Neerja and Tarun Dewan have been losing sleep trying to help people flee the oppressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

BLOCKCHAIN technology and artificial intelligence can help drive efficiencies while improving transparency and accountability, says a candidate who wants to introduce them to Cockburn council.

Tarun Dewan is having another crack at east ward and says his role as project advisor to an Australian smart technology company has shown him the potential of the emerging technologies.

“I see blockchain as a record of all transactions; nobody can tamper with it, nobody can steal it,” Mr Dewan said.

“It’s always there in the digital world.

“Whereas the records of property or assets can be tampered with, lost, burned or whatever.”

He says artificial intelligence can be as simple as making sure parks don’t get watered when it rains, but could be linked to the city’s legion of bins.

“Right now we put our bins outside, the truck comes even if my bin is one-part full.

“As an example we could put sensors on the bins in a particular area, so when the bins are full it will send a signal to the logistics, and you can have fewer trips.”

Mr Dewan also wants the city to consider trialling a CAT bus service targeted at older residents, particularly connecting the train station, Gateways and local libraries.

“It makes a lot of sense, because the older people, they also want to feel free and be able to move around together.”

Mr Dewan also says trying to save the Glen Iris Golf Course from residential development is also high on his agenda.

“The community is definitely in favour of retaining the golf course, or if not, some sort of a driving range.

“I strongly promote, if elected, to protect the environment, protect the fauna and flora,” he said.

He’s also interested in trying to bring the fractured council back together through dialogue, and has had some recent experiences that have put the council’s infighting in perspective.

His wife Neerja works as a migration agent, with many of her clients coming from Afghanistan. He said the pair have had sleepless nights since the Taliban took power.

There have been harrowing tales about people’s attempts to flee the country, including one client who had papers but got stuck a kilometre from Kandahar Airport as the deadline for mercy flights expired.