UTS–TPG Network Sensing Lab

Flooding stands as one of the most prevalent natural disasters confronting New South Wales and Australia.

Flooding has inflicted profound damages on our economy community wellbeing and human lives.

One critical, unmet challenge to mitigating flooding risks is the lack of technologies and real time data that can be used to monitor localised rainfall  and predict flooding with sufficient accuracy and granularity.

The recent flooding incident in Gold Coast exemplifies this issue as flash flood alerts were disseminate to residents a day too late when some victims were already strangled by floods.

An emerging technology offers a promising solution to address this challenge. It is called Network Sensing.

One of the issues with flooding right across  New South Wales that we have at the moment is limited ability to have real time data.

So the research that’s being done with the University of Technology and the State Emergency Service will allow us to make better predictions on the consequences of flooding and warn communities in a much faster timeframe.

This innovative approach extracts the changes in wireless signals caused by rainfalls and water flows.

The information is then translated into localised rainfall and flooding data through machine learning.

Unlike traditional sensor networks, network sensing technology utilizes existing mobile networks, thereby minimizing the need for  additional infrastructure and facilitating rapid deployment across  New South Wales and beyond.

The University of Technology Sydney stands at the forefront of  network sensing research, pioneering ground-breaking advancements in the field since 2017.

It’s easy to find researchers, but it's difficult to find researchers who can translate results
into practical real world impacts. 

We chose UTS because they are world leaders in this field and have that ability.

In 2023, the New South Wales Government funded an audacious project called Smart Flood and Storm Intelligence through its Smart Places Acceleration Program. This project is led by the New South Wales State Emergency Service and conducted by the UTS research team.

It aims to prove, at a fundamental level, that the network sensing technology works for environmental sensing and real time localised flooding can be effectively visualised by a digital twin.

Thanks to the dedication and creativity of our researchers and the great collaboration with SES, we have made significant progress already. 

So this new technology has the potential to make all the difference in keeping people's homes and  people's lives safe during major flood events.

TPG Telecom has two motivations. First of all, we have a business one, and secondly, we want to make a positive difference
in the world.

We see this as an exciting new technology that will transform our communications
oriented network into an integrated sensing and communications network.

With multi-year funding from TPG Telecom, UTS’ world leading capabilities and the New South Wales Government's commitment to transform frontline services, the TPG-UTS Network Sensing Lab stands to herald
a new era of innovation and collaboration, offering hopes for a safer and  more resilient future for communities in New South Wales and beyond.