Palo Alto Hosts 'Smart' City Partner From Australia

From Tarik Hammadou, cofounder and CEO, VIMOC Technologies

Palo Alto recently welcomed a delegation from its ‘smart’ city counterpart on the other side of the world.

The government of the City of Newcastle, Australia, Mayor Brad Luke and a City of Newcastle delegation last week hosted an open house for the local Palo Alto business community to commemorate work on a pilot program with Bay-area company VIMOC Technologies.

The project aims to establish a ‘smart’ city platform in the City of Newcastle.

VIMOC Technologies is simultaneously working with Palo Alto to pilot a street-parking management solution that, using advanced sensor technology, will provide city officials and the public with real-time parking status and space availability.

The Australian delegation’s members were also in the area last week to meet local business and academic leaders, including Stanford Energy Behavior Initiative Director Dr. Carrie Armel. This week they are in Chicago for CISCO’s annual Internet of Things World Forum.

VIMOC Technologies is one of six Internet of Things Innovation Grand Challenge finalists this year. The award is presented to transformational innovators and businesses.

Photo, from left: Ken Gouldthorp, general manager, City of Newcastle; Brad Luke, mayor, City of Newcastle; Nathaniel Bavinton, community safety administrator, City of Newcastle; Michael Neilson, CEO, Newcastle Now; Kris Leck, director, Newcastle Now.