Week 13: 2021 Top 3 Smart City News in Asia
Kris Villanueva-Libunao, PMP
Ethical Smart Cities | Ex-Undersecretary & Deputy to the National Security Adviser | Digital Gov & Smart City Advisor | Professor
Da Nang, Vietnam honoured for unique, creative smart city initiative
Da Nang is recognized as one of the 30 unique and creative smart city initiatives by the Eden Strategy.
The report explicitly identifies governance as a critical component of smart city growth beyond technical solutions' feasibility and results. It hopes to demonstrate the role of leadership, people-centered policies, ecosystems, and rewards and strategies, and talent in smart city growth.
The Eden Strategy evaluated more than 230 cities, reports were presented, and results were sought from each.
Da- Nang was the first to introduce e-Government in Vietnam in 2014 and released it to all provinces in 2016. It will have prepared itself in terms of technology and databases between 2021-25 to implement the ASEAN Smart City strategy fully.
https://en.vietnamplus.vn/da-nang-honoured-for-unique-creative-smart-city-initiative/199495.vnp
ASEAN, Russia agree to deepen strategic partnership
The ASEAN-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee (ARJCC)'s 19th meeting virtually took place on March 30 of 2021.
The event was held to prepare for events commemorating the 30th anniversary of bilateral relations and the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-Russia dialogue partnership, and the 30th anniversary of the dialogue partnership's founding in 1981.
In recent years, ASEAN and Russia have increased their economic cooperation, trade, and investment. The bilateral relationship will be 30 years old in 2021, and the dialogue partnership will be 25 years old. During the 2016-2020 period, 99 of the 139 action lines were enforced.
The two sides will work closely together to accelerate and complete the goals set out in the ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) for 2021-2025, which serves as a foundation for cooperation orientations in the new stage. They also emphasized the importance of collaborating to effectively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitate comprehensive and long-term recovery in the wake of the outbreak.
The two sides also agreed to continue expanding the strategic partnership between ASEAN and Russia with a focus on fields of:
- trade and investment facilitation
- science and technology
- connectivity
- development gap
- the Smart Cities Network initiative
- human resources development, and
- support for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises
https://en.vietnamplus.vn/asean-russia-agree-to-deepen-strategic-partnership/198395.vnp
Singapore, Seoul and London ranked top for smart city governance
Singapore, Seoul, and London were ranked top in the second edition of the Top 50 Smart City list by Eden Strategy Institute.
Researchers looked at ten characteristics of cities, such as vision, talent, and well-implemented policy models. The report highlights Singapore's national digital identity program, SMEs Go Digital scheme, and the LifeSG app that provides over 40 digital government services.
It also noted that although Singapore has invested heavily in providing service projects with the needs of the citizen in mind, there is still work to be done. It was discovered that police had used this contact-tracing app, and details were obtained from it. As a result, the government passed laws to limit the use of contact data after the pandemic had run its course, Prime Minister Lee Heng Loong said.
On the other hand, South Korea was recognized for its most extensive deployment of IoT devices, known as the "IoT Owl Night Bus." At the same time, examples from London include the Smarter London Together roadmap.
To come up with this report, 235 cities were requested to give data, proposals, surveys, and results. A series of interviews followed, then scoring.
https://cities-today.com/singapore-seoul-and-london-ranked-top-for-smart-city-governance/