The Smart City Council, a global organisation that claims to be the world’s largest network of smart cities practitioners, has launched an Australian and New Zealand branch, headed by Adam Beck. It is only the council’s second regional initiative after India (where prime minister Narendra Modi has announced plans for 100 smart cities).
The Council’s ANZ website is now live, and it is promising to publish a version of its Smart City Readiness Guide for Australia New Zealand in early 2017. The organisation is canvassing for membership, which is free.
The global version of the Readiness Index says it is “the world’s leading framework for government leaders to enhance the livability, workability and sustainability of their cities. It is currently in use by thousands of cities around the world to shape their future initiatives, from Hartford to Dubai to Mauritius to Yinchuan.”
On the website, Beck says the local branch of the council has been launched “to work with the regional marketplace and realise success through advocacy and action, via a globally connected network of urban thinkers and leaders. … Our mission is to be an advisor and market accelerator for the region.”
Beck, according to his bio on the site, has spent more than 20 years influencing infrastructure and urban regeneration projects across the world. In this time, he has worked for global consulting firms, as well as transformational non-profit organisations. For the past seven years he has supported the building of movements and marketplaces for sustainable cities.
Most recently, he was director of innovation at EcoDistricts, a Portland Oregon-based non-profit think tank. He has been intimately involved in efforts by the Urban Land Institute in Australia, the World Green Building Council, and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.