PM drops in to learn more about Smart Beach tech

Smart Beaches and the Ocean Live technology we’re partnering with garnered some VIP attention at a recent event in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison stopped by to say g’day and learn more at a pop-up stall at Cronulla Beach, held as part of the annual Cook Community Classic fundraising event.

Ocean Live collects a variety of beach data to create a simple ‘traffic light’ system rating variables such as rips, UV intensity, sandbanks and the presence of sharks.

This is broadcast via signs on the beach and a mobile app.

Ocean Live founder Jackson Harrigan, who devised the concept as part of a Year 12 project, says the PM was keen to learn more about the technology.

“Mr Morrison wanted to understand how the Ocean Live system worked and where it received the data,” Mr Harrigan, 19, says.

“He also thought that it could go global given it’s the first of its kind anywhere in the world.”