Smart City Digitization for Neuhaus in Austria

Neuhaus is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia, with a rich history dating back to the 13th century. Today, Neuhaus has over 1000 residents and over 100 operating businesses. The small town focuses on further extending their various offers around arts, culture, nature, and innovation and therefore bettering the quality of life for its residents and visitors.  Neuhaus wanted to take on a pioneering and exemplary role in Smart City digitization by becoming the first Smart City in Carinthia, and they needed an Internet-of-Things solution for smart municipalities.

The challenge

Neuhaus wanted to implement a “Smart Village” digitization program, but they needed a cost-effective solution that could be implemented easily and cover multiple scenarios and use cases. They needed to find a way to remotely monitor and manage their municipal water supply systems and winter maintenance operations, as well as monitor indoor and outdoor air quality, manage their buildings and rooms, and control heating systems.

The solution

To solve these challenges, Neuhaus implemented the cost-effective Novunex IoT Smarty City solution for smart municipalities. They began by implementing a remote reading system for water meters, which allowed them to monitor their municipal water supply systems in real-time and display information about potential leakage and unexpected water loss. Furthermore, Neuhaus can act immediately in dry periods and react promptly if water levels become too low and water consumption must be controlled. They also began monitoring and collecting weather data, road temperatures, and snow depths to achieve safe and efficient organization of municipal winter maintenance operations.

The results

Thanks to the Smart Village digitization program, municipal citizens will have access to a wealth of data that offers new possibilities in everyday life. For example, the snow height or road temperature from the three multiple sensor locations can be called up in real-time, which is valuable information for winter services as well as for all residents before they start their day or hit the road. Processes are also simplified and accelerated in administration since nobody needs to manually record water meter readings anymore. The Smart Village digitization program has helped Neuhaus to take on a pioneering role in “Smart City” digitization, and they are now a model for other municipalities looking to implement similar programs.