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Smart City Precinct
Devonport City Council
Known as the Gateway to Tasmania, Devonport is a bustling city located in the central north of Tasmania along the Mersey River. With a population of approximately 26,000 residents, the city is the port at which tourists enter the state after disembarking from the Spirit of Tasmania. Devonport is currently enacting its Living City Master Plan, which will see its transformation into a ‘living city’, including the development of new retail, business/service and waterfront precincts that will highlight the tourism, arts, food, and services available in the region.
Project objectives
In an era marked by the exponential growth in the utilisation of smart city technologies, innovative leaders like Devonport City Council have emerged with a keen understanding of the transformative potential these advancements hold for urban living.
With a strong commitment to maximising city experiences, the Council, led by Deputy General Manager Jeffrey Griffith, decided to trial a number of IoT technologies to determine the value they could add to visitor experiences. The Bluff, a highly utilised community space along Devonport’s waterfront was selected as an ideal trial site for their Smart City Precinct.
The project's goal was to install a range of different smart city technologies around Mersey Bluff Beach to determine if they could offer accurate and reliable insights that would help the council overcome issues commonly experienced with heavily used public spaces, enhancing the overall experience of the space for visitors The project would also test the capabilities of Indicium’s LoRaWAN network.
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The initial pilot focused on a variety of sensors and a LoRaWAN network and investigated the potential of integrating the data insights with existing council systems such as Technology One for automated task management.
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Solution
Indicium and Devonport City Council collaborated to define data requirements and select optimal IoT devices for the project. Various devices were then installed across the site, including:
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People counters: to monitor the use of the BBQ area and general pedestrian traffic
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Toilet occupancy sensors: to monitor toilet use in order to maintain cleanliness for visitors
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Bin level sensors: to monitor the level of rubbish, with alarms established that would create a work order for emptying at 75% capacity
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Weather station: to provide local temperature, wind, and rainfall data
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Soil moisture sensors: installed at Meercroft Park to monitor soil moisture levels
The data from these devices are collected and displayed by the INDICIUM Cloud, our enterprise-grade data visualisation and analysis platform. Automated alerts and events were created to trigger maintenance tasks through an integration into the council’s business management system – Technology One.
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Solution benefits
RESOURCE OPTIMISATION
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Bin-level sensors provide data that enables waste collection to be tailored to the fill level of the bin, reducing unnecessary pickups and reducing waste management and labour costs
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Toilet occupancy data, combined with people counters, creates insights regarding usage patterns, helping to ensure timely cleaning and maintenance of these areas
ENHANCED USER EXPERIENCE
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Real-time data from sensors ensures that visitors experience clean and well-maintained amenities. Bin level sensors prevent overflowing bins, reducing litter and maintaining the aesthetic appeal of and enjoyment of the space.
SUPPORTING SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES
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Using data to schedule maintenance of the site reduces unnecessary trips, saving fuel consumption and vehicle emissions, helping to reduce the council’s overall carbon footprint
FUTURE PLANNING
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Accumulated data over time can provide insights into usage trends, helping the council make informed decisions for future enhancements, renovations, or expansions of the community space.
Indicium Dynamics has been an invaluable partner in our efforts to enhance our community space through smart city technologies. They developed and delivered a simple, yet practical IoT solution that effectively addressed our specific challenges related to maintaining this popular community space, while also helping us be more efficient with our allocation of resources. We are on a clear path towards becoming a smarter, more connected community, and their solutions have played a pivotal role in this progress.
Jeffrey Griffith
Deputy General Manager, Devonport City Council
What's next?
The insights and benefits gained in this project provided confirmation of the value generated from Smart City technologies. The next phase of this project will focus on Smart Irrigation, involving the implementation of soil moisture monitors and irrigation controllers to improve irrigation efficiencies with the aim of reducing irrigation costs for the council.
