Brum gets a Second Life

Birmingham is getting its very own virtual island in Second Life showcasing potential ways in which the virtual world can deliver public services.

The island has been created by Digital Birmingham - a partnership of public and private sector organisations promoting the uptake of technology - as part of the Virtual Birmingham initiative.

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The project is billed as a 'demonstrator briefing hub' and includes several sections including BScape, which pulls applications from around the internet into the virtual world, including an interactive 3D map of Birmingham city centre.

The application uses Google Maps to show the effects of building proposals to form part of the city's planning consultations.

The island also has webcam views of local areas - such as the Bullring shopping centre - videos and RSS feeds to news services including the BBC News website.

A spokesman for Digital Birmingham said: "When we first looked into virtual worlds it was very much what it could do for Birmingham. It's really a starting point for us."

The island will be officially launched as part of the Hello Digital festival being held in Birmingham this week.

Birmingham City Council is in the middle of a 10-year technology transformation project which is on course to deliver more than £2bn in savings by 2016 through improved council services.