New Zealand has achieved strong representation in the shortlist for IDC’s Smart City Asia Pacific Awards 2017. New Zealand projects are finalists in six of the 14 award categories: Transportation; Public Works; Smart Grid; Smart Water; Connected Health; Tourism, Arts, Libraries, Culture, Open Spaces.
IDC said the were in total 46 finalists from across Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), shortlisted from over 150 submissions from vendors, local governments and analysts and New Zealand is second only to China, which has nine finalists.
Jefferson King, associate market analyst at IDC New Zealand, said the shortlisted New Zealand entries showed that smart city projects in New Zealand had moved beyond the concept phase. “Real innovation is taking place, with clear benefits for the economy,” he said.
"Information is now a key driver of innovation and the finalists showcase New Zealand's growing strength in this area. If you look at the breadth of industries that these projects are influencing, it illustrates how data and analytics are being used to drive the New Zealand economy."
He added: "There are clear external benefits to these applications; ranging from more efficient use of public resources to attracting foreign direct investment and skilled employees to New Zealand."
Auckland Transport was shortlisted in the Transportation category for its live stream of information flowing from its 3,000 buses. “Auckland Transport gathers data on ticket sales, routes, schedules, and more, enabling it to plan bus routes and experiment with new ideas like dynamic pricing as well as provide an app with live bus times for riders,” IDC said.
A collaboration between NEC New Zealand and Wellington City Council made the shortlist in the Public Works category. NEC has developed the KITE flexible sensing platform for Wellington to gather information on air quality, water quality, pedestrian mobility, waste management, parking, street lighting, solvent detection, and graffiti detection. IDC said this information provides actionable insights that facilitate improved economic and environmental benefits for the city.
Hastings based electricity distribution and fibre optic network company Unison Networks made the shortlist the Smart Grid category. “Unison Networks has a long term smart grid strategy that includes using a range of sensors to improve decision making and efficiency throughout the Unison Network,” IDC said.
The Waitaki District Council made finalist the Smart Water category for an upgrade to its Oamaru Water Treatment Plant to equip it with better water filtration technology and analytics to track water treatment efforts in real-time.
Waikato District Health Board is a finalist in the Connected Health Category. According to IDC “The DHB's SmartHealth solution utilises a smartphone app that patients can use to have consultations and schedule appointments with their GP.” (As Computerworld reported last week this was developed in conjunction with US-based HealthTap, which has just opened and office Hamilton)
Qrious - the big data and analytics software business set up in 2014 by Spark is a finalist in the Tourism, Arts, Libraries, Culture, Open Spaces category. Qrious developed the Voyager portal that uses big data and analytics to analyse anonymous mobile location data and provide tourism and events operators with insights into tourist activity.