Australian Government Funding 52 Smart Cities Projects With AU$28.5m
By Corinne Reichert,
Under round one of the Smart Cities and Suburbs Program, the Australian government will provide 52 projects across the nation with AU$28.5 million in shared funding.
The Australian government has announced the 52 projects around the nation that will be getting funding under the first round of its AU$50 million Smart Cities and Suburbs Program announced over a year ago.
A total of AU$28.5 million is being allocated across all areas of the country, with every project being co-funded by local governments, universities, and industry. The government also pointed out that 40 percent of the projects are located in regional areas.
“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,” Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation Angus Taylor said.
“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.”
The biggest winner under round one was the City of Darwin, which scored a AU$5 million grant in addition to its own AU$5 million co-contribution for the Switching on Darwin project.
It was closely followed by Newcastle City Council in New South Wales, which won AU$4,983,680 alongside its co-contribution of more than AU$10 million for Smart Move Newcastle: Intelligent Mobility, Energy, and Data Networks.
Also winning big was Launceston City Council in Tasmania, which was awarded AU$1.58 million alongside a AU$2,056,800 co-contribution for Launceston City 3D modelling.
In Western Australia, Curtin University was given a AU$2,578,099 grant for its Resilient Energy and Water Systems project in Fremantle, while the City of Perth was given AU$1,314,494 for Smart Cities Collaboration in Perth.
The biggest winner in Queensland was Cairns Regional Council, which gained AU$827,894 for its Reducing Urban Impacts on the Great Barrier Reef project.
Other beneficiaries across NSW were Macquarie University, which was given AU$499,000 for the Smart Transport in Macquarie Park project; Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council got AU$452,168 for Smart Regional City Queanbeyan; the University of Technology Sydney — which has also been working on 5G development — got AU$433,000 for Liveable Neighbourhoods in Lake Macquarie and Sydney City; Australian PV Institute got AU$430,000 for Energy Data for Smart Decision Making across Byron Bay, Bendigo, Ku-ring-gai, Waverly, Banyule, Canterbury, Bankstown, the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Manningham, and Towong; and NOUS Technology got AU$400,000 for Smart Transport in Randwick.
Also in NSW, AU$340,000 was given to the Council of the City of Sydney for Smart Mobility in Sydney; AU$296,943 to University of New South Wales for Smart Community Infrastructure in Sydney; AU$152,500 to Bathurst Regional Council for Community Wi-Fi and Open Data Bathurst; AU$143,125 to Byron Shire Council for Smart Strategic Planning Byron; AU$120,000 to Liverpool City Council for Smart Active Transport Liverpool; AU$115,000 to Council of the Municipality of Woollahra for 3D Technology for Urban Planning in Woollahra; AU$113,657 to Central Coast Council for smart parking on the Central Coast; AU$100,000 to Goldenfields Water County Council for the Goldenfields Water App; and AU$100,000 to University of Sydney for Community Participation in Smart Urban Planning for Logan and Canada Bay.
In Queensland, additional beneficiaries of the grants included Moreton Bay Regional Council, which was given AU$450,000 for Smart Parking in North Lakes, and an additional AU$100,000 for Streamlined Access to Community Services Moreton Bay; V2i was granted AU$333,000 for its Interactive Development Platform in Ipswich; the University of Queensland was given AU$205,000 for Sustainable Urban Growth in Bells Creek; Livingstone Shire Council gained AU$200,000 for the Yeppoon Town Centre Smart Precinct Project; Fraser Coast Regional Council got AU$152,500 for Automated Traffic Management in Fraser Coast; and Rockhampton Regional Council got AU$125,000 for Digital Permits for Disability Parking in Rockhampton.
Other WA areas gaining funding were the City of Joondalup — which has already been deploying smart cities solutions with Telstra — which got AU$867,000 for Smart Monitoring and Management Yellagonga Wetlands; University of Western Australia got AU$500,000 for RailSmart Planning Wanneroo; RAC WA Holdings got AU$490,000 for an automated vehicle trial in Perth; Waardi Limited gained AU$190,000 for Solar Energy Solutions Broome; City of Gosnells got AU$132,781 for Energy Efficient Housing in South Perth; and Shire of Collie was given AU$118,088 for Smart Emergency and Fire Management Collie.
Across Victoria, 11 cities gained funding, including Attentis, which was given AU$731,170 for the Latrobe Valley Sensor Network; City of Greater Geelong was given AU$415,000 for Clever and Creative Geelong; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology was given AU$400,000 for interactive city management in Melbourne; Moreland City Council got AU$396,900 for 3D City Planning of Moreland Council; and Melbourne City Council gained AU$350,000 for Smart Planning and Design Melbourne.
In Victoria, the government also gave AU$294,820 to Wyndham City Council for Smart Planning in Werribee; AU$225,000 to Maroondah City Council for Smart Redevelopment Victoria; AU$150,000 to Southern Grampians Shire Council for Smart Community Services for the Southern Grampians; AU$120,000 to Connectsus for the City of Yarra Smart Waste Program; AU$118,235 to Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology for Smart Active Transport — Urban Heat Maps for Bendigo; and AU$100,000 to Lendlease Communities (Atherstone) for Smart Transport and Precinct Planning Atherstone.
Six projects in South Australia gained funding: City of Port Adelaide Enfield was given AU$100,000 for Smart Active Transport Port Adelaide; Alexandrina Council won AU$100,000 for Connecting Communities throughout Goolwa, Ashbourne, Strathalbyn, Port Elliot, Langhorne Creek, Milyang, and Mount Compass; and the City of Prospect was given AU$144,900 for its Connected Cities project in City of Prospect, City of Burnside, City of Port Adelaide Enfield, City of Playford, and Campbelltown City Council areas.
Also in SA, Light Regional Council was given AU$159,224 for Smart Tourist Town Kapunda; Mid Murray Council was awarded AU$195,426 for Smart Access to Community Services Mid Murray Region; and Corporation of the City of Unley was given AU$240,000 for Heywood Park Smart City Precinct.
In the Northern Territory, Charles Darwin University scored a AU$251,410 grant for the Smart Ways to Reduce Waste project in Alice Springs.
The only project gaining funding in the Australian Capital Territory was Ecospectral, which will be getting AU$100,000 for the Smart Precinct Woden project.
Round one of the program saw over 170 applications, the government said, with a second funding round opening for applications in the first half of next year.
Global networking giants have also been pushing into smart cities technology, including Huawei’s Intelligent Operation Centre announced earlier this week; Cisco’s smart cities “alliance” with KPMG Australia; and Nokia’s smart cities framework.
