Thinxtra empowers Australian councils with IoT solutions

Thinxtra Media Release

February 28, 2018

A year ago, Thinxtra introduced the Smart Council Program to the first selected 50 councils. This unique and successful program promised and delivered Sigfox network coverage within 4 weeks at no cost to the councils (including free installation, free development kits for local incubators and free connectivity for smart council application developments).

In 2018, Thinxtra is supercharging the Smart Council offering:

1- With the support of the CEFC, the program is extended to 100 Australian councils that are ready to make IoT a reality for their community.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is committing up to $10 million to Thinxtra as it scales up its IoT network to target sustainable and energy conserving uses. CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “Councils across Australia administer a vast network of street lights, community centres, libraries, sport and recreation facilities and other public access buildings. Measures that can help them better manage energy efficiency across all these assets can reduce costs as well as make an important contribution to their sustainability goals.  It makes great sense for councils to draw on the internet of things to help them do this.”

2- Thinxtra has assigned dedicated resources to support councils, led by Regis Berdaa, previously at NBN and Cisco. His role is to lead Thinxtra’s Smart Council Program and initiatives nationally, and “to bring high-impact Internet of Things solutions to life and empower communities across Australia” as Regis puts it.

3-  Thinxtra has released eight unique offers for councils, in partnership with Australian IoT system integrators, to empower councils to start their IoT journey right now. The solution offering in the program enables Councils to trial the benefits of IoT to their operations and their communities, risk free.

Snapshot of the solutions available via the Program:

• Water metering and leak detection
• Manhole monitoring to prevent overflow
• Unobtrusive in-home elderly care monitoring
• Rodent infestation control
• Asset management and geolocation for Council’s assets and goods
• Sites & buildings security monitoring
• Smart City ideation workshop
• IoT platform for Councils

Our partners are excited to help Australian councils become smarter and more efficient with IoT.

Guenter Hauber-Davidson from Watergroup “Our Sigfox offer makes bill shock and unnoticed leaks running for years a thing of the past – in a cost effective way!”

Danielle Storey, from Smarter Technology Solutions, added “IOT is the latest technology buzzword but if you want to turn this technology into real opportunity cost savings and operational efficiency, we have the insight to understand councils challenges and the technology knowledge to help you address it. And IoT can be as simple as wirelessly connecting gates and doors to avoid theft or unauthorised access: The system will let you know without the need for people to call you.”

Alex Sales “With OpenDataSoft platform, connect, enrich, visualise and share your sensor data in minutes in a very simple way. We have already connected bins or even public toilets on the Australian Sigfox network, so anything is possible “

Bigmate is one of the major innovators in asset locating and tracking in the Asia Pacific region. When we spoke with their General Manager, Mr Brett Orr said “Thinxtra with the Sigfox rollout have provided the missing piece, reliable carriage at a reasonable price point, this has changed the commercials around locating low cost high volume assets, it is now viable in Australia, and can open information to business that was previously uneconomical to access!”  

James Tucker started his first trial of the AbirBird elderly care monitoring solution  with Moreton Bay Council in December and now happy to join our program “AbiBird is pleased to work in conjunction with Smart Councils, providing its unobtrusive activity sensor to assist older residents to retain their independence and live in their own homes for longer.”

Even more solutions for the Smart Council Program will be released in 2018:

• Environmental monitoring (rain, wind, temp)
• Air quality monitoring
• Connected AEDS
• Smart Parking solutions
• Smart Bin monitoring
• People counting – footfall
• Digital connected water meters
• HVAC monitoring
• Flood monitoring (rivers, lakes and reservoirs)
• Water tank monitoring

Clearly, the Smart Council Program brings numerous benefits. It improves city services and quality of living as well as boosting local innovation. By enabling councils to trial new solutions risk free, they can experiment with new services and gain real- life experience and understanding of IoT . There is no catch: At worst, councils will learn about IoT opportunities. At best, councils will create efficiencies and benefits for their citizens.

Thinxtra, with the support of the CEFC and its Australian partners, is committed to make it easy and empower all willing councils along their IoT journey.

Councils wishing to learn more should contact Thinxtra by email at smartcouncil@thinxtra.com

About Thinxtra

Thinxtra is empowering the Internet of Things in Asia Pacific by deploying the world-leading Sigfox LPWA network as well as building a full eco-system of IoT solutions and services to enable the non-connected to connect, to increase productivity, accelerate decision making, improve quality of service and quality of life, and find more economical solutions to common problems.

Sigfox is the world’s leading provider of connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company has built a global network to connect billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible, as simply as possible. Sigfox’s unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption, and global scalability.

Thinxtra is a member of the Australian Smart Communities Association