They say third time’s the charm, and the 3rd International Street Lighting + Smart Controls Conference is guaranteed to be the best yet.

The conference will follow a proven recipe for success, building on the acclaimed 2015 and 2014 international road lighting conferences organised by New Zealand-based consultants Strategic Lighting Partners. 

SLP Directors Godfrey Bridger and Bryan King are working in partnership with IPWEA to ensure next year’s conference, to be held at the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre from March 15–16, is bigger, better and more illuminating than ever.

Bridger says the need for a hard-hitting and internationally aligned conference around street lighting became apparent after the New Zealand Transport Agency commissioned SLP to study opportunities to improve the performance of street lighting.

“We discovered that New Zealand (and Australia) was a long way behind in its acceptance of LED street lighting,” he explains.

“After completing our report, we realised that the conclusions and recommendations of a report was insufficient to make meaningful change.”

 And so the first conference was born, bringing 20 international experts in the field of street lighting to New Zealand.

Although the third conference will be held on the other side of the ditch, King says delegates can still expect the same sparkling caliber of presenters and exhibiters. 

“It will bring together a large number of high-calibre international speakers, whose message is relevant and high-quality,” he says.

“The combination of world-class speakers and the range of topics suited to the needs of Australasian issues will be dealt with are a world first.

“Sponsors and exhibitors at the previous two conferences were highly complementary of the event held in New Zealand. This time, because it will be held in Australia, it will have a wider and larger audience with greater international interest.” 

Presentations will be kept concise and focused to ensure they retain a high impact. There will be a single conference stream, so the audience misses nothing; King says this also places a high responsibility on the organiser and speakers to consistently deliver high-quality content to the audience. 

SLSC Programme

The conference is being held under the umbrella of IPWEA’s Street Lighting and Smart Controls Programme (SLSC) – a two-year, government-supported initiative designed to accelerate the deployment of LED street lights and smart controls in Australia and New Zealand.

IPWEA’S vision – which will be achieved by working with government, industry partners and associations – is to see near-full deployment of LED street lighting and smart controls by 2027. 

Bridger says integration of the conference with a program like the SLSC is a world-first.

“No conference has ever been part of a street lighting programme that is supported and funded by public and private enterprise together in the interests of the nation,” he explains. 

“The SLSC Programme requires a highly multidisciplinary approach – it brings together elected national and local politicians to judge whether public money is invested to increase safety, reduce energy and maintenance costs and to improve liveability and to accelerate the uptake of smart city features.”

The start of a wonderful partnership

Bridger explains how SLP and IPWEA came together for the SLSC Programme. 

“We had been working for IPWEA on the Practice Note 11: Toward More Sustainable Street Lighting,” he says.

“When the new CEO of IPWEA Robert Fuller arrived, he recognised that street lighting needed strategic change and that IPWEA as a non-profit professional and technical organisation was in an ideal position to lead that change through education and training.  

“So together with IPWEA, SLP and Graham Mawer of Next Energy formed a joint venture to launch the SLSC programme and to obtain funding for it from public and private sector sources.  

“An important component of the SLSC is the conference, which will present the most up-to-date information, so it became obvious that we should incorporate SLP’s next conference into the SLSC Programme as well.”

Save the date!

The 3rd International Street Lighting + Smart Controls Conference will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre from March 15 ­– 16, 2017. Registrations opening soon.