It's Personal: How does it feel to live in one of the UK's smartest cities?

In the latest episode of It's Personal, created in partnership with KPMG, Jess Bowie and Jo Thomson continue their exploration of what makes great public services in the digital era. Sunderland was named the UK's smartest city in 2024 – but what does that actually mean for the people who live there? In this episode, we sit down with Liz St Louis, Director of Smart Cities and Enabling Services at Sunderland City Council, to explore how data and technology are being used to make services faster, safer and more responsive. From sensors detecting damp in homes to multi-agency hubs where council teams work alongside police and fire services, Liz shares how Sunderland has moved from being 'data rich but intelligence poor' to using real-time insight to prevent problems before they escalate. We also hear about the city's long-term infrastructure partnership, its network of hubs tackling digital exclusion, and why – even as 60% of interactions move online – keeping a human-first option remains non-negotiable. Hosted by Jess Bowie, editor-in-chief of Civil Service World, and Jo Thomson, partner – customer transformation at KPMG. Recorded and produced by Podot.

You can listen to It's Personal: How does it feel to live in one of the UK's smartest cities? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

It's Personal: How does it feel to live in one of the UK's smartest cities? is an episode from The Civil Service World Podcast by Civil Service World.

This episode is 00:39:21 long.

This episode was published on Apr 30, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Civil Service World Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.