A number of innovations in areas including mobility, cashless transaction and food industry automation were showcased Thursday in Hong Kong as one of its pilot projects for building a "people-centered" smart city.
The innovations, showcased at the Asia-Pacific Innovation Summit 2017 in the Hong Kong Science Park, include an intelligent traffic monitoring system, a fully automated 24-hour convenience store, a cashless payment platform, smart living facilities for the elderly, as well as smart technologies used by a local food manufacturer such as 3D food printing, autonomous guided vehicle and drone for food delivery and food safety big data.
These innovations were made by enterprises involved in a project called Smart Region. The project, jointly launched by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has been confirmed as one of the pilot projects by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's smart city blueprint.
Yee Leung, director of the CUHK's Institute of Future Cities, said that Smart Region covers the areas of smart building and facility management, autonomous self-driving vehicle, cashless society, as well as social cultural exchange.
The core aim of building a smart city is to serve people in it, Leung said, adding that Smart Region could be a test bed for the research and application of related technologies, as well as a platform to collect people's feedback about the innovations.
"We believe that a smart city should be people-centered," said Peter Yeung, head of ICT, Smart City and Green Tech department of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, adding that Smart Region aims to provide a platform for people to communicate their ideas.
According to Allen Yeung, the HKSAR Government Information Officer, Hong Kong's smart city development blueprint consists of plans for smart mobility, smart government, smart living, smart economy, smart environment, as well as smart people.
Yeung called at the summit for cooperation for Hong Kong's smart city development plan. "We welcome local innovations, SMEs, and overseas solutions to come together and look at how we can make good use of Hong Kong as a demonstration of a very urban and welcoming city."
