We often hear, ‘the data will fix this’ or ‘this new technology will solve our problem’ and increasingly ‘we just need more AI’. 

But at LOTI we champion that the innovation isn’t in the shiny, new or novel thing. It’s the people, processes and systems that need to come together that enable our tech, data or AI which can then lead to real world outcomes. It’s changing our day-to-day processes, it’s upskilling officers to adopt new ways of working, it’s making things join up across teams.

We set this out in our Outcomes Based Methodology with six steps that will set you up for a successful data project. 

And we’re seeing this in the world of IoT (Internet of Things) sensors. Capturing real-time temperature and humidity data can tell us so much about a home. It could flag when there is a risk of damp and mould; it could monitor overheating risk during our ever hotter summers; it could tell us what the impact of retrofit measures is on how warm a resident is over the winter.

We could gather all the insights about a home that you could ever want to know and still not be able to affect change – which for boroughs is ultimately about making residents’ lives better.

How are boroughs using sensors at the moment?

We know that poor housing conditions, including cold, damp, and overheating, are a major driver of health inequalities. Awaab’s Law Phase 2 is beginning from 30 November and will require social landlords to respond to a damp, excess cold and excess heat in homes. Boroughs are turning to sensors to help them better understand what is going on in a home. 

From LOTI’s damp and mould pilot, we know that sensors can be valuable in predicting damp and mould and enabling a proactive approach to maintenance and repairs. We also know that turning the insights from the sensors into action and outcomes is really difficult. 

The service transformation that goes alongside the sensors is critical to improving outcomes – whether that’s tackling damp and mould early, adapting homes to keep cool in the summer, planning retrofit around what actually works. 

LOTI has been using this experience in partnership with Warmer Homes London and the GLA City Intelligence Unit to deliver a Retrofit Evaluation Project. The project will use sensor data from social housing across London to evaluate the effectiveness of retrofit and help identify which measures have the greatest impact across building archetypes. This will help inform future planning and retrofit funding design in London.

We need to build Digital Public Infrastructure

To really deliver outcomes across health, housing and climate, we need to adopt a Digital Public Infrastructure approach to sensor projects. 

A Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) approach is about building a shared foundation for our IoT and related data and technology  services. This can increase efficiency and allow for new services to be built on top of what is already there. 

Think of it like IKEA modular furniture – once you’ve got a base cabinet, you can then add your own storage and compartments that meet your needs. 

By advocating for shared capabilities and open, interoperable data infrastructure, DPI ensures that sensor programmes aren’t isolated digital projects. Rather than duplicating effort and resources, this allows boroughs to integrate sensor insights across service areas and use cases such as repairs, retrofit, and overheating. 

Imagine a world in which a climate team is looking at an overheating pilot, the repairs team are tackling damp and mould risk and the retrofit team is evaluating their latest grant programme. Picture the resident end of this – three sensors in one home all going to teams who don’t know there’s one already there. 

By moving from siloed tech to shared infrastructure, we stop treating sensors as a one-off project and start using them for what matters most: ensuring every Londoner lives in a warm, safe, and healthy home.

What is LOTI doing?

LOTI is preparing to deliver a project which will deliver on three strategic outcomes:

1. Prioritise health use cases. How can we support borough adoption of IoT sensors where they are most likely to have positive health outcomes (damp and mould, overheating, excess cold)?
2. Work with service areas to turn insight into action. What are the systems, people and skills needed to go alongside sensor data to improve services for residents and boroughs based on the insight?
3. Test a Digital Public Infrastructure approach. Can a shared digital and data infrastructure support the requirements of multiple service areas? What would the investment need be to deliver this for all of London?

This will build on the partnership between LOTI, Warmer Homes London and the GLA.

If you are delivering a sensor project in a borough and are interested in learning more, get in touch or keep up to date with the latest through our LOTI newsletter.