ASCA is Australia’s only not-for profit peak body dedicated to advocating on behalf of governments for smart communities in Australia. ASCA works closely with our members across all levels of government to solve problems, enhance policy, capacity, confidence, and create innovative smart solutions, for their communities.
James is the chair of the Standards Australia IT-269 committee responsible for IEC Electrotechnical and Electrotechnology Smart City Systems. He has over two decades of experience leading service transformations in the UK, Europe and Australia. Examples include a secure guest Wi-Fi global service (eduroam), unified collaboration platforms, collaborative storage, cyber security and professional services, and more recently, leading a network transformation infrastructure program at UNSW to set the foundations for hybrid teaching and learning and smart campus capability.
In 2020, he founded Smart Footprints, a carbon-neutral consultancy and advisory business to apply technology for community and environmental benefit as our places undergo digital and energy decarbonisation transitions alongside cost of living pressures and geo-political and climate change impacts.
Pearl is the Head of Smart City, Innovation, and Improvement at the City of Casey, a rapidly growing Council in Australia. With a future-focused agenda, she leads the integration of smart technology, collaboration, and innovation to enhance sustainability and resilience in the local region.
Trained as an engineer at the University of Melbourne, Pearl has a diverse background spanning professional services, non-profit, and government sectors. She has been recognized with esteemed awards, including the IBM Manager's Choice Award and the IBM Global Service Excellence Award. Passionate about promoting women in STEM and harnessing technology for positive impact, Pearl has been acknowledged as one of Science & Technology Australia's Superstars of STEM.
Through her leadership and research, Pearl propels positive change in smart city initiatives while inspiring others. With her expertise, she remains committed to making significant contributions to innovation, sustainability, and empowering women in STEM.
Harman is the global Smart Cities Lead at GHD Digital and works with senior stakeholders for GHD’s strategic clients to lead the development of innovative solutions for Smart Cities & Buildings. He is a technical advisor on smart technologies like Smart Parking, Smart Lighting, Intelligent Metering, Building Automation Systems, Internet of Things (IoT), Data Analytics and Cybersecurity.
Harman brings with him over 20 years of global experience in executive and management roles with various technology-related businesses in the US, Dubai, India and Australia. In the past, he served as the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Brady Family of Companies in the US, where he led the organisation to be awarded the “Most Innovative Workplace” in North Carolina in 2017.
Harman holds an MBA from London Business School and is a regular speaker on smart technologies, applied innovation and digital transformation. He serves as a Vice-Chair on the board of a non-profit, Our Future Cities, and sits on Standards Australia’s committee for Smart City Systems to foster the development of standards and sharing of best practices in the ever-evolving space of smart and sustainable cities.
Sumeet is the Data Engineering Hub Lead at the Environment Protection Authority Victoria where he is heading the data, reporting and analytics platforms. He has an extensive leadership experience in Smart City, Open Data, Internet of Things, Digital Twin, Digital Transformation and Data Analytics domains.
In his career span, Sumeet has led and delivered award winning initiatives including City of Casey’s Open Data Platform to help community access, use and share the data.
Sumeet has a vision to find innovative ways to standardise smart technology for solving community problems in both urban and rural areas.
Sumeet is also passionate about promoting entrepreneurship in the emerging technology sector with an aim to build more smart and sustainable communities in a cost-effective way.
Bronwen Clark is CEO of the National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA), the peak body representing fast-growing Councils on the outskirts of capital cities, where one fifth of the Australian population lives. NGAA advocates for a dedicated whole-of-government approach to policies impacting Australia’s fast growing outer metro cities and suburbs.
Bronwen was appointed to the Urban Policy Forum by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, The Hon. Catherine King MP in May 2023 and was previously appointed to the Cities Reference Group under the Coalition government.
Bronwen brings advocacy, policy and strategy expertise to ASCA. She has an MBA from Melbourne Business School, has consulted extensively to local government, small business and not-for-profits, and has worked with the Federal Government on multilateral trade negotiations, including representing Australia at the World Trade Organisation.
Liam Manning is a partner and the chief commercial officer of SAPHI, a tech-agnostic solution provider specialising in the integration of emerging technologies. Liam and his two co-founders come from small regional council areas and fell into supporting local governments when they saw a power imbalance between vendors and consultants pushing solutions into councils and what they actually needed. Since then, Liam and his team have been on a mission to protect the interests of local government and support them on their technological journies to ensure cities are set up to maximise the benefit to ratepayers not vendors.
He has been instrumental in advising local, state, and federal governments on optimal technological applications for urban environments. Liam's experience encompasses a broad spectrum of smart city initiatives, where he has effectively bridged the gap between innovative tech solutions and practical urban applications, enhancing community connectivity and livability. His role at SAPHI showcases a profound commitment to developing and deploying technology that genuinely serves and transforms communities.
Dr Nathaniel Bavinton is an urban sociologist, social researcher and city strategist who has researched, planned and implemented urban and social innovation for over twenty years. Nathaniel is an Associate Director at Urbis, working in the Smart and Sustainable Places team within urban planning. He is focused on the complex challenges of creating technology and data-enabled places, and innovative, sustainable, and future-focused cities, communities and organisations.
Previously the Innovation and Futures Manager at the City of Newcastle, he has a longstanding interest and history with the revitalisation and transition of Newcastle and led the city’s multi-award-winning smart city program.
Prior to his work in local government, Nathaniel was an academic lecturing on cities and culture, and researching at the intersections of urban design, governance, and behaviour. He earned his PhD in 2011 for a thesis focused on the cultural, spatial, and economic dynamics of cities at night.
In addition to his role on the board of the Australian Smart Communities Association (ASCA), he is currently a board member of innovation ecosystem connector Hunter If, and sits on the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s NSW Resilience, Net Zero and Smart Cities Committee. Nathaniel is really interested in how cities can be a more creative, resilient, connected, and socially inclusive places. He believes that in an age of accelerating change, those communities that embrace the future will thrive.
Details coming soon
Simon is the Manager Stakeholder Engagement NSW/ ACT with nbn co; and while based in Orange focuses much of his work on greater Sydney; with a particular focus on cities planning, policy and smart places delivery initiatives.
Simon has a background in economics and financial services in Sydney and London. The past 7 years Simon has worked in roles across state and federal government, all targeting outcomes for people which have connectivity as the primary enabler.
Simon is passionate about delivering on the promise of IoT and smart places; and aims to work with ASCA and its members to move from a proliferation of successful pilots to a scaling of smart solutions to deliver social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
Nick is the Smart City Project Officer at Maribyrnong City Council, where he helps enhance the quality of life of the local community by leveraging technology and innovation solutions to create more efficient, sustainable, and liveable environments. His work involves integrating smart sensors, IoT devices, and digital solutions to optimise the use of resources to support the well-being of local residents.
Nick also leads the municipality's public EV charging infrastructure rollout. He is passionate about providing access to technology and digital resources to bridge the gap between innovation and community needs.
Nick is passionate about data and is strongly interested in using data analysis to identify trends and proactively implement projects to drive informed decision-making.
We’re here to help create smart communities.
ASCA membership is designed to be inclusive for organisations in city centres and the regions.
ASCA represents Local Government and State and Federal agencies across Australia.
