Issue - meetings

Stuart Whitfield (Digital Programme Manager) to present the report

1.     To approve the Outline Business Case for the Advanced Wireless project subject to Welsh Government and UK Government approval of the assurance process undertaken, subject to the Portfolio Management Office addressing the outstanding issues set out in Section 7 of the report, and request that a Full Business Case is prepared for the Board to consider.

2.     To delegate to the Portfolio Director, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair, final approval of the procurement specification and social value criteria prior to project funders commencing procurement.

3.     To authorise the Portfolio Director in consultation with the Host Authority Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer to agree draft terms in accordance with this report for approval by the NWEAB as a basis for the final funding arrangements for the project which will form the basis of the Grant Offer Letter which will be agreed by the Board at the Full Business Case stage.

The report was submitted by the Digital Programme Manager.

DECISION

1.     To approve the Outline Business Case for the Advanced Wireless project subject to Welsh Government and UK Government approval of the assurance process undertaken, subject to the Portfolio Management Office addressing the outstanding issues set out in Section 7 of the report, and request that a Full Business Case is prepared for the Board to consider.

2.     To delegate to the Portfolio Director, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair, final approval of the procurement specification and social value criteria prior to project funders commencing procurement.

3.     To authorise the Portfolio Director in consultation with the Host Authority Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer to agree draft terms in accordance with this report for approval by the NWEAB as a basis for the final funding arrangements for the project which will form the basis of the Grant Offer Letter which will be agreed by the Board at the Full Business Case stage.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

To seek the Board's approval for the Advanced Wireless Project Outline Business Case.

As a project delivered by Ambition North Wales, approval was required by the Board to establish the frameworks that will deliver the project.

DISCUSSION

It was explained that the project would support businesses and public bodies to invest in the latest wireless technology, including 5G and state-of-the-art Wi-Fi across the North Wales region. It was hoped that this would increase efficiency and productivity. It was noted that there was evidence to support that this kind of investment led to business development, commercial sustainability and created more jobs. Attention was drawn to the fact that several large companies had taken advantage of this type of technology and the project hoped to reduce the commercial risks to companies as they newly approached the development. It was considered that sectors that would benefit the most from this technology included manufacturing, transport, logistics, agriculture and tourism. Examples were shared of potential investments within these areas such as providing equipment for production lines in factories, 5G private networks, upgrading networks to support logistics operations in transport hubs as well as Smart Towns applications to improve monitoring and communication in our town centres.

It was reported that this project was the second part of the 'Connected Campuses' project. It was explained that the first project was a LPWAN project, which extended Low Power Wide Area Network provision to support innovative 'Internet of things' applications across public and private sectors through LoRaWAN wireless technology. Members were reminded that this project had already been approved by the Board.

It was explained that the main spending objective of the project was to 'Enable 100-200 businesses and public sector users in all North Wales counties to take advantage of advanced wireless connectivity by 2030'. It was hoped that this would lead to the creation of between 130-200 jobs within the region and the creation of an additional net GVA of between £41 million and £62 million by 2036. It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7