IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The article says the organisation, with a turnover in excess of $1 billion, is in discussions with both multi-national and local IT companies with a view to rolling out “a range of cutting edge tele-health services across its nationwide network.”

The Federal Government’s Smart Cities Plan outlines ways to maximise the potential of cities using the three pillars of smart investment, smart policy and smart technology.

Central Coast Council’s adopted Economic Development Strategy references a number of initiatives relating to the Smart City Plan with which Council aligns, but what might that mean for our region?

A cutting-edge initiative that could change the way new suburbs and cities are designed, constructed and managed has been launched by the City of Parramatta Council, with the rollout of state-of-the-art technology across a 25-hectare development site in Sydney’s west.

More than 70 environmental sensors, which have been installed throughout Melrose Park, monitor and collect data on local conditions – including temperature, humidity, air quality, noise and stormwater – as the area is redeveloped. The information gathered will be analysed and used to understand the impacts of development on the surrounds, improve the area’s liveability in the long term, and inform future planning.

Coffs Harbour City Council has reapplied to create a pilot joint organisation of four North Coast councils.

The proposed joint organisation would include Clarence, Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and Nambucca.

Coffs Harbour mayor Denise Knight said the four councils had been sharing services for many years.

The telehealth scheme enables doctors across NSW to consult people between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week, using technology such as Skype on PC, mobile and tablet platforms.

"Telehealth allows us to deliver these services in new and innovative ways and respond to the changing needs of our community," Ms Skinner told AAP in a statement.

According to a spokesperson for the Australian Government Department of Health, there are around 1000 residents who have registered for the personally controlled eHealth record system (PCEHR) in Dubbo, which stores all medical records to make receiving the right treatment faster, safer and easier.

"In Dubbo, the Western NSW Medicare Local (WML) is supporting the uptake of consumer education and registration for the PCEHR... which currently has one million patients nationally," the department spokesperson said.

Until now, health records have usually been stored in different locations with little connection to each other, your general practitioner, specialist or hospitals.

Doctors Duncan Dew and Brendan Chaston from The Medical Practice said there are many benefits to electronic health records.

Smart furniture sensors enable council to access information on the daily use of public spaces and obtain data for more efficient maintenance and waste services: Mayor Greene

Georges River Council is taking the wrappers off integrated smart city technologies - including the rollout of IT-enabled ChillOUT hubs and furniture sensors - in a bid to “continue to innovate”, according to Mayor Kevin Greene.

The federal government's plan to move from paper-based records to secure eHealth records was released by the government during a model eHealth simulation in Parliament House last week.

Blacktown is one of the 12 sites in Western Sydney selected for residents to register for eHealth records.

It was the first western Sydney surgery to connect to the national Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) system with the first successful upload of a shared health summary.

Patients who register for an e-health record will have their medical records and details about allergies, adverse reactions, immunisations and medications in the one spot.

The state government was previously delivering fragmented services to citizens through around 400 shop fronts, over 30 call centres, more than 800 websites and 8,000 separate phone numbers – all operated by different agencies with different processes and systems.

The pilot program will mean healthcare professionals can monitor a patient's health on a daily basis, without the patient needing to leave their home.

Kiama Downs resident Maurie Earls together with his wife Mary signed up for the pilot program this week.

This is now a possibility for Port Stephens residents thanks to Telehealth technology.

Residents travelling to Newcastle to meet with doctors and specialists will now be able to attend appointments from the comfort of their home, aged care service or doctor's office.

Mr Page finally declared his hand at the third protest meeting against the proposal at Mullumbimby High School auditorium on Thursday night.

The Northern NSW Local Health District chief executive Chris Crawford announced at a public meeting at Mullumbimby High School last night that the planned open day would give community members a chance to see how the Connecting Critical Care system worked, and discuss their views with himself and staff.

For development built around Western Sydney Airport.

Systems integrator NEC Australia has been tapped by property developer Celestino to provide “smart city” technology to its upcoming Sydney Science Park project.

NEC announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Celestino to “explore opportunities” to develop the park into “an internationally recognised epicentre for research, development, commercialisation and innovation”.

In an Australian first, the State Government plans to establish a whole-of-Government Data Analytics Centre.

Announcing the plan, Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, Victor Dominello (pictured) said data was one of the greatest assets held by Government, but when it was buried away in bureaucracy it was of little value.

Mr Dominello said a specialist Steering Committee would be advising on the establishment of the Centre and an industry Advisory Body would assist in guiding its ongoing work.

A standardised data platform for all IoT applications across Newcastle’s smart cities program will be implemented by NNNCo.

The City of Newcastle has signed up to a single smart cities Internet of Things (IoT) enterprise platform from the National Narrowband Network Company (NNNCo), the company has announced.

Construction of the Leading Edge Data Centre facility in Mayfield West began this week, boosting jobs, creating much-needed network infrastructure, and strengthening the digital economy of Newcastle and the greater Hunter region.

CEO of Leading Edge Data Centres Chris Thorpe said today’s groundbreaking is a significant milestone for regional cities.

“This is a great leap forward towards our Hunter project which will provide the same internet and direct cloud connectivity as any other metropolitan city,” Mr. Thorpe said.

Since August 12, health department staff have signed up 1100 residents for the optional service at the Orange Medicare Office.

The eHealth record system was rolled out in July 2012 to allow any registered healthcare provider including general practitioners (GP), pharmacists, and allied health professionals to access a patient’s eHealth record.