MEDIA RELEASE
13 November 2017
Some Council’s in Australia have more certainty today about their future smart cities journey, as the first funded projects under the government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs program was announced yesterday.
Adam Beck, the Executive Director of Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand (SCCANZ), has congratulated Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation, The Hon. Angus Taylor MP, for the vision and leadership of the program, and its capacity to help catalyse smart cities and digital transformation investment across Australian communities.
“This announcement is welcomed by SCCANZ and its members, who have invested deeply in working closely with local government to help their applications come together in a very short timeframe,” Mr Beck says.
“The Smart Cities and Suburbs program has been a critical mechanism for accelerating smart cities interest and activity across local government in Australia in 2017, and it is important we maintain the momentum created from the application process to now support the successful candidates in delivering, and scaling, as well as nurturing the potential of those that may be unsuccessful.”
In his media release, Assistant Minister Taylor announced that 52 projects have been successful in round 1 of the funding, totaling $28.5M, with 40% of the successful projects located in regional areas.
Chair of the SCCANZ Policy and Leadership Task Force and Councillor for Tablelands Regional Council in Queensland, Bronwyn Voyce, said of the announcement “this is great news for regional communities in Australia who are seeking the critical support needed to kick-start their smart cities journey.”
“The Smart Cities and Suburbs program has offered many local government organisations the opportunity to build their vision around smart cities, but now comes the important step of successfully investing, and then replicating and scaling,” Cr Voyce says.
“The Smart Cities Council looks forward to working with the government to supports its successful delivery of round 1 of the program, and its transition to a longer-term investment fund for national smart cities,” Mr Beck concludes.
