‘Gig city’ fast broadband to lift Tonsley innovation

Tonsley 2Superfast internet to boost world-class research being undertaken at the Tonsley Innovation Precinct has been welcomed by Flinders University.

The Tonsley Innovation Precinct will enjoy some of Australia’s speediest internet as part of a South Australian Government plan to radically expand the potential of SA’s most economically dynamic locations with a minimum of 1 gigabits per second of broadband.

“Faster broadband is absolutely essential for the development and expansion of innovation and economic growth – making this very good news for Flinders’ research and collaboration here at Tonsley,” says Professor John Roddick, Dean of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics.

“Flinders is leading the way to prosperity in the digital age by harnessing the opportunities being created by disruption to better develop the portable ICT skills that are the foundation for a responsive, flexible and agile workforce.

“We’re also at the forefront of entrepreneurship through our Flinders New Venture Institute, fostering commercialisation through Flinders Partners, and collaborating with business and industry to put research into action,” he says.

“Affordable, ultrafast internet within the financial reach of start-ups is good news for growth.” 

The Adelaide Gig City Program aims to create new revenue-raising opportunities and jobs by enabling the development of world-class data intensive real-time applications at innovation spaces including Flinders at Tonsley, the Techport Maritime Precinct, Thebarton Bioscience Precinct, Majoran Co-Working Space, Adelaide Smart City Studio and SA Film Corporation.

The initiative was inspired by Chattanooga in the US, which generated more than $1 billion of economic and social benefits and created more than 3,000 jobs when it became the world’s first ‘Gig City’.

It’s intended that Gig City in Adelaide will similarly contribute to South Australia’s economic transformation by positioning the city as a global big hitter in the rapidly evolving innovation economy.

With the potential for internet speeds up to 100x the national average, Gig City Adelaide is expected to attract international attention, interstate entrepreneurs and a wide range of businesses with ‘bandwidth heavy’ ideas, products and services to the city.

Flinders’ selection for the project is the just the latest recognition of the University’s contribution to the State’s knowledge economy and reinforces its reputation as a leader in smart technology.

 

 

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