Lord Provost John Reynolds is to welcome the arrival on Friday of the final piece of stunning functional street furniture that forms the Aberdeen iKiosk Network.
A network of intelligent, interactive iKiosks is being set up across the city, offering quick and easy access to a wide range of information and services.
The Lord Provost said: ‘It’s fitting that one of the initial four iKiosks located in the City is being placed outside the Art Gallery because they are such a stylish, eye-catching design. But it is their practical use as information tools, for locals and tourist alike, which I find most exciting. I’m really looking forward to the iKiosks being switched on for use next week (Thursday 27 April).’
This innovative project is being spearheaded by Aberdeen City Council and its City Partners as part of its eGovernment modernisation initiative and will initially see seven Public Interactive Kiosks (iKiosks) put in place — five of them outdoors and two inside.
The attractive iKiosks will give residents, businesses, visitors, and everyone who works and uses public services in the City access to information touching a wide range of subjects. The five outdoor iKiosks — the first in Europe of this streamlined design — will be installed at the following locations:
- Schoolhill, outside the Art Gallery
- St Nicholas Concourse, outside Marks and Spencer
- Outside the Music Hall on Union Street
- Castlegate Concourse
- Outside Torry Library
All five will have two 20-inch user-friendly touch screens and the minimalist, open iKiosk design makes it possible to provide full disabled access under a stylish ‘umbrella’. Key hi-tech facilities include the option to send 30-second video attachments. The iKiosks are also expected to help combat fly-posting by giving promoters an alternative way to publicise their event on the iKiosk Network.
Indoor single-screen iKiosks will be located within the main concourse at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the new Robert Gordon University’s Sports Complex.
RGU Director of Sport, Filippo Antoniazzi is to take advantage of the WiFi option, which comes as standard with the iKiosks, to provide students, and residents in the community who use the facility, with even greater communication flexibility.
All seven iKiosks will provide access to Council A-Z services, such as planning, housing, social care, along with journey planning.
Tourist information and details of what’s on within Aberdeen will be provided by Visit Scotland. Grampian Police, Grampian Care Data and NHS Grampian are providing public service information on health and community policing. The Robert Gordon University will provide a whole range of information about the facilities and opportunities that are available to the citizens of Aberdeen.
Phil Mills-Bishop, Aberdeen City Council eGovernment Projects Manager, said: “These iKiosks will be of tremendous benefit to all of us whenever we need quick and easy access to information, and because of their locations they can be easily accessed by a significant majority of Aberdeen’s population and visitors.”
Kiosks will be available during opening hours at internal locations and 24/7 at on-street locations. All feature in-built video camera surveillance, with security boosted at the outdoor City centre locations by nearby dedicated CCTV cameras.
Mr Mills-Bishop added: “As an extra anti-vandalism feature, the screens are programmed to shut down if misused, rebooting themselves automatically in due course. However, it’s important to note that iKiosks elsewhere in the UK and in Europe have not been a serious target of anti-social behaviour, no doubt because everyone enjoys using them!”
As iKiosks spread across Aberdeen, the long-term aim is to encourage community ownership of each one.
Deirdre Robertson, Aberdeen City Council new Director for Continuous Improvement, said: “This means that the Torry iKiosk will, for example, offer information about local services in the immediate area, local meetings, opening hours and so on. The introduction of iKiosks is a really exciting and truly innovative part of the Council’s eGovernment modernisation programme aimed at improving service delivery.”
The project is being led by the Council in partnership with Grampian Police, VisitScotland, and NHS Scotland and has been made possible as a result of funding from the Scottish Executive Public Transport Fund. The iKiosks have been designed and built by specialists Public Data Web of Sheffield.
iKiosks are a digital network with touch screens to give the public free and easy access to useful practical information as well as other innovative functions.
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