Smart Docklands is proud to announce the winners of its second Call for Pilots

The Call for Pilots continues to tackle key community priorities identified through community engagement and survey insights gathered from Docklands residents, workers, and visitors. Smart Docklands ensures that smart technology is not deployed for ‘tech’s sake’ — it works directly with the community to address real needs. This is reflected in a second round shaped once again by the outcomes of a community survey and wider engagement activities.

Four projects have been selected out of 53 applications to receive seed funding, with €12,500 allocated to each project. The winning pilots span an impressive range of disciplines — from radar-based biodiversity monitoring and augmented reality heritage trails, to inclusive way-finding for neurodiverse visitors and tangible tools for community participation in urban planning.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Ray McAdam said:

“Dublin’s Docklands area has long been a hub of innovation and creativity, placing the city in a strong position to enhance public services through technology-enabled solutions. The Smart Docklands Pilot Programme helps to ensure that innovation is community-led, focused on real needs, and delivering measurable impact. The four selected pilot projects demonstrate Dublin’s ambitions to be more inclusive and forward-thinking, and will make our city work better for everyone. I’m proud to see it happening right here in the Docklands.”

Nicola Graham, Smart Cities Programme Manager, Dublin City Council said:

“Pilots like these are how we deliver meaningful change within the council. They let us trial new approaches in real-world settings, learn fast, and build the evidence needed to scale what works. The strong number of applications this year reflects a clear commitment to developing solutions to the challenges identified by the Docklands community.”

Professor Dan Kilper, Director CONNECT Centre, Trinity College Dublin said:

“These pilots are not just proof-of-concept experiments — they are live research environments that generate insights no laboratory can replicate. Bridging that gap between academic innovation and lived experience is precisely what the CONNECT Centre exists to do, and Smart Docklands gives us the ideal platform to make it happen.
 

The four pilot winners are:

WingSense, Trinity College Dublin: Low-power mmWave radar sensors detect insect and pollinator activity continuously, day or night and in all weather conditions, without capturing images or audio. Machine learning transforms this data into actionable, privacy-safe biodiversity insights for cities.
 

“The Smart Docklands Pilot Programme is a valuable opportunity for us to test WingSense in a real urban environment and connect with stakeholders and communities. We are tackling the challenge of monitoring insect activity, such as pollinators and pests, which is currently difficult to do at scale. Our approach uses radar sensing to detect insects without cameras or trapping, enabling continuous and privacy-safe monitoring. Through this pilot, we aim to validate the technology and explore how it can support smarter, data-driven environmental monitoring in cities.” –  Dr Maryam Norouzi, Project WingSense, Trinity College Dublin

ScannAR, Solasine: A web-based AR experience delivered via QR codes — no app needed. Scanning unlocks 3D experiences with audio narration and local storytelling, fully accessible to blind, visually impaired, deaf, and hard-of-hearing users.
 

“Solasine are delighted to be working with DCC through the Smart Docklands Call for Pilots to bring an informative, culturally significant and artistically curated digital layer to the signage in the Docklands area” – Conan Wynne, Project ScannAR, Solasine

ARROW, The Convention Centre Dublin: An inclusive wayfinding layer co-designed with neurodiverse users, combining ‘what to expect’ guides, typical and real-time sensory environment indicators into one coherent, place-based service.
 

“This pilot is about rethinking how people experience navigating Dublin’s Docklands, making it clearer, more predictable and less overwhelming for those who may find busy environments challenging. It combines simple on street signage with a mobile platform to help people understand what to expect before they arrive, including current and expected conditions such as weather, noise and crowd levels. As a major destination in the Docklands, The Convention Centre Dublin welcomes thousands of visitors each year, and we want everyone who comes through our doors to have a positive and accessible experience. We are delighted to be part of this project and to work with partners to support all visitors to the area, including neurodivergent users who may experience the city differently. Ultimately, this is about giving people the confidence and clarity to move through the city in a way that works for them, with strong potential to scale this approach across the city.” –  Aidan Gleeson, Project ARROW, The Convention Centre Dublin

Raytown Roundtable, Codema – Dublin’s Energy Agency: A touch-based interactive table piloted at the Raytown Energy Dock in Ringsend/Irishtown, giving residents a hands-on way to explore their neighbourhood and shape local decisions — no digital skills needed.
 

“The Raytown Roundtable is about making sure that decisions around energy and urban planning don’t happen without the people they affect most. By bringing planning data to life through a tangible, interactive table, we’re removing the barriers that too often keep citizens on the sidelines. We’re grateful to Smart Docklands for creating the conditions where that kind of genuine participation is possible.” – Patricia Astorgano, Project Raytown Roundtable, Codema – Dublin’s Energy Agency

Thank You:

Smart Docklands’ second Call for Pilots builds on the momentum of the first, once again demonstrating what is possible when community needs drive technological innovation. These four projects reflect the breadth and ambition of what human-centred smart city innovation can look like — and Smart Docklands is proud to support them every step of the way.
 

Dr Karolina Anielska, Smart Docklands Programme Manager said:

“I am incredibly proud of what this second round represents. When we launched the first Call for Pilots, we set out to put the community at the heart of smart city innovation — and the response has been overwhelming. To see that grow into 53 applications and four outstanding winners spanning biodiversity, accessibility, and digital inclusion is a moment to truly celebrate. This is exactly what Smart Docklands was built to do.”

Smart Docklands extends its thanks to multiple DCC departments, IFAC, An Post, IPB Insurance, UTS Technologies and National College Ireland for their continued support in evaluating applications. Their expertise and collaboration have been crucial to ensuring a fair and thorough process, and their commitment to this programme is a powerful example of what collective effort can achieve.