HCM City to pilot ’smart urban area’

All districts will be expected to develop a “smart urban area” plan by 2020, said Tran Vinh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of the HCM People’s Committee, who is also head of the smart city management board.
HCM City to pilot ’smart urban area’ ảnh 1HCM City plans to become a smart urban area by 2020. (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) - All districtswill be expected to develop a “smart urban area” plan by 2020, said Tran VinhTuyen, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, who is also head ofthe smart city management board.

The smart urban area project will bepiloted in districts 1 and 12 and the Thu Thiem Urban Area in District 2.

At a meeting on the smart urban project onMarch 16, Tuyen said all district authorities should develop plans that wouldeasily link with other districts once project implementation begins throughoutthe entire city after the end of the pilot programme.

Flooding and traffic congestion remainproblems that have not been solved with traditional methods, he said, addingthat agencies and district authorities should take the initiative in solvingthese problems with IT applications.

Under the smart urban area project, therewill be four centres: one on a shared database and open database eco-system;another that will integrate all the city’s information sources and databasesfrom various departments and district committees; one used for simulations toforecast socio-economic strategy; and another on information security.

These centres are considered the four mainpillars for implementation, Duong Anh Duc, head of the Department ofInformation and Communications, said. 

Tran Anh Tuan of the HCM City Institute forDevelopment Studies said the institute would be in charge of building thesimulation centre, with cooperation from universities and others.

According to Tuyen, these centres will onlybe able to operate effectively if they are linked with local systems to carryout the project.

This is the first time the city has createda specific roadmap for the smart urban project, with targets includingsustainable development, improved quality of life, and more effectiveadministration.

Representatives of districts 1 and 12 andthe Thu Thiem Urban Area in District 2, which will pilot the project, said theyhave already made plans for implementation.

A representative of the People’s Committeein District 1 said the district would develop eight smart systems related tosocial order, education, healthcare, urban management, information security,and online administrative services.

He said the city should have a teamincluding experts who can give advice for more effective implementation. An ITworkforce should also be added to the committee, he said. - VNA
VNA

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