Does a `Smart City` mean `Clever Homes` too?

The $100 million they've promised to develop a commercial-scale smart grid demonstration project in partnership with the energy sector is a promising start.
 
It's a market that's already soaring overseas, and particularly in the US where billions of public and private sector money are now creating real commercial opportunities.
 
And real chances to rein in our energy habits as well.
 
A recent report by the Government on the initiative suggested we still face a lot of barriers here to really making this a practical outcome however. A lack of local and international standards, no shared vision by the energy sector, uneven regulations and no Australian examples to work from were the main ones they picked.
 
But that could just be the start of it as I see it. One major barrier they fail to mention is how well our homes can handle possible improved delivery, consumption and management of power.
 
Technology will be at the heart of our smart city, smart grid future and there is still too little discussion with all interested parties to make this a workable reality.

We in the copper industry want to help. We - and a number of other partners like IBM, NECA, CISCO, AIG, University of Sydney and others - are already meeting to discuss how to improve the way our homes manage energy.
 
We've called these workshops the 'Residential Energy Management Forums' and our first one earlier this year identified a number of problems and opportunities in this market.
 
One of the most important is creating a shared vision and a real network of champions in industry. The next Forum is on November 10 - see www.remforum.com.au-with one of our key objectives will be to establish  a baseline of current standards , technologies, party interests ,consumer attitudes and impacts .
 
Eventually we'll share our findings with the Government to help Smart Cities define Australia in the 21st Century.
 
If you are interested  please go to the Forum page and make some suggestions or comments.

John Fennell
jjfennell@copperdev.com