Background
IPWEA has been closely monitoring developments with street lighting since 2012. By early 2016, IPWEA concluded that there is an overwhelming commercial, safety and environmental case for the wholesale renewal of street lighting infrastructure with LEDs and smart controls. While there was a growing push in both Australia and New Zealand to see this happen, there were a range of significant knowledge gaps, misaligned interests and out-of-date guidance for those who manage such deployments.
At the same time as LED street lighting and smart control systems have matured, so too has a range of other digital outdoor infrastructure assets falling under the umbrella of the Smart City. Street lighting is providing a backbone for the Smart City and hence the interrelationship between these two aspects of public infrastructure must be considered together.
Recognising the fundamental digital transformation now underway in street lighting and other outdoor infrastructure, IPWEA established the Street Lighting and Smart Controls (SLSC) Program in 2016.
IPWEA, with the support of public and private sector partners, is delivering a program of activity to:
- inform and educate public works professionals, utility providers and private sector partners on the application and benefits of Street Lighting and Smart Controls technology; and
- inform government at all levels about the application and benefits of Street Lighting and Smart Controls technology and, about where reform is needed