Microgrid Naming Convention

Naming the Regions of a New Network

The creation of SENA microgrids presents an opportunity to think differently about how regions within a distributed network are identified.

Australia’s contemporary geographical names reflect several layers of history. Many names introduced after European colonisation commemorate British places, monarchs, politicians, explorers, military figures and other prominent individuals. For example, in 1770 Captain James Cook claimed the eastern coast for Britain and named it New South Wales. Later colonial settlements continued the practice of applying European names to Australian places; Bathurst, for example, was named after the British politician Lord Bathurst, while Perth was named after the Scottish city.

These names became embedded in Australia’s administrative geography. Before Federation in 1901, the six states existed as separate British colonies; Federation brought them together as the Commonwealth of Australia.

But this colonial naming system was imposed over a much older geographical and cultural landscape.

A Much Older Map of Australia

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have maintained relationships with Country for thousands of generations.

The Australian landscape was not an unnamed wilderness waiting to be mapped by Europeans. It was already understood, travelled, described and named through Indigenous languages, cultural knowledge, stories and relationships with Country.

Research by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) describes Australia before European colonisation as having an extensive network of Indigenous place names. Over the last two centuries, many of those names were displaced or overlaid by an introduced European naming system. AIATSIS also notes that there has been increasing recognition of the value of restoring traditional names, including through official Indigenous names and dual naming.

This history provides an important context for the SENA microgrid concept.

The intention is not to erase existing Australian names or to suggest that every place should be renamed.

Rather, when creating new digital and physical network regions, SENA has an opportunity to establish a naming principle that recognises the geography and history of the place in which the network operates.

Geography First

The fundamental naming principle for a SENA microgrid should be:

Where is the microgrid physically located?

A microgrid is not an arbitrary administrative label.

Its location determines its relationship with:

• local communities;
• employers and participating organisations;
• physical infrastructure;
• energy resources;
• communications infrastructure;
• satellite connectivity;
• regional transport;
• environmental conditions;
• neighbouring networks; and
• the people and organisations that participate in it.

The technical architecture may therefore begin with a geographical definition of the region.

Satellite connectivity introduces another geographical dimension. The location of a regional node or microgrid can influence its communications architecture, including its relationship to satellite coverage and other connectivity infrastructure.

The network above the ground may therefore be influenced by orbital and communications considerations, while the network on the ground needs to reflect the physical geography, communities and infrastructure of the region.

That is where naming becomes significant.

Recognising Traditional Names

Where an appropriate traditional Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander place or Country name is known and can be responsibly established, it provides a meaningful opportunity to recognise the long history of the region.

This should not be treated simply as adopting an alternative label.

A traditional name can provide a connection between:

the physical location

the history of the Country

the people associated with that Country

and

the new network infrastructure being established there.

AIATSIS recognises that Indigenous geographical names are an important part of Australia’s cultural and linguistic heritage and supports the recording and appropriate use of Indigenous place names.

The process should therefore involve appropriate research and, wherever practical and appropriate, engagement with the relevant Traditional Owners, language custodians or representative organisations.

A name should not simply be selected from a database because it sounds appropriate.

Its spelling, meaning, geographical application and cultural context matter.

Respect Rather Than Ownership

The use of a traditional name within SENA should not be presented as a claim of ownership over the name, the Country or the people associated with it.

Nor should the use of a traditional name imply that SENA has acquired cultural rights merely by using that name.

The principle is one of recognition and respect.

The network is being established in a physical place that already has a history, a geography and a cultural identity.

Using an appropriate traditional name can acknowledge that history rather than treating the region as though its identity began with the arrival of modern infrastructure.

This distinction is particularly important because the objective of SENA is not to create another form of centralised control.

It is to create a network in which different participants can contribute to a shared infrastructure while retaining appropriate local identity and responsibility.

A Different Approach to Development

The expansion of digital infrastructure into regional and remote Australia can be viewed from different perspectives.

Some may see major new infrastructure development in remote regions through the historical experience of European colonisation and the displacement of Indigenous people.

Others may see the expansion of communications, energy, employment and digital services as part of Australia’s continuing development and the integration of regional communities into the wider economy.

Both perspectives form part of the broader Australian historical conversation.

SENA does not need to resolve that historical debate.

Its practical objective is different:

How can new infrastructure be introduced in a way that recognises the history and identity of the place in which it operates, while creating opportunities for the people who live there?

That question is particularly important when considering remote and regional Australia.

From Remote Region to Connected Microgrid

The SENA microgrid concept is intended to connect physical infrastructure with digital infrastructure.

A regional microgrid could potentially bring together:

• local energy generation and storage;
• communications infrastructure;
• satellite connectivity;
• Edge computing;
• Hosting Agents;
• local employers;
• HR and workforce services;
• education and skills providers;
• technology providers;
• community participants; and
• connections to other SENA microgrids.

The purpose is not simply to bring a network to a remote region.

It is to enable the region to become a participant in the network.

That distinction is important.

The region should not merely be a destination for infrastructure supplied from elsewhere. Where practical, it should have opportunities to participate in the operation, governance and economic activity created by the network.

A Naming Convention for the SENA Network

The proposed naming principle can therefore be expressed as a sequence:

1. Identify the physical location

Where is the proposed microgrid actually located?

2. Identify the Country and regional geography

What traditional Country, language group, place or established geographical identity is associated with the location?

3. Research the name

What is the correct traditional name, spelling, pronunciation, meaning and geographical application?

4. Engage appropriately

Where appropriate, consult relevant Traditional Owners, language custodians, Indigenous organisations or other recognised representatives.

5. Establish the network name

Select a name that accurately identifies the geographical region and is appropriate for use within the SENA network.

6. Record the provenance

Maintain a record explaining the origin, meaning and geographical basis of the name.

This last step is particularly important for a trusted network.

The name should itself have provenance.

A future participant should be able to understand not only what a microgrid is called, but why it has that name.

Traditional Names and the Modern Network

There is an interesting historical symmetry in this approach.

European explorers and colonial administrations mapped Australia and assigned names as they established new systems of navigation, administration and settlement.

SENA is proposing another layer of infrastructure — but it does not need to repeat the same naming model.

Instead, a new generation of digital infrastructure can acknowledge that the physical regions it connects already possess histories and identities that pre-date the network.

The objective is therefore not to replace the Australian map.

It is to create a new network map that is geographically grounded and historically aware.

An Opportunity for Participation

The naming convention is also consistent with the broader SENA philosophy of participation.

A microgrid can involve many parties:

Traditional Owners and local communities

regional employers

HR organisations

technology providers

energy and infrastructure providers

Hosting Agents

education and skills organisations

government and community organisations

and individual participants.

The name becomes one visible expression of the relationship between those participants and the place in which the network operates.

It should therefore be treated as part of the governance process rather than simply a marketing exercise.

Respect Does Not Mean Ownership

The use of traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander names is intended as a mark of recognition and respect for the deep history, knowledge and continuing connection of First Peoples to Country.

It does not, by itself:

• establish ownership of the network;
• transfer ownership of a place name;
• create a commercial entitlement;
• create a claim for payment merely because a traditional name is used; or
• give SENA authority over the Country to which the name relates.

Any legal, cultural, commercial or intellectual-property questions arising in a particular location would need to be considered separately and appropriately.

The principle is simpler:

A network can enter a place without pretending that the place began with the network.

The SENA Principle

The SENA microgrid naming convention is therefore based on four ideas:

Place

The name begins with the physical location of the network.

History

The naming process recognises that the region has a history extending far beyond modern infrastructure.

Respect

Traditional names may be used where appropriate, with proper research and engagement rather than casual appropriation.

Participation

The objective is to create connected regions in which local people and organisations can participate in the economic, employment and technological opportunities created by the network.