‘Smart’ street furniture wins Smart City ideas comp

During July, Lake Macquarie City Council received more than 100 ideas on how technology can make the City a more connected, prosperous and sustainable one.

Council’s Manager Integrated Planning, Sharon Pope, said the response to Council’s call for ideas
from the community was very positive.

“The ideas and suggestions received are informing the preparation of the City’s first Digital
Economy Strategy,” Ms Pope said.

“With a clear strategy to guide us, the technology we use can save Council and the community money, drive local innovation, provide new jobs, and improve community well-being and environmental sustainability.”

Charlestown resident, Daniel Condon, was presented with an Apple Watch Sport for his winning idea of solar-powered benches that can recharge mobile devices.

Council is now investigating the use of solar-powered seating in the City.

“Smart furniture like solar-powered benches could greatly assist the community during power outages, like those experienced during the April storms,” Ms Pope said.

“This is a great example of an innovative and achievable idea that could be used throughout Lake
Macquarie.”

Short-listed entries include:

· establishing ‘maker space’ incubators in Council libraries to help people learn about emerging technologies such as 3D printing (spaces where people can gather to
create, invent and learn);

· apps to make service requests with Council (a mobile application which enables residents to quickly and easily lodge service requests as an alternative to calling or emailing the Customer Service Centre);

· apps that allow users to adopt City assets to help monitor their condition (user portal with an interactive map where people can tag issues, activities or call for assistance);

· apps that provide information on parks, cycleways, playgrounds and safe places to take children (a mobile application with a map that identifies places of interest);

· an online interactive map of Council events and issues (a mobile application detailing information about Council services, parks, dog areas, events, bulk waste pick-up schedules etc);

· smart public garbage bins that alert Council when they are full or smell (data intelligence sends email notifications to Council staff when bins are near capacity);

· a display sign on shared pathways that counts bicycles and pedestrians and shares this data with Council and the community (signs displaying daily and cumulative bike and pedestrian data,) ; and

· the use of digital codes on infrastructure that can be scanned to provide people with information (smartphone friendly barcodes that can be scanned, providing residents and visitors with information about what they are looking at).



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Consultation has concluded. Please see lakemac.com.au/smart-city for the latest updates.

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