**Smart Cities and Big Data**
In recent years, "smart cities" and "big data" have become buzzwords, gaining increasing attention from governments, businesses, and academia worldwide. Some have already taken the lead, some are gearing up, and others are catching up quickly.
One of the most talked-about examples is Singapore. As early as 2006, the Singaporean government laid out a 10-year plan called "Intelligent Nation 2015," and in 2014, they announced its upgraded version, "Smart Nation 2025." This 10-year plan focuses on connectivity, data collection, and comprehension. It aims to provide comprehensive and improved services by offering high-speed, secure nationwide communication infrastructure, collecting information through widespread sensors, sharing appropriate information, and performing real-time data analysis to predict public needs.
In other advanced nations, smart city initiatives are also in full swing. In 2010, the European Commission announced the "Europe 2020 Strategy" for the next decade, clearly defining the direction for "smart growth, inclusive growth, and sustainable growth," with "green and low-carbon" as core objectives. Significant progress has been made in energy, transportation, and communications.
The U.S. government proposed the "Smart Planet" initiative in 2008 to stimulate economic recovery and reshape national competitiveness. In 2015, the "Smart Cities Initiative" was launched, elevating smart city construction to a national strategy. In recent years, many cities have begun offering smart services to the public. For example, Dubuque, Iowa, uses IoT technology to digitize and connect all city resources (including water, electricity, oil, gas, transportation, and public services). The city monitors, analyzes, and integrates various data to meet citizen needs while reducing energy consumption and costs.
The South Korean government launched the "U-Korea" development strategy as early as 2003. In 2011, the "Smart Seoul 2015" plan was introduced, extensively utilizing IoT technology, CCTV, and sensors to provide real-time public services in areas such as public safety, disaster prevention, traffic information, online government booking systems, street lighting, and air monitoring.
In the past five years, the wave of smart city construction in mainland China has been on the rise. Reports indicate that 95% of sub-provincial cities and 76% of prefecture-level cities, totaling over 500 cities, have explicitly proposed or are currently building smart cities in their government work reports or "13th Five-Year Plan."
The Hong Kong SAR government reiterated its commitment to building Hong Kong into a smart city in the 2016 Policy Address. The main goal is to use innovation and technology to address urban challenges, enhance city management, improve the quality of life for citizens, and stimulate continuous innovation and sustainable economic development. The development blueprint consultancy study has begun, covering six main areas: smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart living, smart people, and smart government. Neighboring Macau SAR also started its overall smart city planning study last year, with both governments expecting to complete the related research within this year.
It is evident that smart cities represent the future of urban development. Shakespeare once said in his play "Coriolanus": "What is the city but the people?" In this context, data is the lifeblood of smart cities. Future smart cities will generate vast amounts of data through information technology, IoT, cloud computing, and human behavior and emotions. Big data technology will extract valuable insights and services beneficial to urban development, meeting higher-level needs and improving the quality of life.
How to make cities smarter is a topic we will continue to explore.
Dr. Angus Cheong Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Internet Research Alliance and Chief Data Consultant at uMax Data Technology Ltd.
(Reprinted from Hong Kong Economic Journal)