This award recognises the importance of technology and digital innovation in 21st century planning. Digital opportunities and adapting technology to assist planning in our changing environment is critical. This award recognises the value that digital innovation and technology processes provide for planners, planning authorities and development entities. It will also highlight the importance of adapting information to improve processes and practices for communities in the virtual world and the real world. It also acknowledges that planning solutions can be considered and tested in the virtual world before being applied in the real world. This award shows the power that digital information provides to city and town formation, city and town evolution and city and town shaping infrastructure.
This award recognises leadership and innovation in aspects of planning related to smart cities, digital transformation and managing disruption, providing open data to benefit all planners and the community to inform better decisions, and improved technology that provides more efficient planning systems. The award is presented to the recipient(s) who demonstrate a more detailed understanding of the world which we inhabit and provide for better planning solutions and decisions which are data rich and which embrace other professions to ensure better more timely decisions are reached.
Meet the nominees:
NSW Nominee: Land iQ - Standardised Land Use Evaluation Tool
The Department of Planning and Environment, in collaboration with WSP Australia, Giraffe Technology and Aerometrex
This work is unique. It provides a single platform that leverages data, automation, and scenario modelling to navigate planning intricacies and to unravel land use potential.
The program consolidates over 200 data sources with smart metrics to provide an in-depth understanding of a place or region. Users can search across 8 million lots and properties in NSW to identify sites to test how different land use formats perform and impact their surroundings. It is already being used by NSW Government agencies to good effect – to rapidly identify and analyse sites for temporary and permanent housing in flood affected regions and to support whole of government identification and assessment of land for social and affordable housing.
QLD Nominee: Transforming infrastructure contributions and delivery
Novoplan
The project is a ‘software as a service’ solution, offered by Novoplan, developed to assist local and state authorities to manage complex infrastructure contribution processes.
Prior to the tool’s introduction, authorities were vulnerable to costly errors (borne from the complexity of managing infrastructure contributions). However, through the tool, authorities are now able to reliably and accountably manage complex infrastructure contributions. It is estimated that the streamlining and reliability of the tool has resulted in savings of $20 million among users of the tool.
The success of the tool can be seen in its adoption by eight authorities across Queensland and New South Wales who collectively manage over 800 infrastructure agreements, process over 5,000 development applications each year and manage over $400 million in annual infrastructure contribution revenue.
SA Nominee: Reimagining Interactions with the ACG次元网 System Through Technology – Interactive Map Viewers and Subscription Services
Planning And Land Use Services – Dept for Trade and Investment
The PlanSA platform is providing access to real time information across the state on planning and development matters, in one centralised location. It has become the source of reliable planning information for all South Australians.
The Interactive Map Viewers and Subscription Services builds on this leading platform by providing easy to navigate spatial and subscription services to people so they can track and access information for development applications and rezoning proposals; enabling people to tailor information to their specific interests.
The platform enables people to be informed, and where consultation is undertaken, have ready access to up-to-date information to participate in the respective consultation process. This is fulfilling a key legislative direction to make planning information more readily available for communities to transact with the planning system.
TAS Nominee: City of Launceston 3D City Model
City of Launceston
The 3D City Model developed by City of Launceston utilises Lidar technology, with exceptional accuracy, and high resolution imagery to create a fully explorable digital representation of the city. The Model transforms the way that the existing urban form and future development can be visualized by developers, decision makers and the community. Via an open source, creative commons license, it provides an innovative and highly accessible means to engage with stakeholders, and create context and understanding of the visual impacts of development. The Model has demonstrated a range of planning applications, facilitating better design outcomes and allowing progress, while providing confidence that new development respects the existing heritage character which makes Launceston so unique.
VIC Nominee: Moving Melton Digital Prospectus
Melton City Council
The Moving Melton Digital Prospectus is an interactive website presenting research and evidence for the road, rail, bus and active transport projects that are urgently needed in the City of Melton. The platform was designed and created by City of Melton staff, and has assisted Council in advocating for investment in major transport projects in an innovative and interactive way. Through the use of graphics, mapping and interactive data, the resulting product provides a more compelling product than a traditional paper-based strategy.
WA Nominee: Stirling Fast-Track (Development Applications)
City of Stirling
The City of Stirling “Fast Track” Development Applications assessment tool is an innovative digital platform which aligns with the State Government's planning reform agenda to modernise and streamline development assessment across Western Australia. The tool was developed to deliver a customer-centric approach that creates a streamlined online development assessment process while ensuring high-quality residential development. It shows how a local government can implement a successful digital transformation which is easily replicable for other jurisdictions.