Building a smart nation requires national leadership and strategic investment so Australia's infrastructure can:
• collect data using world-leading IoT sensing devices and other technologies
• communicate data across the highest-performing telecommunications networks to safe, secure storage facilities
• crunch data using a sophisticated data analytics capability powered by leading-edge processing power, Al and visualisation.
These capabilities will turn raw data into actionable information that enables better monitoring and control of assets and systems from utilities and transport networks to human services and public safety operations. In smart cities, public transport Journeys are quicker, water leaks are detected more quickly and energy networks are optimised.
One learning from the COVID-19 pandemic has been that governments around the world generally have not fully understood the requirements for comprehensive storage of, access to and sharing of public data until it has been urgently required. Australians have realised the importance of mature systems and applications during the pandemic - most pointedly through the contact tracing regime. However, at the moment data across different levels of government is fragmented, inconsistent and difficult to share, whatever its source.
The Australian Government should continue to develop data strategies with a wider array of requirements, standardisation and applications to share data across governments. States and territories, local government and industry should work in partnership with the Australian Government to identify and share valuable data.