In November 2017 the Federal Government awarded City of Greater Geelong $415,000 under it’s Smart Cities and Suburbs Grants Programme.
“The project will invest in smart city technology to deliver LED lighting, environmental sensing, digital signage, smart parking and free Wi-Fi. This will benefit the community by encouraging local industry growth in digital services. Data analytics associated with this technology will enable evidence-based decision making and planning.”
Meshed was engaged by The City of Greater Geelong to establish LoRaWAN Internet-of-Things coverage across large tracts of the municipality, with the objective of enabling technologies to support the vision for a Clever and Creative Future. LoRaWAN network technology can support a myriad of different use-cases such as:
- Street Lighting control
- Environmental sensing
- Digital signage
- Pedestrian/Device Counting
- Smart Parking
- Smart Waste Bins
One of the most attractive features of the Meshed LoRaWAN model for Geelong was that all citizens and businesses can use the coverage at no cost. The network uses The Things Network global IoT cloud so that anyone can access the network and obtain information from sensor devices for free.
“The LoRaWAN model is a great fit for City of Greater Geelong as it provides us with both the ability to operate and manage our network of sensor devices as well as providing a free public network to our community. As a region it provides Geelong with the opportunity to expand the network beyond our boundaries and enables our neighbouring councils to mutually benefit from accessing or building upon the same network”
This enables innovation opportunities for everyone in the area, at the lowest possible cost, and thus, helping school students, entrepreneurs, technologists and tech start-ups to bloom.