The River Severn Partnership Advanced Wireless Innovation Region was a £4.4m initiative, wholly funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and managed by Shropshire Council on behalf of the River Severn Partnership.
The RSPAWIR involved a wide array of partners and stakeholders with an interest in accelerating and exploiting the use of technologies enabled by Advanced Wireless Connectivity. The core aim of the programme was to create opportunities for economic growth and to generate efficiencies that have environmental and social as well as economic benefits.
The RSPAWIR focused on accelerating the adoption of advanced wireless enabled technologies across three sectors which have particularly strong roots in the River Severn catchment.
- Water Management
- Agri-Tech
- Public Sector
The RSPAWIR developed Use Cases that exploited market ready technology and invested in dissemination activities to nurture the Advanced Wireless Connectivity ecosystem and further the case for the mainstream adoption of Advanced Wireless Technologies both within the region and the UK more widely.
The Programme was one of 10 Innovation Regions nationally and operated between February 2024 and June 2026.
"In summary, the programme has moved beyond experimentation. It has shown that targeted wireless innovation can improve productivity, environmental outcomes and rural resilience, while attracting further investment and creating scalable national opportunities." Intelligens 2026
Project Highlights
Water Sector
- Best New Water Sector Initiative at the Environmental Monitoring Awards 2025.
- Strine Catchment modelled using a dense sensor network to provide a scenario planning tool and short-term high/low flow awareness to the farming community.
- Market ready software & hardware approach to reducing water usage and energy costs through precision irrigation.
- 122m3 of wirelessly connected and smart controlled rainwater harvesting capacity installed.
- Radical Breakthrough Award (Future Networks Awards 2025) for the Network as a Sensor project which used mobile infrastructure to generate precipitation data. Efficacy assured by the CEH and now on Vodafone’s road map to commercialisation.
- Thousands of remote real-time lab quality N03 / P04 tests conducted in the Clun & Lugg.
Remote testing for E. coli at 2 wild bathing spots, expanded & mainstreamed by the Environment Agency. - Peatland ground water levels being monitored at 12 core sites linked to a Vodafone Satellite NB-IOT trial.
- 4 sensor monitoring systems established to support Local Flood Action Groups to provide community flood warnings.
Rural Industries
- Digital Innovation Farms at Harper Adams University, Hartpury University and Overbury (Tewkesbury) showcasing >20 Agri-tech use cases.
- Static Private 5G Network established at Overbury by VMO2 and a mobile Private 5G Network established by Jet Connectivity.
- 12 popular agricultural shows attended to promote wireless technologies.
- 12 LoRa gateways & sensor packs distributed to farms in Shropshire, Telford, Powys & Warwickshire.
- 25 acoustic sensor stations installed across Shropshire monitoring bird song. Technology proven to be consistent with ecologist observations. Commercial prototyping underway.
- Bacteria sensors installed in 130 broiler sheds measuring ammonia emissions and other parameters.
- Commercial service launched and attracting farms from across the region who are seeing reduced airborne ammonia, increased FCRs and compliance efficiencies. Project also influencing integrator dietary content.
- LoRa network established at the Three Counties Showground serving Legionella sensors, wind & lightening detectors and a Ph sensor.
- Air quality being monitored along the Malvern Hills ridgeline.
- HD Video & ANPR tackling sheep rustling and anti-social behaviour in Monmouthshire.
Public Sector
- Largest independent study of Cellular Mobile Connectivity in UK. Featured on National Radio, cited in Parliament and contributing to a shift in government policy.
- Enterprise level mobile signal boosting at Worcestershire County Council & SME level through Warwickshire equipment Loan Scheme.
- Some of the first examples of Neutral Host Small Cells deployed in a rural environment.
- Remote workers in Monmouthshire County Council supplied with multi network SIMs to overcome coverage gaps in the county.
- 20 gully monitoring trials across 7 highway authorities testing 4 different operators.
- AI enabled CCTV tracking footfall across Kepax Bridge in Worcester. Soon to be replicated in Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire to monitor tourist footfall & traffic.
- Harnessing cellular mobile connectivity to replace the copper where no fixed fibre was available at 28 Worcestershire traffic light locations.
- Legionella risk being monitored at 4 Powys County Council sites.
- 2 successful digital tourism conferences at Tewkesbury and Shrewsbury.
- Policy in a Box guidance for Local Authorities to encourage the deployment of mobile infrastructure.