NEC commits to help Adelaide become world's leading smart city

NEC Corporation recently announced that the University of Adelaide and NEC Australia have agreed to collaborate on a Smart Cities project that will help accelerate smart, dynamic and sustainable cities.

Urbanisation, population pressures, and resource scarcity are driving the need to develop solutions for more efficient and safe technology-enabled Smart Cities.

That's why NEC Australia has announced it is investing in a new partnership with the University of Adelaide through a memorandum of understanding covering joint efforts that will help realise more efficient, safe, and sustainable cities of the future.

The University of Adelaide, a leading Smart Cities research centre, is bringing together a multidisciplinary group of researchers with industry and government partners to develop expertise in research relating to Smart Cities.

Smart Cities will be enabled by digital technologies and will create sustainable infrastructure and ecosystems that benefit communities and enterprises. NEC Australia and the University of Adelaide intend to collaborate on research projects of mutual interest in the field.

"We look forward to working closely with the University of Adelaide to find innovative answers to the challenges that demand a Smart Cities approach to urban living. The combination of the University of Adelaide's research excellence and NEC's global and local expertise in technologies that are essential for Smart Cities will open up new opportunities in the field," said Mike Barber, Executive Director at NEC Australia.

NEC Australia's approach to delivering innovation combines its nationwide design, development and support capabilities with international R&D and collaboration with government, universities and businesses on projects that add social value.

NEC's international efforts in the field include its partnership in the UK with Bristol Is Open, a joint venture between Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol.

Bristol Is Open aims to create the world's first open, programmable city to support the creation of innovative new smart services for people, business and academia. NEC has been supplying Bristol Is Open with advanced IT and communications technologies, including Software-Defined Networking (SDN) compatible switches, LTE small cells and iPASOLINK ultra-compact microwave systems, helping them to build the smart city test bed platform.

In Australia NEC innovations are already enabling smart city capabilities. For example, NEC Australia is delivering the Western Australia Department of Water's new water information management system to improve its capacity to sustainably manage water resources across the state.

Public safety technologies are another key enabler of Smart Cities. NEC's internationally acclaimed biometric identification technologies are now being used on smartphones at South Australian Police and Northern Territory Police to fight crime and enable immediate identification. Biometrics in combination with access control and video monitoring systems will ensure Smart Cities are able to rapidly respond to safety incidents when required.

The partnership with Adelaide demonstrates NEC Australia's commitment to orchestrating a brighter world through the innovative application of computing power, networks and software.