As part of the City of Perth’s Smart Cities innovation program it is engaging with citizen scientists to encourage investigation, collaboration and innovation using smart devices connected to the internet, commonly known as the “Internet of Things” or IoT.

To kick-start community engagement the City provided participating Citizen Science organisations (schools, universities and community groups), with solar-powered environmental sensors connected to the internet. The sensors collect observation data from the air, water or soil and can be monitored remotely from an IoT application. Historic data will be made available on the Open Data Portal to be used for further analysis.

The City’s Open Data Portal will allow the participants to share their data and data stories with other Citizen Science organisations, through dedicated collaboration spaces. Sharing open data with the public informs citizens and allows the data to be used for other purposes such as research.