Hanoi is one of the cities in Vietnam that are moving to facilitate the process of smart urban development and speeding up efforts to become a smarter and safer city with digital solutions.That is also the main theme of the ASOCIO Smart City Summit 2018 kicked off in Hanoi on September 18. In the framework of the summit, a seminar entitled "Smart cities from leaders' perspectives" was held, where Hanoi learned experience in turning into a smart city.
Creating an environment for the city’s residents to experiment creative ideas
Addressing the seminar, Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Pereric Hogberg talked about Sweden’s experience in building smart cities.
Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Pereric Hogberg
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The Swedish environment for entrepreneurial start-ups began with how to have spaces for free thinking and good ideas to be debated, and ecourage innovators to innovate, Hogberg said.
As a result, Sweden ranked second in the number of successful start-ups in the world, ranking only behind Silicon Valley, Hogberg added.
According to the Swedish diplomat, a smart city must know to take advantage of new technologies and digitization to simplify the process, bring the highest quality for the people and the best environment for businesses.
He noted that the most important factor to build a smart city is urban planning. Hanoi is already a smart city, and with good planning, it will develop stronger with smart transportation system and sustainable fuel solutions.
Many young people in Hanoi often express concerns about traffic safety and food safety. With Swedish experience, these concerns can be addressed if e-government is successfully built. Sweden educates children right at school on the importance of keeping their city clean, Hogberg stressed.
Sweden’s success also owes to large investments in infrastructure. Sweden is the leading provider of broadband services in the world, with smart payment solutions and has become a non-cash nation. Swedish tax authorities always back people in purchasing modern equipment, and becoming a tech-savvy generation. Everyone will benefit from smart education, the ambassador concluded.
Convenient transportation system required
Rechard Ker, head of innovation and commercialization team at Cyberjview Company (Malaysia), said that in order to develop a smart city, first of all, the city must develop a traffic connection system to ensure convenient commute in the city.
Rechard Ker, head of innovation and commercialization team in Cyberjview Company (Malaysia)
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One of the experiences of building a smart city is that the city should develop a technology ecosystem that can help start-ups grow. The city’s authority provides work space for start-up businesses, without charging rent fees, Rechard Ker stressed.
Ram Bahadur Thapa, director of the Urban Infrastructure Development Board of Nepal’s Kathmandu City, said at the seminar that authorities must have provide the most effective public services for the people. Nepal prioritizes technology application to build public services for people, digitalizes administrative procedures by cooperating with organizations and enterprises in the digital field, Thapa said.
In addition, Nepalese people are not so tech-savvy so Kathmandu’s authority have to provide more education at high schools. Nepal’s government also selects 10 cities for the project of developing smart cities, Thapa added.
Within the framework of the ASOCIO Smart City Summit - Hanoi 2018, the participants also discussed Infrastructure - an important basis for smart cities and applications and solutions for smart cities.
