The Australian Government has announced the 52 successful projects to receive a share of the $28.5 million under the first round of Smart Cities and Suburbs Program funding.
According to a statement from the office of Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation Angus Taylor, the 52 projects are across all states and territories, of which 40% are in regional areas.
Mr. Taylor said in the statement that the program aims to support ‘clever ideas to fix local problems’, particularly in outer suburbs and regions.
“It’s surprising how often a simple solution can have the most impact,” Mr. Taylor said.
Successful Round One projects include LED street lights with Wi-Fi that boost brightness to reduce anti-social behaviour, on-demand bus stops with electric car chargers and driverless shuttles to cut traffic congestion, and street sensors that indicate available carparking and allow traffic lights to turn green for emergency vehicles.
Other successful projects include apps that interpret sensor data to help people decide, for example, do they leave for work now or wait 15 minutes? Do they hire additional staff for when there’s more pedestrian traffic at their front door?
“Look at the difference all those apps are making to our everyday lives. Technology development is moving at a rapid pace in Australia, and harnessing the power of these innovations will set up the future success of our cities,” Mr. Taylor said.
“Too often Australia is viewed simply as a customer for technologies developed overseas. Promoting clever home-grown digital and data solutions, that can be replicated in other locations, will move Australia into a leadership position, where we can take smart city technologies out to the world.”
All projects are being co-funded by local governments, industry, research organisations and the private sector, and are delivering almost $40 million in partner co-investment.
Round One of the $50 million program received more than 170 applications.
Details on each of the 52 successful projects are available on the Smart Cities website.
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