A Smart government listens to its population and welcomes innovative, useful ideas. At least, this is what happened with See.Sense, a member of ECF’s Cycling Industry Club: after winning a national prize and showcasing the potential of cycling technologies for cities, See.Sense will now be working with one of UK's Smartest cities: Milton Keynes (MK:smart).

The small Northern Ireland company has won the £15,000 first prize in the “BT Infinity Lab SME Awards 2016: Connected Cities”, run in partnership with the Cabinet Office, MK:Smart and TechHub, in the UK. It’s a prestigious achievement that witnesses the great possibilities new technologies can offer and the attention they draw in the new emerging Smart Cities framework. A major shift towards a Smart Mobiliy is happening, and cycling companies have the potential and the interest to drive it: what if cycling was pivotal to tomorrow’s urban planning?

"Having the opportunity to develop our idea into something that will really help transform cities of the future and make a real impact on society is really exciting. Working with Milton Keynes will also be a fantastic case study to showcase our capabilities", declared Irene McAleese, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at See.Sense.

ICON, the company’s smart LED bicycle light, represents a very interesting development in the cycling technology. Equipped with sensors that constantly analyse the cyclist’s surroundings and adapt its behaviour consequently, ICON also gathers (and makes anonymous) data about the journey, making it ready to be shared on social networks or with public authorities. By collaborating with the Government, it also opens 

Being a smarter government is about recasting the relationship between the citizen and the state, making public services simpler, clearer and faster and taking advantage of state-of-the-art digital technologies” said Matt Hancock, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General.