Australia's first Smart Cities Week to be held in October

Australia’s first Smart Cities Week will be held in Sydney from 29–31 October 2018. 

The event, by global industry body Smart Cities Council, will bring together local and international public and private sector experts to facilitate the dialogue, and build the opportunities that accelerate better, smarter cities. The council has just released the program for the event, with the early bird registrations now open.

“In the metropolitan era, Australians live in one of the world’s most urbanised nations. This places Australia at the forefront of the rapidly growing smart cities movement,” said Adam Beck, Executive Director for Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand.

“As infrastructure, services and resources are stretched to cope with growing populations, climate change and economic disruption, our challenge is to harness the power of technology, data and intelligent design to create better, smarter cities. Smart Cities Week will help us to do just that.

“This is a unique opportunity to engage everyone from policymakers and local government leaders at the coalface to industry innovators and start-up entrepreneurs,” Beck said.

To coincide with the conference, the Smart Cities Council will announce winners in 10 categories of the inaugural Australian Smart Cities Awards. Nominations for the awards, which will celebrate best practice from across the region, close on 2 July. Shortlisted finalists will be announced in August.

According to Paul Francis, Director of Internet of Things and Smart Cities Lead at global advisory firm KPMG, a conference sponsor, said the event will drive a more deliberative smart cities dialogue throughout the region. “As a leader in smart cities and IoT within the region, KPMG looks forward to Smart Cities Week Australia as an opportunity for deep industry engagement, showcasing and learning,” Francis said.

“Smart Cities Week is an anti-conference that is shaking up the norm, identifying opportunities and creating connections between those who are inspired by the future of the city,” said Chris Isles, Executive Director of Planning for Place Design Group, which is also sponsoring the conference. Other sponsors and supporters of the conference include Arcadis, BlueChilli, PCSG, Telstra and Yotta.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/jamesteohart