The Australian Government will fund 52 smart city initiatives under the first round of its $50million Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.
The grants will be allocated to smart city iniatives across all states and territories, supporting the delivery of innovative smart city projects that improve the liveability, productivity and sustainability of cities and towns across Australia.
The Hon. Angus Taylor MP, the Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation, announced $28.5 million in smart city grants would be allocated in the first round of funding.
The four-year program has been designed to improve the “liveability” of Australian cities and suburbs using technology and open data.
“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.”
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.
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.
Round 1 was highly competitive, with 176 applications received. Successful projects are being co-funded by partners including local governments, industry, research organisations and the private sector. This significant investment equates to almost $40 million, or around $1.40 for every Australian Government dollar.
A second funding round is expected to open for applications in the first half of 2018.
Read more about Smart Cities program.
