An electioneering Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced government support of smart city innovation that could see more than $100 million invested each year.

As announced in a campaign press release, Turnbull will create a smart city investment fund and a collaborative smart cities program if he is re-elected in early July.

Turnbull promised to establish an investment fund to “accelerate the deployment of clean energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency technology in cities.” The fund, which will be run by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will create a funding pool that could generate up to $100 million annually.

“This initiative will support projects that demonstrate value for money and provide a return which will be reinvested in new projects,” said in the media release. “These investments will drive new jobs and enterprise, reduce greenhouse emissions and make our cities more resilient.”

New Australian smart cities program coming

He also promised to establish a $50 million Smart Cities Program that seeks collaboration from local governments in order to improve city livability through the application of innovative technology-based approaches.

“The Smart Cities Program will incentivise councils to partner with communities, local business, not-for-profits and research institutes to create cutting edge technology solutions for urban problems,” the release said.

“Australia’s cities are home to the majority of our population and responsible for more than 80 per cent of national economic output,” continued Turnbull’s media statement, adding that “…our cities are at the frontline of action on climate change.”

This follows Turnbull’s announcement in May of a Smart Cities Plan that would create a new unit for infrastructure finance with the goal in mind of providing the resources needed tocreate smart cities throughout Australia’s metropolitan regions.

Part of this plan is to create what is being dubbed as “30 minute cities” which describes a city where anyone can commute to work, school, and its various lifestyle services in 30 minutes or less. This would require some major overhauls to Australia’s current transportation system, especially in cities like Melbourne where traffic congestion is a considerable problem.

Taiwan firm to launch $625m global IoT fund

A Taiwanese investment firm is looking to capitalize on the red hot Internet of Things (IoT) market, by launching a $625 million global IoT investment fund.

The China Post reports that Fu Hwa Securities Investment Trust Co. will begin operations of its IoT investment fund by late June.

The firm said its new fund will target the plethora of opportunities that are emerging from IoT technologies such as self-driving cars, big data, smart logistics, cloud computing and advanced manufacturing. As well, Fu Hwa said it will be exploring investments in such sectors as pharmaceuticals, energy, environmental and biotech.

Geographically the fund’s target markets will be the U.S., China, Japan and Europe.

Fu Hwa is looking to cash in on the huge growth in the IoT market. McKinsey recently projected that the global IoT market has the potential to grow from the current $3.9 trillion a year to 11.1 trillion a year by 2025.

The IoT market is currently in an early phase that is focusing on developing software and hardware platforms, said Fu Hwa. The firm anticipates the next phase will include innovations in integrating new software services and business models.

Fu Hwa expects a decade of IoT growth

As these innovations come to market, Fu Hwa said it sees IoT growth as remaining strong for the next 10 years, driving both investment and efficiencies in companies who are able to successfully integrate new IoT technologies.

Morgan Stanley predicts that such IoT applications as online banking, mobile payments, smart medicare, industry 4.0 and self-driving cars will generate at least 30% growth in the coming years.

Compared to this, Morgan Stanley anticipates that the smartphone industry will only see a 5% compound annual growth rate between 2015 and 2020.

Notably China has recently provided a big boost to IoT prospects in the region, particularly in the realm of self-driving cars. China is preparing a draft regulatory framework on self-driving cars that could be ready as early as this year. The regulations are expected to pave the way for autonomous vehicles that will appear on China’s highways in three to five years, and then in Chinese cities by 2025