Dear students, teachers, distinguished guests, good morning everyone.

My name is Aaron An, councillor for Harrison Ward, Wyndham City Council. I’m currently portfolio holder for a smart city.

Before I start, I’d like to first acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to the elders past and present.  

I’d like to thank Ms Brenda Frisk for the wonderful opportunity to partner with the Wyndham Tech School to host this event.

However today is not about Council or Wyndham Tech School, it is about you all sitting in the audience.

As I’m here together with all of you, it reminds me about more than 20 years ago, when I was studying in Year 8. I participated in a city-wide innovation competition and won a major award. Although it’s been a long long time ago, I can still remember the 2 projects that I submitted. I still remember that I really enjoyed participating in that competition, to work hard and to achieve something creative and innovative. And I believe, most of you will also remember today’s event, no matter if you win or not, today will be a part of your good memories.

In 2017, just 24% of science, engineering and technology jobs were occupied by women. This figure just isn’t good enough. We know that there are plenty of bright young women in our community and that is why you’re here. 

We hope that events such as this, that inspires you to continue your study in these fields, so we see that figure of 24% double.  

These challenges are real-life scenarios and at Council, we’re committed to being a smart city, by exploring advances in technology and data analysis that provide us with tools to respond to challenges such as the ones you will be working on today. 

Technology and innovation allow us to better understand and manage the functioning of our city.  It helps us plan and delivers services more effectively.

We’re proud to be leaders in this space and have a whole range of Smart City projects completed and in progress. 

We are also developing our Future Cities Strategy and input from students such as yourself is so important to shaping this strategic roadmap.  If you are interested in completing the survey, please speak to Melinda Alabakis from Council and she can provide you with the details.

I am really looking forward to seeing the top 4 finalists solutions.

In closing, we hope you take away how important this type of work is within our community as Wyndham’s population grows and as technology continues to be part of our every-day lives. Council is proud to support this event and I hope you all have fun today.