IBM received several hundred applications from more than 40 countries for the 2011 grant programme. The review team were "highly impressed" by the Glasgow bid, which is one of 24 cities worldwide to be selected to receive a Smarter Cities Challenge grant this year.

Jennifer Crozier, director for IBM corporate citizenship and corporate affairs, said, "We selected Glasgow because of its commitment to the use of data to make better decisions, and for its desire to explore and act on smarter solutions to their most pressing concerns."

In other news for the city, three years ago Glasgow a ten-year £265.5 million IT outsourcing deal with Serco. It said the deal would save it more than £70 million over the decade.