Free IoT Scotland Network Access to Fight COVID-19
North is joining the fight against the COVID-19 virus by giving free access to the Scottish Government-backed IoT Scotland network. The IoT Scotland network can now be used free of charge by anyone responding to the unique challenges raised by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
IoT Scotland is the UK’s most advanced Internet of Things (IoT) network. The LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) wireless sensor network enables applications and services to collect data from devices and send that data without the need for cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity. The network is funded by the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and North.
Network coverage is available in cities including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee and Perth, and in areas including the Scottish Borders, Argyll & Bute, Inverness, Aberdeenshire, and Stirlingshire.
Through the provision of free access to the IoT Scotland network, we’re offering developers, adopters, and end-users the opportunity to trial or deploy solutions to address a wide range of challenges that are facing our people, businesses and institutions during this difficult period such as supporting essential health and care services, monitoring the movement of people, or otherwise improving outcomes by protecting the lives of the vulnerable and those most at risk.
There are already a variety of relevant applications that the IoT Scotland network supports which can be used to tackle a range of COVID-19 challenges.
Example applications include:
• Monitoring and alerting for elderly or vulnerable people who are self-isolating, or those at home recovering from COVID-19
• Monitoring and real-time reporting of footfall in public spaces to ensure compliance with social distancing measures
• Workflow management in hospitals, supermarkets, or other essential sites
• Automated asset tracking and geo-location of critical healthcare equipment
North CEO, Scott McEwan commented:
“As COVID-19 continues to raise challenges which have rarely been experienced in modern history, at North we felt compelled to find a way in which we could contribute. There has been much focus recently on the development of smart IoT applications to tackle the growing challenges of health and social care, particularly to support vulnerable people and independent living needs, so we wanted to offer access to Scotland’s most advanced IoT network free of charge during the current crisis.”
If you would like to use the IoT Scotland network free of charge, please apply here.