Whittlesea Council has taken out a major technology award for its Smart Cities program.
Council was presented the Smart City Achievement of the Year at this year’s MAV Technology Awards for Excellence.
“Technology improves service delivery by speeding up communications and increasing convenience, enabling councils to function more efficiently and effectively,” MAV President Cr Coral Ross said.
Read more: AU: Victoria: Whittlesea Council’s smart technology awarded
The acceleration of digital transformation across industries because of the COVID pandemic and the rapid build-out and adoption of 5G is having a huge impact on the way that big business is planning for new market opportunities.
The response to the pandemic, with lockdowns and border closures, restricted travel and the impact on office work has generated a surge in planning for digitalisation and the creation of new business models.
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.
Read more: AU: New South Wales: Newcastle's new data centre paving the way for technology innovation
Work has begun on expanding Canberra’s free public Wi-Fi network, more than three years after it was recommended by a peak social service body. ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) CEO Dr Emma Campbell welcomed the expansion of the network to cover every Canberra town centre, 16 group centres and a number of popular community locations and businesses, but said the rollout was long overdue.
Read more: AU: Canberra: Work begins on long-awaited public WiFi network expansion
Every one of us now expects excellent customer service wherever we go – be it at our local supermarket, on a banking app or when buying something online. Personalised experiences are also customary, from companies remembering our personal details on return visits or receiving a one-time SMS code when we forget our password.
This is largely due to a recent heightened focus and investment into improving customer experience across various sectors, and government services should be no exception.