PTY LIMITED ABN 25 165 757 559 DATE 05.08.2022 Draft NSW RoadmapSubmission
IIIPty Ltd | www.ene-hub.com Draft SmartNSW Roadmap - Submission CONTENTS Executive Summary 1.0 Draft Roadmap Feedback
1Pty Ltd | www.ene-hub.com Draft SmartNSW Roadmap - Submission
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I am writing to formally provide feedback on the Government’s draft SmartNSW Roadmap. This feedback we hope supports the finalisation of the Roadmap and sets It up for continued success.
Yours Sincerely, Adam Beck Head of Digital urbanism | ENE.HuB
We start by thanking the NSW Government for Its leadership in mobilising smart places action and investment, and inspiring other government agencies around the country to contemplate the same. We consider the work of the Department over the past 2 years to have been a success, and looking forward to supporting the next phase of the Departments work.
ENE.HuB brings a wealth of public place planning, design and delivery experience gathered over the last 25 years both nationally and internationally. And over the past 10 years we have evolved our products and services to embed digital and data enablers. We describe our work as connecting, activating and measuring urban life. We have provided in this submission a range of general comments on the draft Roadmap, as well as a series of more detailed feedback points against the actions proposed. Overall, we are delighted to see the commitment to big and bold Ideas and the need to move from an era of seed to scale. We have been using our unique business model and leading products and services to scale smart places deployments for councils and land authorities across the country for a number of years. We hope to further share our real-life experiences so others can benefit. We hope this feedback will be helpful. We would be delighted to meet with you to discuss any of the comments further, and/or help scope further any of our recommendations. We remain committed to helping the Department deliver the best possible outcomes to build a smarter state and look forward to contributing as your advances.
Rory ActingBrownExecutive Director, Smart Places Department of Planning and Environment, Parramatta Square, 12 Darcy Street Parramatta NSW 2150 via email: rory.brown@planning.nsw.gov.au Dear Rory,
Feedback on the Draft SmartNSW Roadmap
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3Draft SmartNSW Roadmap - SubmissionPty Ltd | www.ene-hub.com 1.0 DRAFT FEEDBACKROADMAP
2. Entering collaborative relationships (which last 5-10+years)
3. Offering scalable business models (beyond point-in-time transactions)
But on scale, everyone has been challenged. Even for ENE.HuB, we have evolved our product and service offering, and business model over the past 10 years, to get closer to the aspiration of scaling outcomes for cities and land authorities.
This has been a goal shared by many across the industry, for years, but with little success.
For the past two years the NSW Government has led the path on advancing technology and data as an enabler for great outcomes in our places, spaces, and communities. This has indeed been bold leadership.
ENE.HuB is excited by the stated commitment throughout the Draft Roadmap to be bold, take big steps and to ‘move from an era of seed to scale’.
And another critical goal, as Identified in Objective 2 (Support Innovation and data driven decision making), Is potentially at the heart of the smart cities movement, which Is to Inform better decision making with the support of data Insights. This Is what really matters - better decisions.
1. clearly defining shared people and place-based outcomes
Across the country ENE.HuB is delivering outcomes for Government and Land Authorities that enables bestin-class urban services and the collection of data in order to improve the experiences of the community and businesses in public spaces. From backbone connectivity, public place safety and human health, to social inclusion, environmental sustainability and helping transition to the new mobility future. These fundamentals are measurable and as such provide the opportunity to Inform decision making.
4. Investing in solutions that can evolve, and are designed to adapt as technology changes
Our assessment is that it takes a number of key steps and requires certain conditions to be in place for scale to be realised, and to succeed. This includes:
Our experience is that to be able to achieve this goal, a clear strategy with measurable targets must be in place. Just like the Department has Its strategy, It’s Important that recipients of the Smart Places Acceleration Fund have a similar strategy and be supported through ongoing peer to peer knowledge exchange that’ asks the question - “are we making a difference?”
5. Building in a feedback loop of continuous engagement and improvement.
4Pty Ltd | www.ene-hub.com Draft SmartNSW Roadmap - Submission 1.0 DRAFT ROADMAP FEEDBAck 1.0 DRAFT ROADMAP FEEDBACK GENERAL COMMENTS
Provided on the next page are our more detailed comments on the Draft Roadmap for your consideration.
11.The Smart Infrastructure Policy was a welcomed addition to the broader NSW Government program when it was released years ago, however Its level of effectiveness and the outcomes It has achieved to date are unknown. Whilst a Smart Infrastructure Policy Accelerator (Action FO4) sounds like a good Idea, it would be welcomed If some broader engagement with Industry was facilitated to determine how the private sector can more Involved and support the outcomes desired. Equally, the Digital Built NSW Program sounds like a meaningful program and ENE.HuB welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback If Industry engagement Is sought
3. The comment relating to the NSW Government exploring strategic ‘stakes’ In physical and digital Infrastructure Is a positive move and ENE.HuB would support this strategy, and would be happy to provide further Information on Its ‘Infrastructure and a service’ model and asset ownership models.
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10. Action F03 also makes reference to a critical topic - standards. There Is an urgent need for a review of smart cities standards application and uptake In Australia, and ENE.HuB recommends partnering with Standards Australia to do so. Because Standards Australia’s mandate Is the creation of standards, and not their use/uptake, the Department In partnership with Industry (such as the Internet of Things Alliance Australia) could play a critical role In helping understand why smart cities and data standards are/are not being used
2. claiming ‘significant economic value from data’ (Objective 3) could be supported by publishing a knowledge resource that shares business cases and benefit realisation frameworks of deployed projects
6. The reference to a smart places capability uplift program In Action F01 Is welcomed, particularly the Intent to do this In partnership with Industry. ENE.HuB’s _Lab program of engagement with Its council and Land Authority customers may be a potential opportunity for collaboration, with a focus on advancing the outcomes of government entities who have Invested In digital Infrastructure and data services at scale. The _Lab program Involves structured one-on-one and group cohort capability development and solution advancement projects
4. Objective 4’s focus on a ‘place-based’ approach deployment Is strongly supported, such as the points ‘Interventions to support street-level digital connectivity’, technology-enabled parks, public spaces and active transport links’ and ‘15 smart and connected neighbourhood projects In Western Sydney’
12.ENE.HuB believes a quick win could be to define telco/network standards (minimum requirements) across all LGAs (Action EN5). A coordinated approach to this is required, and could be delivered in conjunction with IPWEA and private sector companies, as an example. A simple example is dual 8.
Outlined below are specific comments as they relate to various sections of the Draft Roadmap.
1. With a central goal of enabling scale (Objective 3), consideration should be given to alternative pathways to only scaling successful pilots. Scaling existing projects by LGA’s that are already In place (that are not pilots) could be a quick win, and engaged via an EOI process or similar call for additional Investment
9. The Identification of the need for benefit realisation tools In Action F03 Is welcomed and ENE.HuB believes this Is a critical step to support the desired goal of scaling. updating the Smart Places Playbook to Include such Information, and supporting templates/case studies for smart places business cases, could prove valuable
Offering a variety of business models that enable scaling of digital and data solutions could be a significant catalyst for achieving scale, as we have seen in the deployments, we have agreements with across the country. ENE.HuB has multiple agreement types with council’s and land authorities, Including shared ownership, as-a-service and a hybrid.
5. under the ‘Building blocks for success’ section of the Roadmap, the Enablers refer to ‘partnerships’. This Is a critical point and should be used to explore new business and delivery/operational models (beyond point in time transactions/procurement processes) to deliver connected Infrastructure and services
7. In particular, we must create capability (perhaps via cSIRO and private companies) to bring together data to inform/solve bigger problems – if all LGAs are gathering weather/environment data someone needs to bring it all together to derive greater value - how does this kind of data inform planning and urban design efforts which will create ESG outcomes
8. Action F02 rightly Identifies the need for greater embedment of the Smart Places customer charter, and uptake by Industry. As a private sector company we deeply believe symbolic commitments can support a movement, but ENE.HuB’s focus Is on scaling outcomes and measuring real change. We would welcome the opportunity to provide further feedback on the charter and how private sector can more deeply engage with It
SPECIFIC COMMENTS
17.ENE.HuB considers Action EN10 and EN11 absolutely fundamental to achieving scale, and recommends this as a priority action
14. In Action EN7 references are made to scaling opportunities from the Smart Places Acceleration Program. ENE.HuB recommends that the Department convenes a think tank to bring together multisector stakeholders to specifically discuss the key success factors for scaling. With such a core focus on scaling the program and outcomes, It Is necessary that a deep focus be made here. ENE.HuB Is a ‘ready’ partner to participate in such a gathering and share Its lessons learned from scaling smart places deployments over the past 10 years
16.Whilst we acknowledge the scale is critical for success, there is a need to strike the balance between preserving each local government authorities (LGA) identity with creating consistent approaches to solutions If we are to make a real difference. For example, we don’t need 20 different types of weather/ environment sensor networks, just maybe two or three types (procured from the proposed panel at action EN10, which ENE.HuB supports)
13. Action EN6 makes reference to a ‘data commons’ for SmartNSW data. ENE.HuB encourages the department to possibly go further and take a national leadership position on piloting a civic Data Trust as a tool for greater governance and benefit realisation. This would also align well with trying to embed the Smart Places customer charter (and Its promise to the community) In the Smart Places Acceleration Program. Similarly to the think tank recommendation around ‘scaling’, a forum relating to data governance could also be an opportunity
19.On Action PR20 ENE.HuB recommends the creation of a holistic smart approach to the region’s next 10 years of development. This program with the 15 LGA’s (given the status of Its funding process) potentially provides an optimal opportunity to create a template for real scale, across LGAs. This 10year plan would encourage private sector participation and Investment as It provides confidence In the Government’s long-term direction.
15. As part of Action EN 7 create a new component of the Smart Places Acceleration Fund that supports the Regional Organisation of council’s (ROc’s) to deliver projects jointly – this would encourage scale and impact, possibly utilising the ROcs
18.We believe the Roadmap still lacks clarity about how to transition from pilot to scale (which, as we know is where the value is for communities, for the economy, and to grow the overall technology/smart sector), For example, with Action PR18 – showcases are good, but needs to answer the ‘what next’ question as well. If the solution is so good, how can it be moved to wide-scale adoption
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100mm comms conduit networks, with councils retaining ownership of one (which they could outsource management to a third-party manager)
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