Discovery Ag and NNNCo to roll out Connected Country Network powered by Actility to boost Australian farms productivity

NNNCa National Narrowband Network Co logo

The Actility Newsroom

Discovery Ag and NNNCo to roll out Connected Country Network powered by Actility to boost Australian farms productivity

NNNCa National Narrowband Network Co logo
Discovery Ag logo

Projects like this clearly demonstrate how industrial IoT has now moved into a stage of widespread deployment to solve real problems and deliver concrete benefits. Agriculture is quick to adopt new technology when the business case is right. This network will be a game changer for farmers in Australia’s Connected Country, thanks to its dramatic reduction in the TCO of an IoT solution. We’re very pleased to be able to support NNNCo and Discovery Ag in the speedy and cost-effective roll-out of the technology bedrock of the Connected Country.

Actility, the global leader in LPWA IoT Networks, is pleased to announce that its ThingPark platform is powering the rollout of the Connected Country Network in Australia. The Connected Country network is the result of a new joint venture between Delta Agribuiness subsidary Discovery Ag and long-standing Actility partner the National Narrowband Network Co (NNNCo), and was launched last week at Australian Farm Institute’s Harvesting the Benefits of Digital Agriculture conference in Melbourne.

For agriculture, Connected Country will provide the backbone infrastructure for networks of low-cost wireless sensors that constantly report on essential farm metrics like soil moisture, rainfall, crop health, water levels and livestock data. The sensors use limited power and can operate ‘in the field’ for years without the need for intervention. The network will be immediately rolled out across 400,000ha (1m. acres) in the NSW Central West  area. Within 18 months the joint venture partners intend to provide Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity across vast areas of the nation’s farming regions.

NNNCa National Narrowband Network Co logo

The Rural IoT network, delivered by the NNN and powered by Actility’s ThingPark platform, will solve the connectivity and affordability problems for farmers. Together with Discovery Ag we will be providing a low-cost end-to end standards based solution comprising on-farm networks, network-ready sensors, and access to simple on-farm tools that farmers can use to monitor information and take timely action.

Rob Zagarella, Founder & CEO

NNNCo

Discovery Ag logo

While hi-tech farming techniques are in use today, 80% of Australia’s farming footprint lacks adequate network coverage. For those that do have coverage, existing 3/4G cellular technologies make it too expensive for most farmers to network their sensors and create a truly connected ‘smart farm’.This private infrastructure project is initially about building the enabling technology to make the IoT viable for Australian agriculture,” adds Gardeen As the network builds out, though, it will by default cover many other businesses and urban areas, so anyone who wants to develop a sensor network but who has been prohibited by the cost of data transfer will be able to join the Connected Country system and achieve their goals. This project is the first of its kind in terms of the size of the area we’re aiming to cover and will attract significant global interest. No-one has been willing or able to deliver such a solution on this scale before and we see it as a major step in helping ensure regional communities are ‘connected’ and able to improve the way they do business.​

Alicia Garden, CEO,

Discovery AG

Countdown to Cisco Live US 2017! Come see how Actility will ignite your IoT projects!

Black and white light city picture

The Actility Blog

Countdown to Cisco Live US 2017! Come see how Actility will ignite your IoT projects!

Black and white light city picture

By Magali Mitaux: Our theme is Smart City and UtilitiesA few facts have guided us in choosing this theme. We know today that half of the world’s inhabitants—3.6 billion people—live in cities, and it is growing fast. By 2030, 60 percent of the population—5 billion people—will be city dwellers.

The solutions to manage growing cities in ways that drive sustainable economic growth, while reducing pollution and safeguarding resources, are all based on IoT.

It is that simple.  IoT is the answer; all analysts agree, all reports confirm, all studies explain! Once you understand this, the next question is: “which IoT?” quickly followed by “how?”

How do you cope with rapid urbanization, alongside with the demands for quality of life, whilst providing new services that are resource-efficient and drive economic growth?  The answer is by connecting smart devices to the LPWA network. That answers the “which IoT?” question! To know more about the strength of LoRaWAN, I invite you to read the article in NETMANIAS.

Cities are the main source of global economic growth and productivity, and they account for most resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Urban development, therefore, matters to the wellbeing of all the world’s occupants and explains why we are focusing on these solutions at Cisco Live US (CLUS). Today, many existing solutions address these pain points, and we will be showing many on our booth in the IoT and Industry District, booth 4201.

Smart lighting

This is probably the smartest of all choices! Gartner says that smart lighting has the potential to reduce energy cost by 90 %! All cities should start with this as it optimizes energy savings, safety, and comfort.  We will have a demo of our device maker partner Flashnet on our stand, come see it!

Smart Parking

Studies show that 20% of cars driving in cities are looking for a place to park! Imagine an app on your phone telling you where the nearest parking space from your destination is. You could reserve it. Park. Pay for the parking with the app. This reduces pollution, reduced traffic and congestion, and enhances the user experience. We will be showing, on our stand, the smart parking solution from our partner PNI connected to the LoRaWAN network with Actility ThingPark.

Tracking

Real-time urban travel solution – Navigate the city’s transit system with accurate real-time predictions, simple trip planning, service disruption notification at the most effective costs.  The Cisco Live attendees will experience this first hand.  Several shuttles, taking you to and from the event, will be equipped to enable the Cisco Events application, on your phone, to alert you when the shuttle is arriving. With LoRaWAN the ability to track at low cost is now possible. This solution is implemented with Abeeway trackers.

To find the response to the ‘how’ question, come see us! Actility can accelerate your Digital Transformation and ignite your IoT! Actility’s ThingPark Solution is at the heart of the LoRaWAN Cisco offer. Our experts are on our stand ready to wow you!

We are right next to the Cisco LoRaWAN booth! Come see us in the IoT and Industry District booth 4201!

What is LoRa and LoRaWAN white paper techniical overview, benfits and use cases

Learn more about the LoRaWAN technology by downloading the Actility “What is LoRaWAN” white paper