The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Meshed, an Internet of Things (IoT) integrator, are collaborating to utilise the Internet of Things technology to make Sydney a sustainable IoT hub and a greener city through providing a public access open data network.
Business Insider Australia reveals that the low power, long range wide area network (LPWAN), which is located in Ultimo on the edge of the Sydney Central Business District, has been based on Amsterdam’s “The Things Network” (TTN) project. This has created a smart sensor network coverage across the city using crowdsourcing.
Amsterdam’s TTN project has subsequently begun to appear in cities such as New York, Zurich, Madrid, San Francisco, San Paulo, London, and Singapore.
The LPWAN is designed to support low power (battery or solar) and long range (up to a 5km radius) smart sensor devices that will allow anyone within range to connect their devices to the Internet for free, without needing cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or other wireless technologies.
Meshed founder Andrew Maggio said that networks like this, coupled with people crowdsourcing new applications are enabling cities to embrace the new energy economy, from solar to energy management, including off-grid battery storage and the sharing economy.
UTS supports the initiative by offering this public access IoT network for people to connect smart sensors for free. The university believes that an open standard IoT network means the city can rapidly deploy a raft of applications for anyone who lives, works, or invests there.
Dr Stuart White, the Director of the Institute of Sustainable Futures at UTS said the network offers innovation to measure a range of things that previously have not been thought of.
“At the very least, we’ll be able to measure the health of the city. We’ll be able to measure air quality, water quality, temperature, humidity – a whole range of environmental factors – energy use, water use,”
According to Catherine Capuana-Mcmanus, Meshed Strategy Director, the number of devices connected to the Internet is expected to nearly double to 26 billion by 2020 and the IoT Alliance Australia believes it has the potential to boost the national economy by $116 billion by 2025.
“Community IoT networks are ‘democratising the internet of things’ by enabling communities and city and industry leaders to get real-time data about the things that matter most to them in order to take action faster,”
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image courtesy of arnnet.com.au