All levels of government stand to benefit from greater efficiency and responsiveness if they are early adopters of IoT technology for key functions such as infrastructure management, fleet management and emergency response services.
Governments will need to collaborate in adopting a clear roadmap that brings together plans and standards for cybersecurity, interoperability, privacy, maintenance, data, analytics, applications and sensor connectivity.
Governments should lead the way with IoT because they are among the largest data consumers in the country. Their full involvement would provide a model for similar projects and encourage other organisations to take the risk, speeding up IoT investment across the country.
Another role governments can play is removing barriers to IoT adoption in relation to funding, data management, standards and enablement, which are all key areas to get right.
Many organisations that would benefit the most from IoT technology cannot deploy infrastructure themselves. They need active and passive support (see Table 7.1), and governments are well placed to meet their needs.
Table 7.1: How governments can help make Australia a smart nation
Active support | Passive support |
• Smart Cities and Suburbs Program | • Supporting industry-led standards and |
• Directly funding IoT and smart city initiatives | interoperability development |
• Using City Deals to demonstrate smart cities deployment | • Providing guidance and resources for cataloguing solutions, case studies and best practices |
• Leading by example with demonstration projects and further open data programs | • Educational outreach to assist local government in aggregating demand and benchmarking |
Source: Internet of Things Alliance90