Place Futures Notes

PlanTech is a transformational agenda that delivers better planning outcomes. It refers to the integration of technology and data enablers to enhance various planning processes. But a common question is – “how does PlanTech relate to smart cities and the broader movement of investing in technology and data enablers for enhanced urban outcomes?” To help explore the differences and alignment of such things, ENE.HUB has published its latest Place Futures Note titled “PlanTech x UrbanTech”.

In August 2023 we set out to explore some of the emerging issues when it comes to digital data and the public realm.

Some issues have been known for some time, but with little clarity on what good looks like. Some other issues are new to our industry and need to be built from the ground up.

ENE.HUB in its role as a market leading company delivering digital infrastructure and data services in the public realm felt compelled to help build greater awareness of these issues, and help push the market place forward.

Life_Enabled became the platform for this – a place where we could share our journey with everyone, and what we discovered.

We use ‘projects’ to help in our discovery, including Street Lab, The Digital Trust Project and the Charter for Digital Urbanism. And we use communication tools like articles, place notes, podcasts and webinars to share the work.

This publication – Public Realm Futures –summarises the first year of this journey.

We hope you enjoy this content, and we look forward to sharing more as we enter our second year.

Since the establishment of the Internet of Things Alliance Australia – the nations peak body for IoT – more than seven years ago, the IoT marketplace has grown at a rapid rate. The conditions of our environment that can now be ‘sensed’, the use cases that are being implemented and the data being collected is supporting policy makers shape better decisions that create value for their communities and businesses.

Telecommunications networks are a backbone enabler for those seeking to use data insights to shape high performing places, spaces, assets and community experiences.

ENE.HUB’s connected urban infrastructure supports carrier networks, creates local area networks and connects smart devices and things, to activate, measure and enable urban life.

There is much discussion about digital twins right now. Both government and the private sector are advancing opportunities to exploit the capability that this data activation approach offers.

At ENE.HUB we seek to remain focussed on innovating around the products and services that we have pioneered for years, and deliver on what we specialise in.

Shared infrastructure is an opportunity to unlock greater sustainability and prosperity for communities and businesses.

This type of infrastructure is owned and managed by a single entity but is made available for use by others. It is a way to provide access to resources and services that might typically be too expensive for individual entities to provide on their own.

Shared infrastructure creates economies of scale, reduces duplication of effort, maximises the efficient use of resources and can offer greater benefit for more stakeholders.

In our pursuit for connecting, activating, and measuring urban life in the public realm, ENE.HUB has become one of the nation’s leaders in public realm shared infrastructure.