Cities around the world are piloting new technologies to develop smart cities, which has become the mainstream in the past decade.

Overview of the workshop

Hanoi is one of the cities in Vietnam that are building citizen data and operating a residential database in a move to facilitate the process of smart urban development, according to information announced at a mini-conference titled “Smart cities for all: putting people first” hosted by the US Embassy in Hanoi on September 6. 

The mini-conference aimed at discussing how governments should make policy decisions with inputs from residents and how entrepreneurs and experts can take part in this journey in Vietnam.

The event featured presentations by Dr. Pham Thi Thanh Long and Ms. Do Thuy Duong. The two presenters discussed how interactive policy-making process involving a collaborative vision between the city government and the residents creates better results. Long is the lead researcher in smart cities and energy policies at International Energy Research Center (IERC) at the University College Cork, Ireland.

In her opening speech, Long noted some concepts about a smart city. In brief, smart city is a city model that uses information technology (IT), artificial intelligence to manage, improve urban living standards, improve the city government’s service quality, and efficiently utilize sustainable resources.

Inside of the world’s treadmill, Vietnam is also striving to build some cities under the smart city model. There are about ten cities in Vietnam have officially signed cooperation agreements with domestic and foreign partners on smart city building. They include Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Binh Duong, Da Lat, Phu Quoc, My Tho, Ha Long, Hai Phong, and Hai Duong, Long added.

Moreover, she focused on smart city opportunities and discussed issues relating to public lighting, integrated transportation systems, energy services, smart management and so on.

The architectural frameworks of cities in Vietnam have a lot in common. The cities give priority to developing transport, health, education, food hygiene and safety, environment, energy, and construction, which are based on e-government, Long said.

For her part, Ms. Do Thuy Duong, CEO of Talent Pool and a member in the Hanoi People's Council, emphasized the prerequisites for developing a smart city. She mentioned the “5S” in development process of a smart city, which are “secured, safe, simple, smart, and sustainable”. 

First of all, a long-term vision is needed when a city heads for being smart. It is necessary to develop a multi-sectorial framework, and mobilize human resources, prepare all resources for implementation over a long period of time, Duong added.

Duong also stressed that in a smart city, the government should feature “people first, people driven, not technology driven”. She appreciated the role of Vietnamese youth in developing Hanoi into a smart city in the time ahead.

Taking Hanoi for an example of building a smart city, Duong said that Hanoi is focusing on building e-government, firstly applying IT in state management. At present, the city is applying IT in the field of public services, administrative procedures, healthcare and education.

Hanoi is building citizen data and is operating a residential database which collects information on deaths and newbies per day and the city’s population, Duong said.

Residential data can be used in the city’s other branches and Hanoi is developing mechanisms to ensure the safety of personal information for the city's residents, Duong added.

Hanoi is going to build a database of businesses, land and other basic elements for the city authority’s management and for information supply in public services and administrative procedures, Duong said.

Obviously, smart urban development is an indispensable trend for big cities in the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Hanoi is accelerating the process of building smart cities, in which Hanoi takes people and businesses as the key factors. Hanoi strives to become a smart city, reaching the growth rate of mega cities in the region and in the world by 2030, Duong stressed.

Hanoitimes