Major Digital Rollout Revealed Westminster City Council’s Latest Smart City for All Initiative
Residents in the London Borough of Westminster are to be offered a digital card to access a range of local services, marking one of the first multiservice digital cards to be rolled out by a local authority, it was announced yesterday.
The card, used in conjunction with the new MyWestminster portal, can be downloaded to Apple Wallet and Google Pay.
It will enable residents to seamlessly access services run by Westminster City Council without remembering a physical card or repeatedly proving eligibility.
Initially, the digital card will provide access across Westminster’s library services. It will also be compatible with the free-to-use City Save scheme, which offers residents impressive discounts and savings on everything from galleries, including Tate Modern, to discounted food and drink.
Connecting people to place is the top priority for Westminster
This will significantly benefit people in the broader communities, including the elderly and young people, as they will access the information they may not have previously accessed.
It can be vital in connecting communities and places across Westminster and hopefully build a framework for other cities to copy.
Councillor Paul Swaddle, Cabinet Member for Finance and Smart City at Westminster City Council, commented: “The portal makes accessing services simpler and more intuitive, and our digital card will offer a technology-driven, environmentally-friendly experience sitting alongside other cards in your Apple or Google Pay wallet”.
The MyWestminster portal is designed as a single digital space where residents can access the Council’s services, rooted in the desire to maximise convenience while saving time. It should take less than 10 minutes to sign up to access the digital card, after which it allows a speedy and highly secure log-in experience.
MyWestminster is just the start of our digital journey, and I look forward to working with our teams to make further services accessible for all
Feedback from residents will be invited, including which services residents would like to see added next and how these can be best improved to help drive innovation.
Accessibility is also fundamental to the MyWestminster rollout, so workshops will be made available, in partnership with library teams, for those residents who are less confident with laptops or mobile phones.
An integrated app will improve the well-being of residents in Westminster
The Council will add other services such as leisure centres to MyWestminster in the coming months.
MyWestminster is the most recent element of Westminster City Council’s Smart City for All initiative, which aims to utilise technology to empower people, drive innovation, help achieve net-zero carbon targets and provide extraordinary experiences.
The new MyWestminster portal is a crucial example of how we plan to make Westminster a world-leading smart city with people at its heart and marks a critical first step in our digital journey
Paul added to this, telling Housing Industry Leaders: “London is the fintech capital of the world, and so it’s right that residents in the city centre can harness technology to navigate Westminster with ease. We look forward to opening up access to a range of services, from local swimming pools to gyms – watch this space.”
Aruj Haider, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, explained how connecting communities is essential if Westminster is to become a smart city: “For us, a truly smart city puts the needs of its residents at the heart of how services are designed – the launch of the MyWestminster portal and card puts this strategy into action. As we add services to our digital card, we hope our city will become even be more accessible for the benefit of all.”
We are excited to open up the portal to our residents, as a vital part of our Smart City for All ambition. Intuitive and easy-to-use, it will enable residents to navigate a range of services with confidence and ease
Also speaking to quadrant Smart, Sarah Williams, Head of Customer Experience and Digital at Westminster City Council, said: “We’re delighted to offer new experiences through the MyWestminster portal, which aims to make the lives of Westminster’s residents easier and better connected.
Local services are at the heart of Westminster City Council and, by improving digital access across the Borough, it is expected that more people to benefit. “We are passionate about tackling digital exclusion and want to reassure those who are less confident with the internet that we will be providing workshops to help them adjust.”
