5 things you need to know in Australian tech today

By Harry Tacker for Business Insider

Welcome to a new week, this is what you need to know in tech.

1. NSW is going to trial bank card tap ons for public transport. The New South Wales government will trial credit and debit cards to tap on and off buses, trains and ferries in Sydney in early 2017.

The trial will be based on London’s Oyster system, like the Opal card, which transport minister Andrew Constance announced yesterday can now be topped up using a smartphone app.

Despite the fact that the Opal system was built with contactless credit card payments in mind, there will still be extensive upgrades needed before the trial goes live Constance said.

2. News Corp has made its first seed round startup investment. News Corp Australia has made its second startup investment in 6 months, leading a $1.1 million seed funding round for augmented reality startup Plattar.

The Melbourne-based startup utilises the cloud to allow users to create, manage and distribute AR content, which News Corp wants to take advantage of with its 50% stake of the REA Group.

3. Driverless cars will be in NSW in less than 5 years. Speaking at the Future of Transport summit in Sydney today, Transport Minister Andrew Constance also added he expects driverless cars on NSW roads within 5 years.

This comes off the back of a state enquiry into the viability of driverless cars on its roads which began last week. The recommendations from this enquiry are expected to be delivered in November.

4. Australia Post is testing drones to deliver parcels. Australia Post is seeing whether drone delivery will work for its rapidly growing parcel business under the first trial by a local company.

While Google’s Project Wing began looking at whether remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) could work to deliver supplies and medicine in outback Queensland 18 months ago, the nation’s postal service is now looking for new ways to deliver online orders.

The closed-field trial by the postal service will focus on small parcels, flagging the possibility that it could also be used for the rapid delivery of medications. If successful, a customer trial could be held as soon as this year.

5. Stone and Chalk has its first 5 Asian cities for its new program. The Sydney-based fintech hub has identified 5 key Asian cities it wants to hit for the first stage of its Fintech Asia program, picking Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo. Through the program, the hub wants to explore the markets and potential opportunities for fintech collaboration in the region.

The government will be providing Stone and Chalk with $150,000 as part of the program.

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First appeared in Business Insider