As we near the end of another year (that seems to have gone by in a flash), we take a look at 2021 – spotlighting some of our achievements, whilst sharing our plans for 2022 and some trends we expect to see in the new year.

So, what has 2021 taught us?

  • Communication needs to be agile to respond to changing situations. 
  • Digital transformations have become a necessity to organisations.
  • The importance of staying connected.
  • Building a better future through transformative place making.

👏 Check out some of our highlights from the year below 👏

Digital Leaders 100 Awards 2021

We were delighted to be recognised in the following categories for our work with the Environment Agency:

Let us tell you a bit more about our work together…

Hello Lamp Post and the Environment Agency are currently working together in five locations around Devon and Cornwall, to engage the community on numerous flood management projects occurring in the local area. Residents and visitors are invited to have text conversations with a variety of different flood related objects to:

  • Find out what plans are in place to reduce flood risk.
  • Learn more about the work the Environment Agency is doing in the local area.
  • Ask questions about flooding in their local area and how they can improve their safety.
  • Get advice on how to reduce their flood risk and prepare for extreme flooding events.

 

 

So far, across three ‘live’ locations, the total results of our work together are as follows: 991 Interactions | 223 Users

To explore more from our work with the Environment Agency, specifically our work in Exmouth, click here.

Featuring in TimeOut

Hello Lamp Post initially started working with Sydney Harbour Federation Trust 🇦🇺on a public consultation in two areas, and has since been supporting the Trust with a community engagement tool across four of their sites: North Head, Headland Park, Sub Base Platypus and Cockatoo Island.

Sydney Harbour Federation Trust are using Hello Lamp Post to:

  • Share information about Harbour Trust’s historical and cultural sites – in a digestible, informative and playful format.
  • Gain important visitor insights and sentiment – to better inform strategic plans and the future of Harbour Trust.

So far, the deployment has received: 31,435 Interactions | 9,147 Users

If you’d like to read our feature in TimeOut click here, or learn more about our deployment together here.

 

Announcing our Partners

Back in July we announced the first wave of companies who joined our newly formed partnership programme. 👏These partners specialise in comms, research, strategy and analytics, who have complemented our existing offering, whilst helping to improve local authority service delivery.

Our partners are…

For more information about our partnership programme, or if you’d like to get to know our partners in more detail, click here.

 

We were present at COP26

In partnership with Force of Nature, we supported their ‘Call Your Mother’ 📞campaign in November – a space for the community to talk about their climate feelings and provide people with the power to effect change for true climate action.

 

 

So, what could people expect from having a conversation with Hello Lamp Post:

  • The opportunity to 🗣share thoughts and feedback about the climate crisis.
  • The chance to 📲send a message to those in power.
  • A safe space to just have a rant 💬… if they wanted!

Interested in finding out more? Click here to read more from our work together.

 

Harnessing the power of 5G

This year, we were chosen to join Wayra’s 5PRING program 💡where we’re starting to harness the power of 5G, through the accelerator.

 

 

From:

  • Understanding the potential value 5G.
  • Identifying high value use-cases that can be explored in more detail.
  • Accessing 5G testbeds.

… We look forward to sharing more from our findings with you soon!

 

We’ve launched in more locations! 👏

We’re excited to say that we’ve now launched in 50+ locations around the world, supporting a variety of different sectors including:

  • Local governments 🏛
  • Higher education institutions 🎓
  • Tourism boards 🏙
  • Private businesses 💼
  • Construction companies 🏗
  • Retail centres 🛍… and more!

Take a look at some of deployments that went live in 2021:

⒈

Porthmadog, Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Our first ever deployment in Wales, we’re supporting Menter Mon and Gwynedd Council 🏛with a community engagement tool that shares information about the local area with citizens and gathers community insight – using our multi language feature.

⒉

Colchester, UK 🇬🇧

 

As part of the Welcome Back Fund, Colchester Borough Council 🏛is using Hello Lamp Post to welcome residents and visitors back to the town safely. If you’d like to find out about how we’re supporting other similar organisations, click here.

⒊

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, UK 🇬🇧

Our work together initially started with a virtual home safety check – believed to be the first of its kind in the UK. After the success of our virtual object, we’re now launching with them our physical objects – talking fire stations! 🚒

⒋

Westminster, UK 🇬🇧

Hello Lamp Post has been working with Westminster Council 🏛on a variety of different initiatives over the last 12 months. This includes: communicating with their employees in the Innovation Hub, engaging with visitors to Strand Aldwych and chatting with people passing by the Westminster Christmas Tree.

⒌

MediaCity, UK 🇬🇧

 

Following on from Hello Lamp Post being accepted to join the Smart City Innovation Testbed 🏙we started working with MediaCity on a scheme to bridge the gap between the citizen experience and shaping of MediaCity’s public spaces. See more from our work here.

⒍

Southwest Louisiana, USA 🇺🇸

Imminently launching, we’re helping Urban Design Associates to design and build more resilient cities, towns and neighbourhoods. We’re specifically working together on a project to gather resident data and opinions on a 50-year resilience plan, after extreme weather disasters in the area.

⒎

Gorey & Offaly, Ireland 🇮🇪

Hello Lamp Post is supporting Dublin City University and Wexford County Council 🏛with activating objects around Gorey and Offaly, to share information about their heritage sites and promote Edenderry as a smart town.

 

Our Christmas Trails that are currently live 🎄

And in January 2022 💥here’s some of the places we’ll be launching…

  • New South Wales, Australia 🇦🇺
  • Virginia, USA 🇺🇸
  • Wandsworth, UK 🇬🇧
  • Newbury, UK 🇬🇧

Meet the newest members to our fast growing team!

If you’d like to meet everyone else in our team and our strategic advisors 👋please click here.

 

Here are our Top Blogs of the Year:

⒈ 100 FAQs on Civic Tech, Citizen Participatory Technology, and everything in between 📲Click here to read more.

⒉ Civic Technology and COVID-19 🌍Click here to read more.

⒊ The Past, Present and Future of Community Engagement 🗣Click here to read more.

⒋ The Importance of Public Participation in Urban Planning 🏗Click here to read more.

⒌ What makes a Smart Campus: The Benefits and Principles of Smart Campus Design 🎓Click here to read more.

 

What are our plans for 2022? ✨

Our goals for 2022 include:

⒈ Launching in more locations around the world, helping organisations to better understand their communities at scale.

⒉ Supporting more people by making local information more accessible to those that need it.

⒊ Better inform strategic decisions about local environments, based on the needs and interests of communities.

⒋ Driving the way we shape local areas and services of the future, positively impacting places where we live, work and play.

 

What trends are we expecting to see in 2022? 🔎

⒈ Continued focus on the power of AI and Automation

Artificial Intelligence will continue to expand as more organisations realise the power AI has on solving problems better, faster and at scale.

⒉ Smart City Technologies

Will continue to rise because of the need for more effective and efficient cities – to create more sustainable citizen experiences.

⒊ Unlock and Create Value from Citizen Data

Government and public sector organisations will be making data management and sharing a core competency – they’ll need rapid and efficient access to real-time, relevant citizen data that informs quick decision making.

Conclusion

As you can see, it’s been such an exciting year 🚀for us here at Hello Lamp Post – and we can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us! 💫

Before you go, we just wanted to say a big thank you to our inspiring and forward-thinking customers, partners and team – who have made this year one we won’t forget 👏we look forward to sharing more exciting news over the next year, so stay tuned!

For more information about Hello Lamp Post, check out our website, or get in touch with our brilliant team at 📧contact@hlp.city.