Switching on Darwin – Construction Complete

The construction of Switching on Darwin, the nation’s largest smart city project, has been completed on time and on budget. 

The project aims to make Darwin a world-leading smart city with the addition of 912 new LED lights, 138 new CCTV cameras, 39 new hotspots to extend free WiFi, 24 environmental sensors, smart parking sensors, along with an audio system in the Mall.

The $10M project, which received $5M funding from the Federal Government and $2.5M each from the NT Government and City of Darwin, was launched in July 2018.

Switching on Darwin will deliver many benefits to the community and our environment, including enhanced community safety; improved and more efficient Council services; greater environmental sustainability by reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions; smart planning where data will inform planning and design; innovation with data available to the community and business sector; and improved public spaces through Wi-Fi, lighting, smart parking and better understanding of pedestrian movement.

“Completion of this project positions Darwin as a leader in innovation,” said Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis “we now have the tools to improve the liveability of our city, the delivery of services to our community and to better understanding our local environmental.”  

Local Member for Port Darwin Paul Kirby said the Esplanade is one of Darwin City’s most pristine and popular exercise areas. 

“Since being elected I’ve been having discussions with people about making it brighter and safer for exercise in the evenings. 

“That’s why the NT Government is committed to funding and partnering this project.” 

Senator for the Northern Territory, Senator Sam McMahon, said the Morrison Government was pleased to invest in better services and infrastructure for all Territorians. 

"The completed Switching on Darwin project is an important part of the Morrison Government's commitment to keeping Darwin residents and visitors safe and improving the amenity of our public spaces. 

"This project simply would not have been possible without the $5 million investment by the Morrison Government and I'm proud to see the completion of this great initiative," Senator McMahon said. 

With construction complete the focus has now moved to testing and implementation, with the aim of a fully integrated system being available by the end of June 2019.

“A fully integrated dashboard is being developed which will display trends in the data being collected, including temperature, rain and humidity, noise and dust, wind speed and CO2 levels,” said Lord Mayor Vatskalis.

For more information visit - https://www.darwin.nt.gov.au/council/transforming-darwin/key-projects/sw...