The Minister of State for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development, Seán Canney, has visited the Smart Docklands district of Dublin City, where he was shown a number of Smart City initiatives including the BikeKeep smart bike locking system, the wifi connected Steora smart bench and Smart Radar, a traffic monitoring resource.

Minister Canney was also shown around Dogpatch Labs where he met Dogpatch Labs' Smart City Lead, Ciaran Gilsean and a number of innovators and digital entrepreneurs.

Speaking about the visit, Minister Canney said: "I would like to thank Dublin City Council's Chief Executive, Owen Keegan, and his team for inviting me here today. This was a fascinating experience. Today I saw glimpses of Ireland's future. The work being done on Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the use and testing of 5G technologies is world-class and a testament to the imagination of all involved and the wisdom of the Council's support."

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During the visit, Minister Canney also called in to the Telecommunications Action Group meeting. These meetings are held every month at different locations around the country and offer local authority Broadband Officers the opportunity to share information, attend presentations and engage with other stakeholders. The theme of this month's meeting, hosted by Dublin City Council, is smart cities/towns and the 5G revolution.

Outlining the importance of these regular events, Minister Canney said: "Collaboration is the key to resolving the current issues that we have with connectivity, but also to developing new technologies. The local authorities' broadband officers are here to learn, to share their expertise and to contribute to national policies and initiatives. These events are also an invaluable source of information for the Department of Rural and Community Development as they allow my officials to understand the challenges faced by local authorities in relation to digital connectivity and to work closely with them to address these challenges. Events like today, complement the work of the Department in supporting improved mobile and digital connectivity throughout Ireland – be it via the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce or through our work with local authorities."

Dublin City Council's Chief Executive, Owen Keegan, added: "We are delighted to welcome Minister Seán Canney and the national Broadband Officers from across Irish local authorities to our Smart Docklands testbed district. We all collectively have an ambition to position Ireland at the forefront of smart city innovations and to realise the opportunity of applying emerging technologies in a way that has a positive benefit for our residents while also creating new economic opportunities."