What are smart places?
Discover how NSW creates smart places using technology and data to make communities safer, more vibrant, sustainable and inviting for all.
Overview
In NSW, we create great places and deliver outcomes for people using technology and data. When we do this, we create smart places.
Smart places use data insights to help people make more informed decisions and deliver better services.
All smart places:
- use sensors and technologies in infrastructure and public spaces to generate and collect data
- transmit, store, manage and protect data
- analyse and share data, bringing data together and generating insights
- communicate information and insights to help people and organisations make decisions.
We use the term 'smart place' instead of smart city because smart places can exist in the city or our regions, and can happen in a neighbourhood, a local government area or across a whole region.
Smart places are about tackling big challenges in our urban centres. In smart places we use technology and data solutions to:
- improve social cohesion and inclusion
- boost biodiversity, sustainability and green infrastructure
- reduce congestion and improve the way people and goods move efficiently and safely
- tackle urban heat and impacts of climate change
- decarbonise our economy and drive to net zero emissions by 2050
- drive towards a zero-waste state.
What happens to data in a smart place?
In smart places, data generated in public spaces is used to generate insights so we can make better decisions. This happens in 4 key steps, as described below.
1
Generating and collecting
What happens: Technologies generate data.
Tools to make it happen:
- sensors
- cameras
- microphones
- Global Positioning System (GPS)
- social data.
2
Housing and protecting
What happens: Data is transmitted, stored and managed by data custodians.
Tools to make it happen: data platforms.
3
Analysing and sharing
What happens: Data sources are brought together. Data is de-identified, cleansed and shared.
Tools to make it happen:
- machine learning
- artificial intelligence tools
- open data Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
4
Informing and acting
What happens: Insights are communicated to inform decisions and drive actions – machine to human. or machine to machine.
Tools to make it happen:
- public display boards
- connected street furniture
- watches/phones/tablets
- internet dashboards
- loudspeakers
- alarms/alerts
- digital twin visualisations.
Delivering outcomes for our communities
The NSW Government is ensuring smart places are designed to deliver outcomes to benefit communities, businesses, employees and partners in 6 key areas.
Skills, jobs and development
Smart places grow the knowledge capital of people and businesses in NSW to benefit from the transition of the global economy.
Safety and security
Smart places provide safer places for people and increase our sense of security.
Environmental quality
Smart places increase our sustainability by reducing emissions, resource consumption and environmental impacts.
Equity, accessibility and inclusion
Smart places improve physical and digital access for the people of NSW to participate in economic and civic life.
Health and wellbeing
Smart places improve the quality of life and wellbeing for the people of NSW.
Collaboration and connection
Smart places bring people, business and governments, their data and their service together in a seamless way.
The NSW Government's role
In 2020, NSW became the first and still only state government to deliver a Smart Places Strategy and Action Plan.
We delivered this action plan between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, we published a new SmartNSW Roadmap to guide our work.
We:
- partner with other agencies, industry and the local government sector to help deliver smart places
- make sure the right legislation, regulation, policies and frameworks are in place
- support innovation and start-ups by engaging and partnering with industry in new ways
- deliver learning sessions and new guides and resources to build public sector capabilities
- gather evidence and share learnings to support future investment.
Explore the various projects and pilots in our SmartNSW Case Study Library.
Watch the videos
Discover how smart places work and how they benefit communities, businesses and individuals.
What makes smart places smart?
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Helping government deliver better places and services for communities
1:01
Helping you plan your day, reduce your cost of living and manage your household
1:01
Helping businesses innovate and make better business decisions
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