Smart strategy identifies smart initiatives

Redland City Council today received a progress report on the development of the draft Redlands Coast Smart and Connected City Strategy.

The report reveals that the draft Redlands Coast Smart and Connected City Strategy focuses on four key areas: liveability, wellbeing and inclusion; productivity and innovation; sustainability; and governance and planning.

In developing the strategy, consultants Delos Delta identified three initiatives that demonstrate how Redlands Coast is already using data and technology to improve the city’s liveability and place it at the forefront of intelligence, productivity and sustainability.

The RACQ Smart Shuttle driverless bus trial, smart koala monitoring, and intelligent water monitoring programs have been recognised as examples of smart city operations.

Development of the draft strategy also reflects global learnings from cities across the world including Seoul, Barcelona, New York, London and Tokyo that have engaged in smart city projects over the past 10 years.

Learnings from these cities’ endeavours include the importance of emphasising a focus on initiatives that empower citizens, are collaborative, reinforce privacy and security, provide real benefits for the community and encourage innovation.

Consultants will consider these learnings to further develop the strategy, while also incorporating input received from a range of engagement activities during the recent community consultation period.

Engagement activities included workshops with business and industry, the community, Redland City Council staff, Councillors and the Redlands Economic Development Advisory Board, and an online survey and discussion forum which was open from 16 October 2019 to 22 November 2019.

The purpose of the engagement activities was to gather information from participants about smart city priorities and values in the context of Council’s strategic priorities.

Engagement identified that community priorities include the economy, the community, leadership, collaboration, the environment, transport and connectivity.

A draft strategy is expected to be presented to Council for consideration later in the year.