HCMC will select a partner in June to develop a smart city management center, HCMC vice chairman Tran Vinh Tuyen told a seminar on the implementation of the smart city plan on January 2.

At the seminar held by VTV9 television channel, Tuyen, who is also the deputy head of the plan management board, said the partner to be chosen would build a database, a research center for socio-economic development strategies, a smart management center and an information security center, which is the start of the smart city development plan.

According to Tuyen, the city has developed some applications to facilitate the development of a smart city such as the traffic forecast application of the Department of Transport and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s flood warning application.

With an advantage of having 1,200 enterprises active in the information technology field, the plan management board will invite domestic enterprises to provide solutions and services for the plan.

HCMC earlier picked District 1, District 12 and Thu Thiem urban area in District 2 to pilot the smart city model. The smart city management center will connect data of these piloted areas, record changes and problems to adjust accordingly, and apply changes to the city’s 24 districts.

Architect Ngo Viet Nam Son said there must be information exchanges among cities developing smart city models like HCMC and Can Tho. Technological applications must also be compatible among different areas, he noted.

SGT