Through the spirit of “problem setting by the government, problem solving by the industry,” the Taipei City Government introduces innovative technology and applies it in the real world to effectively implement new technological concepts in Taipei City. Under the Department of Information Technology’s Smart City Program, the City matches urban issues with appropriate private enterprises to effectively promote the development of the smart city and increase utilization of diversified innovative technology, which not only increases the efficiency of public-private sector cooperation in these experiments, but also creates an innovative cross-disciplinary model for the industry and develops the industrial experiment cluster.
Taipei Smart City Industrial Empirical PoC Program
To more quickly find answers to many issues, the City has created a new mechanism in the form of the Taipei Smart City Project Management Office (TPMO), providing a platform to bring together enterprises to participate, and making Taipei into a smart city built together by the public and private sector.
Faced with new problems emerging from the development of new technology, the City has adopted a 2-way innovation cycle, issuing policy from the top down, and bringing creative ideas from the bottom up. On the City side, proof of concept (PoC) scenarios and expectations have been designed based on the relevant policies to judge their effectiveness. From the industry side, enterprises can provide competitive solutions through independent participation in the Program, estimate the feasibility of future efforts based on small-scale experimentation, and direct resources to the most feasible programs, allowing the Program to achieve the highest efficiency.
Summary of Taipei City 1+7 Fields
In the past, Taipei used “Smart City 5+N” as its promotional framework. However, with the gradual diversification of the smart city field, the City considered revising the international smart city benchmarking structure to promote “Smart Building”, “Smart Transportation”, “Smart Education”, “Smart Healthcare”, “Smart Environment”, “Smart Safety” and “Smart Economy”, with “Smart Government” at its core, to implement a public-to-private, inside-out strategy.
TPMO’s statistics show that as of the end of June, 2022, 284 projects had entered the field testing phase. In the future, AI and AR technology will be combined to keep expanding the scope of field experiments, and realize the concept of a diverse Smart Taipei. The “Taipei City 1+7 Fields” clearly shows how the Government will transform Taipei City into a cross-field experimental cluster.
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Taipei Smart City Development Framework
●Smart Government
Taipei City Government has devoted huge amount of resources to building digital infrastructures, promoting the e-government and citizen friendly services, while implementing TaipeiON to improve the efficiency of public services and TaipeiPASS for integrated civic services, and to continue optimizing the services of the smart government through pilot programs.
We have provided several new digital services in response to the pandemic, such as online memorial services and real-name registration systems, and we embrace new technology to improve the civil service experience, such as smart service robots, smart cultural fields and application of blockchains and drawings, etc. showcasing that Taipei City has thoroughly transformed into a smart city.
●Smart Transportation
As the most industry-dense city in Taiwan, transportation is one of the keys to evaluating its urban efficiency. Intersections and parking lots in the City will be the labs to bring practical benefits to the public.
With the goal of maximizing transportation efficiency and minimizing traffic accidents, big data, AI, and image recognition are all being evaluated in field trials on roads. Projects include: Accident-prone Road Section Pre-warning Display Empirical Project, CCTV Incorporating the Use of AI Image Recognition and so on. In addition, parking lots will be improved to reduce time wasted searching for parking spaces. Plans include: 4U Green Shared Traffic, Smart Parking Demonstration Field Project, and Motorcycle Parking Fee Collection Management Mechanism, all providing more convenience for citizens.
●Smart Healthcare
As Taiwan is becoming an aged society, demand in the field of smart healthcare has been increasing. The main experimental fields for these projects are the Bureaus of Public Health and Social Welfare, various branches of the Taipei City Hospital, and long-term care institutions, providing immediate necessary services for the elderly.
Faced with the rapid increase in demand for long-term care for the elderly, lowering the entry threshold for medical resources and real-time monitoring physical conditions have become the cores of experimentation in the health field. We help hospitals and long-term care institutions to prove these technologies, including: the Smart Ward Demonstration Field Project, the Telemedicine Experimental Project, Real-Time Warning Smart Care Services, and Emergency and Critical Care Integration. In order to improve the efficiency and administrative flow of medical staff, it is crucial for medical units to introduce big data systems, such as the AI Interactive Voice Response System, AI Conducts Audits of Online Advertising Violations, and Senior National Health Insurance Premium Subsidy Customer Service Hotline, etc. To meet steadily rising demand, in the future, the use of AI and robots in the medical field will become mainstream.
●Smart Environment
We use ICT and smart equipment to build an interactive mechanism between humans and the environment, facilitate convenience of citizens and increase living quality, such as construction, energy and urban planning, etc. Field experiments will be conducted through public facilities and areas in Taipei City, and big data analysis will be used create a citywide network, to produce the best results in every environment.
Digital quality management and IoT applications have become the focus of development in the smart environment field. Related projects include: Online Audit of Public Toilets, Manhole Opening and Closing Sensors, and Smart Streetlamps. After technical tests are conducted in various public areas, more data from various situations can be collected for future reference in construction of smart cities.
●Smart Economy
As the city with the most developed economy in Taiwan, Taipei City has built an experimental software system to allow vendors to find business opportunities. Demonstration projects mostly focused on the Taipei City Mall, the Station Front Metro Mall and other shopping areas, to create a better commercial environment for both vendors and citizens.
Smart economy is built on business analysis. Smart sensors will be installed in shopping areas or markets to monitor business in real-time. Vendors can use big data analytics and visualization to improve their marketing and promotion strategies. Meanwhile, the integration of physical and digital mobile payment and bill payment tools will make spending more convenient for citizens. The projects include: Commercial Sites Smart Detection and Business Tracking and Forecast Project, Smart Store Technology Counseling Project, and Taipei Pass, to help the City monitor its economic development.
●Smart Building
In comparison with other cities and counties, Taipei City is densely populated. Field experiments were carried out in social housing and some construction sites, and ICT and big data analytics are beginning to be applied in the planning and construction of smart buildings.
The application of ICT to monitor access to communities and provide necessary care and assistance can reverse stereotypes of social housing and ensure the safety of those living alone, the elderly, and the disadvantaged. Projects include Taipei Smart Social Housing Community and Empirical Project for Optimizing Access Control in Social Housing. IoT technology is also being applied to monitor construction sites in real-time in order to effectively improve safety management. Vital signs and other data can be collected and abnormalities reported through the smart system, allowing an increase in the efficiency of the working site, the project include: Social Housing Smart Construction Site-IoT Security Management Application.
●Smart Safety
To provide timely police, fire, and emergency assistance, real-time reporting systems are installed in related bureaus, including Fire Department, Department of Information Technology, Department of Information and Tourism, Department of Transportation, Department of Education, and Police Department, to implement digital transformation. The projects relate to smart security, including the “Video 119” App, AI Image Analysis Application, and Using Instant Messaging "LINE" to provide disaster alert.
CCTV at street intersections provides data and can be used as a proving ground. Introduction of AI image recognition technology and real-time analysis can assist in city governance, improve emergency response, and provide the public with needed disaster relief information from the authorities, reducing preventable tragedies.
●Smart Education
In recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on physical education. The City is using technology to safeguard equality in education; one of them, the Taipei CooC Cloud Smart Education Project, which provides high quality virtual and physical learning experiences for both teachers and students, won the 2022 Smart City Innovative Application Award.
Additionally, to facilitate regional upgrading and digital transformation of schools, technologies such as IoT, the real-time detection systems, image recognition systems and big data analytics are being introduced to analyze physiological data, such as body temperature, of people entering campuses. Projects include: Body Temperature Sensing System at School Gate, Smart Security System Application in Campus, AloT Campus Management System, Digital Student ID Body Temperature Detection and Recognition System, allowing precise monitoring of the health of students and teachers.
Through the development of a smart city systems and technological demonstrations, the City has established itself as a high quality international benchmark. Taipei City was awarded 18 international smart city prizes from 2015 to 2021. In 2021, Taipei City ranked 4th place in the IMD Smart City Index, also have been awarded “Smart Government” and “Smart Education” prizes in the Smart City Summit & Expo and IDC Asia Pacific Smart City Awards. Having achieved such recognition, the City continues to provide a space for technology demonstrations, make citizens’ lives smarter, and develop the city as an international innovative technology cluster.