A $1.8 million funding package was announced on 27 November by the Australian Research Council to a research consortium spanning Australia’s four largest capital cities. Led by Swinburne University of Technology together with UNSW, Monash, Curtin and Queensland universities, the objective is to develop a 21st century digital information platform for collaborative Built Environment and Design applications capable of matching those emerging elsewhere around the world.It will enable the creation of critical capacity and new forms of collaborative integrated research among academics and practitioners who have been involved for the past several years in three Co-operative Research Centres (CRC) focused on more sustainable urban development: CRC for Spatial Information, CRC for Low Carbon Living and CRC for Water Sensitive Cities.Increasing demands for improved urban governance and improved urban planning are interdependent. A game-changer capable of providing a transition on both fronts has emerged in the form of a 21st century smart, networked, decision supporting platform for applied urban research, synthesis and participation.Called the iHUB Network, it is a readily scalable, state-of-the-art, multi-layered networked facility that helps participants make smarter decisions in urban policy-making, plan-making and place-making (Figure 1).Using a common infrastructure, the iHUB network is designed to deliver superior computational, visualisation and broadband communications infrastructure that is capable of supporting a broad spectrum of applied and strategic research and engagement objectives with digital pin-ups and high speed computing, enabling real-time distributed synchronous computing and communication nationally and internationally 24/7.
Le monde de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme sont toujours des domaines où le numérique doit faire sa révolution. Si certains continuent à penser que c’est le rôle de la smart-city, d’autres voient que cette révolution va bien plus loin. L’Australie en se dotant du IHUB network va dans ce sens et facilite le développement d’un point crucial : la discussion et l’échange entre les toutes les parties prennantes du développement des villes.
