The partnership Huwise x Peclet

Australian councils began to open their data in 2015, driving a need to adopt public data marketplaces for data sharing. This opportunity accelerated once federal/state funding was made available for councils to embrace smart city projects, as this required more sophisticated technology and external consultancy to deliver solutions. Data sharing is now spreading more widely, with increasing adoption by the private sector.

As a leading consultancy focused on data sharing and the Internet of Things (IoT), Peclet Technology has the skills, knowledge and experience to help Australian companies to generate more value from their data by bringing it to life and creating new services from data.

While it possessed the consultancy skills, it required a technology platform to underpin data sharing for its customers. This led it to Huwise, which was looking to expand its global reach and widen the use of its all-in-one data sharing platform to new markets, such as Australia.

The two companies therefore formed a comprehensive, exclusive partnership in 2016. As well as providing full access to its SaaS-based data experience platform, Huwise has also been able to support Peclet as it educates the market on the importance of data sharing and the benefits of next generation data sharing for citizens, councils, and other stakeholders

Peclet Technology was founded in 2015 with the aim of developing and bringing innovative IoT and data sharing solutions to Australia. It is focussed on helping its customers (currently mostly in the government sector) to increase the value they gain from their data through simple to implement turnkey solutions that accelerate project results.

It is committed to explaining the benefits of data sharing to councils, businesses and wider society. As part of this Peclet has created the data.peclet.com.au portal which showcases over 15 use cases for data sharing, IoT and smart city projects, such as monitoring weather, water levels, parking, and people counting. Featuring sample portals and reusable dashboards, the use cases are all underpinned by real data and projects built with Peclet clients. This provides a tangible resource that shows what can be done in terms of data sharing projects.

Huwise is a global leader in the democratization of data. It provides an all-in-one SaaS platform that allows all teams to quickly gather and organize their data, create compelling digital experiences and then share them across their internal and external ecosystems. This allows customers to accelerate digital transformation and development, positively transform their operations and establish more transparent relationships with their stakeholders.

Huwise backs up its technology strengths with a collaborative, open approach, working closely with partners and customers to help them gain the benefits of their data. It provides partners with ongoing enablement and training to develop their knowledge and skills, allowing them to over a full range of services to customers. Over the past decade Huwise has helped its 350 customers build more than 2,000 data projects globally across all industries.

Through the combination of Peclet’s consultancy skills and the power and ease of use of the Opendatasoft platform Peclet now has 25 current customers across Australia. These range from implementations with state agencies, to large cities such as Melbourne and Ballarat, and smaller bodies such as Southern Grampians Shire Council.

Delivering data sharing to meet wider objectives

Using Huwise, Peclet has been able to help customers better share their data to meet their objectives. For example, eight councils in western Sydney have come together to monitor the impact of predicted population growth on the environment. To achieve this they have created the Western Parklands Councils Sensor Network Project, a shared network of sensors, measuring water and air quality, heat, noise and people and vehicle movements. This is connected to data analytics and the ODS platform, enabling councils and citizens to track and respond to environmental change.

Projects are also driving greater engagement with citizens. For example, the City of Geelong’s Weather Together project recruited volunteers to host weather sensors in their home or workplace. This not only provides a real-time picture of temperature and weather across the city, but also encourages people to get involved and access the data in their day-to-day lives.

Underpinning innovation

Peclet has spent considerable time helping to educate the market about the benefits of open data, both through its portal of use cases and by highlighting customer successes through awards. As well as Western Parklands Councils, other customers that have been shortlisted or won prestigious awards include the world’s first “smart beach”, created for Randwick City Council.

A platform for the future

As in Europe, Australian private sector companies are increasingly understanding the benefits of unlocking the value in their data. Peclet is using Opendatasoft’s experience in sectors such as utilities and property to approach local organizations in these industries, providing new business opportunities for the company. Additionally, Peclet is working with Opendatasoft to deepen its reach into the public sector by oering self-service data portals.

While based on opposite sides of the world, Peclet and Opendatasoft have built a strong partnership over the past five years. The strength and maturity of the Opendatasoft platform provides a robust solution for data sharing implementations and allows powerful and engaging data experiences to be quickly created for all of Peclet’s customers.

Peclet is particularly benefiting from four key strengths of Huwise and its approach: