Smart City looking Towards a Smart Future

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It seems the Federal Government has recognised just how smart the city of Newcastle really is.

Newcastle City Council is today welcoming $5 million from the government under their Smart Cities and Suburbs program to put towards council's Smart Move Newcastle, part of Council's Smart City vision to boost the use of digital technology throughout the city in vehicles and infrastructure.

Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor and
Newcastle Council Interim CEO Angus Taylor.

Council is more than matching the government's amount together with their partners putting $10 million towards the project as well.

Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor was in Newcastle today to announce the funding and says Newcastle has the potential to lead the rest of the world.

"We'll be pioneering technology here for Australia and that are leading not just Australia but the world. This is a great opportunity not just to make Newcastle a better place to live and work but also give Newcastle the chance to really be a pioneer Australia wide and globally in these sorts of technologies," said Minister Taylor.

The funding will go towards supporting a range of initiatives including:
- An electric vehicle hub
- Autonomous vehicle trials
- Bus stops with technology to provide real-time information such as when the next bus is due
- Roads with real-time traffic analysis to give emergency vehicles green lights and alert commuters of traffic jams
- Sensors in buildings to monitor and manage energy use
- Cameras in smart light poles to analyse cloud coverage and estimate solar energy production

Council Interim CEO Jeremy Bath said the digital solutions will better the city in terms of infrastructure, transport and everything in between.

"Newcastle is a city that has always prided itself on its innovation and the Federal Government is joining with council and a number of companies from around Australia and indeed across the world showing they have the faith and the belief in Newcastle," said Jeremy.

"We really welcome the funding and welcome the interest from the Federal Government, Angus you can come back anytime with the chequebook!" said Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald.

Residents still without the NBN

BY JESSICA ROUSE and GEORGIA LUPTON

Paterson MP Meryl Swanson is calling on the NBNCo to explain why some homes in Rutherford and Aberglassyn have been left out of the NBN rollout. 

The suburb went live on the network six months ago, but 150 homes were left out, and they want to know why.

Residents were urged to contact NBNCo directly to get accurate and individualised information, however when they did, they didn't get any of the answers they wanted.

Ms Swanson's office has been flooded with residents telling her they aren't getting the answers they need and they don't understand why.

Ms Swanson says in this technological age, it is ridiculous some residents have been left behind, while those in other areas strive ahead.

"You've got people who are trying to run small businesses from home, you've got students, kids going back to school hoping they'll get the NBN so they'll be able to download their homework and upload stuff they need to send back to school and they just can't do it. it's hopeless."

Baird Government Kick-Starts Newcastle's "Digital Precinct"

BY TANYA DU PREEZ

The Baird Government will grant the clean-tech start up firm Eighteen04 $300, 000 to kick-start Newcastle's "digital precinct".

The funding will allow the business "incubator" to move from Mayfield to a new home on Parry Street, which will create 218 jobs.

The "digital precinct" in Newcastle's City Centre will include free public Wi-Fi, high-speed broadband and an innovation hub aimed at attracting new industries and jobs to the Hunter.

Eighteen04 co-founder and director Andrew Mears says the company provides work space for "liked-minded" start-ups that could "create a community".

"Now that we have this new space, we are opening our doors, and if there's any entrepreneurs who are looking to develop a new technology start-up business in the clean-tech and smart-city space, then we'd love to hear from you," he says.

The "digital precinct" innovation offers free public Wi-Fi in Newcastle (Source: Around You)

Newcastle CBD set for big changes

BY TYLER FARDELL

NEWCASTLE's city centre is set for some big changes following the governments support of an innovation project, aiming to turn NEWCASTLE into a 'digital precinct'.

A total of 9.8 million dollars has been committed by the state government with a further 8 million dollars coming from Newcastle city council, the University of Newcastle, Newcastle Now and Hunter DiGiT.

A new innovation hub is set to be developed, along with free public Wi-Fi, cutting edge smart parking and smart street lighting technology.

Premier Mike Baird visited Newcastle to announce the funding and praised the innovative project.

"The Hunter Innovation Project will provide a significant boost for Newcastle and capitalise on it's strong education and research sectors, the region's highly skilled workforce and diverse range of industries".

Artists impression of the 'Innovation hub' at the corner of King and Auckland streets
Photo source: The Newcastle Herald

SMART workshop putting students to the test

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The University of Newcastle's SMART program is hosting a sold out two day coding and computer workshop beginning today, teaching students the importance of computer science for their future careers.

The Coding and Computer Science Workshop will put the students aged between 10 and 14 years to the test, as they learn the fundamentals of coding and its applications by designing and constructing their own apps.

SMART Team Leader Sarah Pilgrim says coding and computer science are valuable skills which should be taught at a young age.

"It's all about getting them engaged with it, showing them that it's something that can be really fun and it's also about showing them the importance of them having these skills to be able to be equipped for the jobs of the future."

Students will be given the opportunity to explore cutting edge technology from around the University in between each coding session.

They will be given the opportunity to experience a robotics and virtual reality session hosted by the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment and also given the chance to delve into another world with Virtual reality headsets from the Faculty of Science and IT.