Galway City Council is the local authority for the city of Galway. The Council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and the environment.
Galway City Council is seeking a compliant, effective and scalable way to address waste management issues.
Galway City Council seeks a solution for illegal dumping, which has reached critical levels in known hotspots. The Council’s Litter Management Unit removes over 4 tonnes of waste weekly. This waste stream is a complex mixture of household refuse, commercial waste, and construction/demolition debris.
Despite ongoing enforcement efforts, the current two-person investigation team is overwhelmed by the volume of incidents. Previous attempts to deploy CCTV surveillance were discontinued due to GDPR compliance challenges.
The project has three key objectives:
- Surveillance: Continuously monitor identified hotspots without violating GDPR or privacy rights.
- Detection: Automatically identify illegal dumping events in real-time or near real-time.
- Deterrence: Visibly discourage potential offenders through presence or active intervention.
- Resource Bottleneck: Only two staff members are available to investigate all instances, making manual monitoring impossible.
- Evidence Gap: Enforcement actions fail due to a lack of identifiable evidence.
- Financial Burden: Significant recurring costs for cleanup operations divert funds from other essential services.
- GDPR Complexity: Previous CCTV deployments failed to meet data protection standards, leading to discontinuation.
Scope of Requirements Proposals should address the following dimensions:
- AI/Software: Automated detection algorithms capable of distinguishing between legitimate activity and illegal dumping.
- Hardware: Robust cameras/sensors suitable for outdoor, potentially remote locations
- Data Minimization: Solutions must demonstrate how they capture only necessary data.
- Signage & Notification: Clear protocols for public notification in compliance with Data Protection Commission guidelines.
- Retention Policies: Automated deletion of non-event footage within compliant timeframes.
- Ease of Use: Interface must be manageable by non-technical staff.
- Scalability: Ability to expand from pilot hotspots to city-wide deployment if successful.
- Maintenance: Low maintenance requirements with clear support pathways.
Desired Outcome: Reduction in Incidents.
