The Code for Smart Communities

by
Kieran Steele

Smart Cities, Communities and Buildings are the talk of the town at the moment, but the biggest challenge to proper implementation is the lack of a global standard for what these terms mean. 

Smart can be anything from providing proper metering to being able to control your home from the other side of the planet. 

Lawrence Robinson and Kieran Steele from Northrop Canberra have been working to solve this lack of clarity.  They have been actively involved in the development of a new global strategy for the implementation of “Smart Communities” within new urban development.

As part of this they participated in a 60 day sprint of workshops and review sessions with key stakeholders before the proposed draft Code is showcased at the Smart Cities Council international conference in Washington this October.

The Code for Smart Communities, developed by The Smart Cities Council provides strategies for government, developers, urban designers and engineers to work together in developing more sustainable and innovative urban environments for the future.

At this stage the Code is being put together as a high level advisory document for urban design strategy for sustainability. It will see society shifting to a data and web based information sharing to improve our built environments through technology.

For us engineers, the Code will help us drive the conversation and further influence our clients to introduce and design smarter technologies within our buildings and urban infrastructure. Providing efficiencies, improving services and obtain feedback data for the future.

The Code for Smart Communities is being developed as a guide to help define the concept of smart communities rather than describing specific technologies. It is designed to be a living document that develops over time as society and technology changes in the future.

Read more about the Code here

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