UK Future Cities group visits Australia

Leading its first trade mission to Australia, the Innovate UK agency has brought a delegation of UK-based businesses to Melbourne and Sydney this week as part of its Future Cities Missions.

The companies will meet prospective Australian partners, investors and customers, and visit future cities projects.

Australian participants in the mission include Austrade, City of Melbourne, Enterprise Geelong and the Australian Smart Communities Association.

Already one of the most urbanised countries, Australia’s urbanisation rate is forecast to reach 93% (of 31 million people) by 2050.

Australian and UK cities face similar challenges, such as:

• ageing population
• climate change
• water scarcity
• urban sprawl
• housing affordability
• congestion.

“Australia has recognised the importance of cities to its economy, and the need to adapt to improve productivity and accessibility,” said James Taplin, Innovation Lead for Urban Living at Innovate UK.

Some of the UK companies in the delegation are:

• Predina Tech — mitigates road accidents in real time with 70% accuracy
• JustPark — real-time parking spaces finder
• Grid Smarter Cities — transport, parking, goods and services
• Citi Logik — detailed urban analysis using 3G and 4G network data to analyse the movement of citizens by vehicle, on foot and by public transport
• Multipass — state-of-the-art automated fare collection
• SEaB Energy — technology that produces energy, water and fertiliser from on-site organic waste
• Sunamp — low- to zero-carbon heating, cooling and hot water systems in buildings
• Digital Node — building information modelling and digital engineering.

“These businesses will look to work with Australian partners to expand their growth potential for years to come,” said Taplin.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/jamesteohart

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