Page 513 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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with a small amount of money, to support some of those local innovators with some of those projects but also to open up technology right across the community through initiatives like free wi-fi.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Berry.
MS BERRY: Chief Minister, what are the main priorities of the digital Canberra action plan and how will the government deliver on its digital agenda?
MS GALLAGHER: One of the main projects is going to be the free wi-fi in our town centres, bus interchanges and a trial on selected buses. I understand there are some issues with wi-fi on buses and whether the 4G is a better system. The time frame to roll out free wi-fi to the ACT is for the second half of this year, with the first free wi-fi sites going live in the second half of 2014. Coverage will be published on the upcoming digital Canberra website, but the anticipated coverage for the ACT would be town centres such as Civic, Belconnen and Tuggeranong, public spaces such as Garema Place and Glebe park, and also bus interchanges.
The Garema Place digital space is an exciting proposal that has been put to the government. It has been generated by the innovative technology and business sector and is looking at how we can reinvigorate Civic as a focal point for innovation and creative industries and change some of the perceptions not only of people from outside Canberra but also of Canberrans looking at the town centre. It will have a screen which will form a central part of the Garema Place digital space, which aims to highlight Canberra as a digital city.
The development will also look at having curated support for that screen and also at the idea of a digital hub—a place where people can come and work, hold workshops and connect with the broader Canberra community on the work that is being done here in the ACT but which maybe is not as well known or obviously as seen as it could be in a place like Garema Place. We will work with landlords in these areas to see how we can support this and get this project up and running this year.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Gentleman.
MR GENTLEMAN: Minister, what are some of the first things that the community will see as part of the digital Canberra work, and how will this assist in allowing the community to further engage with government?
MS GALLAGHER: One of the other areas that we are focusing on apart from the wi-fi and the digital space in Civic is looking at how we can transform our services and encourage the use of our data to generate things like apps. We have seen some of that with the mobile Canberra app, which I am sure every member has downloaded and has available on their phones. That has interesting data about public toilets and playgrounds and parks and public art. I know the opposition will have been scrutinising that part of the mobile Canberra app where you can find all the public art. It might be useful at the next election, Alastair, when you want to wrap it in some material or something like that. It is very handily available for people to have a look at.
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