Twelve million SEK to digital environmental monitoring
Vinnova has awarded the Luft och Vatten (LoV-IoT) project, one of eight hubs in Sweden, 12 million Swedish crowns to further develop digital environmental monitoring. IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute is an active participant in the project that utilizes the Internet of Things and arrays of sensors to build efficient systems for gathering information about air and water quality in urban areas.
– It is extremely positive that we have been given the opportunity to continue with the development process we have commenced on. The project will play a key role in Gothenburg’s development and future investments in the community. The focus on air and water quality fits well with the municipality’s digitization efforts, says Hung Nguyen, Project Manager for LoV-IoT at Gothenburg City. Eight sensor nodes that measure the level of contaminants have now been installed and are being tested at selected locations around Gothenburg. Another four are under development. Data collected by these sensors is available at miljövader.se. – In the first phase of the project, we have worked hard to improve the sensor nodes and the stability of the hardware platform that hosts them. Increased financial help means not only that we can continue testing but also allows us to identify more players that want to use the system to leverage better air and water quality, says Fredrik Hallgren, LoV-IoT project leader at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. In this project, Gothenburg City and a number of local companies engaged in digitalization and business development join together in a collaborative endeavour to implement IoT for the environmental monitoring of air and water. The goal is to make a more effective tool able to deliver a better decision basis for action against pollution, and in this way influence the way people behave and contribute to improved public health. In an attempt to reach out to Gothenburg’s younger citizens the project has entered into a partnership with Universeum, a public science centre and museum that offers a wide range of unique activities for learning through play. – By visualizing science and technology linked to the way we ourselves impact air and water quality, we contribute to sustainable social development. Here at Universeum we strive to ignite the desire to explore and learn more. By imparting knowledge and asking questions, we stimulate creativity and innovative thinking, says Ramiro Furentes, Sustainability Manager at Universeum. For more information about the project, please contact: Fredrik Hallgren, fredrik.hallgren@ivl.se, +46 (0)10-788 67 83 Hung Nguyen, hung.nguyen@miljo.goteborg.se, +46 (0)31-368 38 83 The project is funded with support from Vinnova, Formas and the Energy Agency through IoT Sverige, a governmental strategic innovation programme. The City of Gothenburg (coordinator), IVL Swedish Environment Research Institute, Talkpool, Vinnter, Rent Dagvatten, Swedish Hydro Solution, Ericsson, IMCG, Insplorion, Hagström Consulting, Trafikverket and Universeum, Acreo and Rise Interactive are project partners. The City of Gothenburg, together with the Municipality of Uppsala and the Centro Mario Molina in Santiago, Chile, will soon utilize the project findings in their operations.