Coventry City Council wins Digital Council of the Year for second consecutive year

Coventry City Council has been named Digital Council of the Year 2025 at the Connected Britain Conference, marking its second consecutive win of the award.

The judging panel praised Coventry’s ongoing commitment to building strong digital infrastructure and its proximity to becoming the highest full fibre city in the UK.

The recognition follows a year of developments aimed at improving digital services across the city. The Council and its partners were previously acknowledged in 2024 for projects such as the Material Recycling Facility, which uses AI to sort and process recyclable waste, and the creation of a smart water network. Additional initiatives have included a Strategic Energy Partnership with E.ON.

In addition to being named Digital Council of the Year, Coventry City Council was also a finalist for The Smart Places Award, and its #CovConnects programme was shortlisted for the Community Improvement Award.

As part of its broader digital plans, the Council is investing over £10 million to upgrade the city’s streetlighting to LED technology. It has also been awarded a Platinum status by GeoPlace for the quality of its address and street data.

During 2024, a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) funded 5G Innovation Region programme enabled the introduction of Technology Enabled Care (TEC) services in residents’ homes. The city also continues its plans to operate the UK’s first all-electric bus fleet.

Recently, the Council announced a new partnership with Virgin Media O2 aimed at helping more Coventry residents access the internet and encouraging the reuse and recycling of electronic waste locally.

Councillor Richard Brown, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Coventry performs really well in terms of UK full-fibre coverage. The city is both top in the West Midlands and joint third in the UK.

“We are proud of being one of the best digitally connected cities in the UK, and our work across a number of areas includes #CovConnects which has had a massive impact on the city in overcoming the digital divide, providing more than 4700 devices to those in need, across 240 digital inclusion schemes.

“So, this latest award is recognition for all our efforts.”

Image source: By Si Chun Lam (林詩雋) – This image has been extracted from another file, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110834344