Hanoi to host ASOCIO Smart City Summit 2018 this month

The event will be organised by the People’s Committee of Hanoi, the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry organisation (ASOCIO) and the Vietnam Software and IT Services (Vinasa). 

During the summit, delegates will share visions, strategies and experience in smart urban building, and collect opinions of managers and IT experts on smart urban management, planning and development based on new technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality (AR). 

They will also discuss solutions to develop smart urban areas in Hanoi and other Vietnamese cities, helping deal with pressing issues facing the localities regarding transport, urban areas, security, safety and environment. 

The summit will feature seminars on digital government and strategies to build smart cities, and smarter cities with less cash transactions; along with sections on infrastructure, platform – principles for smart city, data driven city – data analysis & urban planning and smart industries.

In early August 2018, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved a project to develop sustainable and smart cities.

With the goal of developing sustainable and smart cities, Vietnam hopes to boost green growth and sustainable development, bringing into full play its potential and advantages, and increase the efficiency of the use of its resources.

The country also wants to improve locals’ living standards, increase the economy’s competitiveness and step up international integration.

Until 2020, the project will work to build a legal basis for sustainable and smart city development, issue policies and mechanisms applied to the regions subject to pilot implementation, build and pilot the application of the ICT framework on smart city development, develop the GIS-based urban space data infrastructure, and build a national city database.

By 2025, the first phase of the pilot implementation of smart city development will be carried out, focusing on building and finalising legal corridors and regulations, applying the ICT framework to smart city development in Vietnam, announcing national standards prioritised for building smart cities and developing the urban space data infrastructure.

The first-phase pilot is expected to be completed by 2030. Hanoi, Da Nang city, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho city will be chosen to be the core of smart city networks in the northern, central, southern and Mekong Delta regions, respectively.

Hanoi is home to nearly 8 million people, with an average density of more than 2,279 people/sq.km, even 42,000 people/sq.km in some districts. 

The rapid urbanisation and population increase have resulted in various problems relating to planning, traffic jam, security, health care, education, energy, housing development and pollution. 

Given this, building a sustainable and smart city that ensures convenience, safety and hospitality for local residents is urgent for the city.

The Hanoi People's Council has also issued a resolution on building a smart city, via the adjustment to the “Programme of applying information technologies in State agencies’ operation in Hanoi in 2016-2020”. 

 The budget for implementing the programme was lifted to 3 trillion VND (more than 127.7 million USD) from 1.25 trillion VND, creating a foundation for Hanoi to promote socio-economic development and become a smart city.