Outstanding, excellent, one of the best – these are just some of the words being used to describe last week’s street lighting conference, where delegates were challenged to be ‘champions’ for change across governments and industry. 

IPWEA's 3rd International Street Lighting + Smart Controls Conference in Brisbane drew about 250 delegates from across Australia, New Zealand and beyond, with international speakers coming from as far as the US, the UK, Germany, France, Asia and Norway. 

By providing world-class experts, informative technical tours and a thought-provoking masterclass, the conference provided the various stakeholders with the tools to fast track the rollout of LED street lights and smart controls.

IPWEA CEO Robert Fuller thanked all of the conference sponsors and the Australian Government, through the Department of the Environment and Energy and the E3 Program, for supporting the event.

“We could not have achieved the success that we did for the conference if it was not for the support and endorsement of our Platinum Sponsor, Sliver Spring Networks, and our Gold Sponsors Philips and Telensa. Together with our Silver and many other sponsors and trade exhibitors, I would like to say thank you for believing in us and sharing the vision that has now become a reality. 

“IPWEA is proud to have been recognised and applauded for taking the leadership role and delivering the knowledge to industry that is so desperately sought.  

“So many delegates asked, ‘how will you top next time?’ It’s a challenge that we, together with our conference partners SLP of New Zealand, will willingly accept!” 

Speakers, delegates and sponsors praised the calibre of the conference.

“[It was an] excellent conference, I’ve been going all over the world speaking, and the focus, the approach, the depth, the categories in this conference were amazing,” City of Los Angeles’ Ed Ebrahimian says.

Ebrahimian emphasised the need for a common vision among all levels of government.

“It comes back to mandates – the Commonwealth Government should have a position, they should have a mandate, that will make the involvement of different levels of government a little bit easier,” he explained.

“I think it will set the framework to go in this direction and say there is strong support at the federal level.”

Scotty Hutto from Georgia Power said the release of IPWEA’s groundbreaking Street Lighting and Smart Controls (SLSC) Programme Roadmap had given Australia an unprecedented advantage. 

“Y’all have been given a gift that neither I or Ed had when we started this journey,” he said  

“The groundwork has been laid, you have champions that have a burning desire and you’ve laid out an actual Roadmap.

Speaker Wayne Martin from the City of Harrisburg said he was excited about the future of Australia’s street lighting.  

“The conference itself was the best one I’ve been to in terms of street lighting, well done,” he said.

“I’m excited for Australia… just keep looking for opportunities, and I wish you all the very best luck.”

Craig Marschall, Managing Director, Trans Tasman Energy Group, described the conference as “outstanding!”

“Speakers were leaders in their field and provided 'real world' insights to their achievements and experiences. I congratulate IPWEA for conducting a very successful conference,” he said.

Steve Harte from J&P Richardson Industries said: “Because I’m from Brisbane it was good that a lot of local councils came and gathered together, because you can talk to those people and find out what their problems are and discuss it together, which doesn’t happen all the time.

“It was great to hear the other woes going on and how they were conquered, like in Tasmania, how they achieved something and then leverage from that, and create those contact that you can now pick up the phone or email because you’ve got the bond from the conference.

Alexis Tillie from Electrix Pty Ltd commented that the conference content was “really interesting”.

“I attended the conference two years ago in Auckland – the integration of smart cities into discussions apart from just technology has made a huge step forward, so it’s really interesting to hear about the fact that the approach today is not only technology, but to consider lighting as part of a smart city backbone,” he says.

Missed all of the action? You can catch up on the conference highlights by searching Twitter for #SLSC17, and view the conference photos by visiting the IPWEA Instagram page here. 

Image 1: A packed audience for the first day of the conference.
Image 2: Bryan King, Julian Chisnall, Nancy Clayton and Steve Coyne
Image 3: Assistant Minister Angus Taylor, Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, IPWEA CEO Robert Fuller and IPWEA President Ross Goyne.
Image 4: The Silver Spring Networks Gala Dinner