The council for one of the UK’s flattest and lowest counties plans to supplement its response to frequent flooding with greater use of automated technology to support citizens and officials

Cambridgeshire County Council plans to deploy a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence to help tackle flooding and fly tipping in the region.

The authority is a designated Lead Local Flood Authority, meaning it  has responsibility to lead the response to several types and flooding and related issues across the region – including flooding of properties caused by rain runoff from roads, swollen drains and ditches, and ground flooding as a result of water levels rising from heavy and persistent rain. Fly tipping of large items in ditches and dykes was cited by the council as a key contributory factor in some instances of these types of flooding.

A procurement notice newly published by the authority says: “We aim to source an AI chat bot and reporting tool that users can be signposted to primarily while outdoors in the affected area, and access immediately and easily on their smartphone, such as via a weblink or QR code. The AI chat will then inform them of the impact of fly tipping on their community in a humanistic friendly but informative way, so they feel like they are chatting with a real person.”

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The document adds: “The technology will be accessible to a wide age range via smartphones and can also be promoted through local community groups. The system will also give residents the opportunity to report fly tipping to the relevant council authorities, giving them agency in the process of reducing risk. By adding a reporting tool which can be time coded this allows local authorities to consult CCTV for evidence against fly tippers, this empowers the community further and addresses some mental health and wellbeing concerns.”

The council has not yet formally invited bids from potential technology suppliers but this month sought to gather feedback via an early-engagement exercise during which potential providers were invited to respond with “evidence of previous successful work with AI tools in the community, flood risk, and with local authorities, Environment Agency etc”.

The engagement notice set out five core requirements for the system it is, ultimately, hoping to deploy: an online hub which citizens can access via a publicly displayed QR codes; signage with these codes in hotspot areas;  a reporting function; capability for “sentiment and language analysis built in to give humanistic answers”; and the ability to capture data.”

Cambridgeshire covers some of the lowest and flattest parts of the UK and the county has several areas featured in government’s roster of “high probability” flood zones. The town of St Ives flooded in February and October last year and other parts of the county have been subject to official flood warnings as recently as a week ago.