
• Digital Messageboard – An application to gather user feedback about a specific location and present it back to them in a variety of ways
• Maphead – A geo-socialising application enabling users to explore points of interest and find other users in their immediate vicinity.
• Mobile quiz application – A location-specific numeracy learning game.

This report is one of the outputs from LUCID and aims to look at the strategic framework within which the activities within LUCID took place and suggest ways in which a digital strategy for the West Midlands can be developed to take into account some of the lessons learned.

It will also suggest a framework for identifying future digital opportunities and suggest sectors which are likely to be catalysts for the wider use of digital technologies in society. It should be noted though that as computing technologies become increasingly pervasive almost every industrial sector has a need to understand digital solutions to business problems and research and develop future technology uses.

The report’s recommendations are for consideration by Advantage West Midlands Science City management group and the ICT and Screen Image Sound business cluster groups.