Page 2380 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 31 July 2018
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we are doing here in Canberra, with a strong focus on engaging with the community. They were keen to understand our learnings on the revitalisation of the city.
While we took particular interest in the redevelopment of the historic Pier 70, a key part of the city’s industrial and military history was shown there too. The area is being brought back to life in a restoration that will again see an employment hub with light industrial, technology and artisan businesses, residential areas and restaurants, and public areas San Franciscans and the city’s many visitors can enjoy. Again we saw the benefits of investing in high quality public spaces.
Following San Francisco we took an opportunity to visit the headquarters of Project Wing, formerly known as Google X, which runs Project Wing, where we met a number of representatives and spoke to them about the next stage of the project here in Canberra. I am sure that you are all aware of Project Wing, a drone delivery initiative being piloted here in Canberra and testing in Bonython at the moment. We were chosen by X as a place to trial this technology, given the ACT government’s progressive approach and commitment to innovation, which is becoming more and more recognised around the world.
We were fortunate enough to have the co-founder of Google Sergey Brin join us for the meeting at X. Mr Brin was impressed with the ACT’s strong commitment to innovation and our progressive attitude to change. I have since written to Mr Brin offering them further assistance should Google X wish to establish further businesses in Canberra.
Finally, with Canberra the test ground for drone delivery, the team at X facilitated a visit to NASA to see the work that they are doing on managing airspace for drones, similar to current air traffic control but for what is expected to become a very congested space as the drone delivery business continues to grow. This was a fascinating part of the visit and was directly relevant to our leading-edge work with X on the development of drone technology for mainstream delivery.
Overall I found the visit extremely valuable and was reassured to learn that others are facing similar challenges to those that we are in Canberra and, importantly, that we are on the right track to tackling those issues.
I present a copy of the papers:
USA delegation and American Planning Association Study Tour—April 2018—Ministerial statement, 31 July 2018.
Canberra Urban Renewal Delegation—United States of America.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the papers.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
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