The term “Smart City” is no longer a new concept. With the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities are dramatically increasing worldwide, gradually yet subtly becoming a part of everyday life. Advantech is publishing this whitepaper (see image) to increase public understanding by sharing success stories from around the world. This allows local governments planning to implement smart cities to learn from previous cases and, together with Advantech, promote the development of smart cities.
By Chaney Ho, President of Advantech
All right
The formation of smart cities can be considered a manifestation of the concept “at the right time, in the right place, and with the right person.” In terms of the right time, according to United Nation estimates, by 2025, the number of megacities with populations that exceed 10 million will reach 29 worldwide, and the urban population will account for approximately 70% of the global population in 2050. Because populations will continue to be highly concentrated in cities, the challenges of urban governance, such as traffic management, safety, and pollution control, are becoming increasingly serious. Consequently, smart city technologies are considered a crucial solution.
Although numerous definitions of the “Smart City” concept have been proposed, generally, a smart city exhibits a resident-centric approach where information and communication technologies are used to resolve problems resulting from urbanization to achieve the goals of operational maximization and energy consumption minimization. Numerous breakthroughs in the development of global information and communication technologies have been achieved. For example, the average Internet connection speed has become faster than ever, which enables 5G users to download a feature film in an instant. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is considered one of the century’s top-10 important technological developments and has been utilized for at least a decade. RFID can be employed to facilitate shopping at malls or convenience stores, borrowing books from libraries, using public transportation, paying parking fees, registering or filling prescriptions at hospitals, and even featured on business cards. In the United States, the idea of incorporating RFID into 100-dollar bills to track the flow of banknotes has also been proposed. These feats would have been impossible using only previous technology.
As large-scale smart city constructions began to develop one after another in key cities worldwide, opportunities for transforming Taiwan’s ICT industry have also emerged. Over the last 30 years, advancements in ICT have been the primary focus for Taiwan, forming the developmental foundation for leading intelligence application software firms and system integrators, industrial sensor chains, communication modules, terminal products, and system integration and service applications. Thus, Taiwan can be considered the country most qualified to discuss smart city and IoT technologies.
Furthermore, the various smart city industries are highly connected. Unlike the past, where industries typically emphasized products, in the future, industries are expected to focus on diverse applications that involve substantial innovation. This should provide Taiwan’s industries, particularly the system integration industry, which has performed impressively in the past, with opportunities to establish new niches in future industrial chains. Taiwan’s geographical location offers the country an advantage in terms of “being in the right place”.
The third consideration is finding “the right person” for collaborations. The smart city and the IoT concept can be divided into the following three levels: Instrumented, Interconnected, and Intelligence. IBM’s specialty is Intelligence. The expertise of Chunghwa Telecom and other local carriers is in interconnected services, 4G, 3G, and secure data transmissions to a cloud.
Advantech’s capabilities are in Instrumented services at the most fundamental level. As a leading player in the industrial computing and intelligent applications industries, Advantech’s products can be found all over the world. Elements that may influence environmental conditions such as temperature, speed, video, etc. can be continuously collected using Advantech computers, scanners, and detection equipment. This data is then transmitted to the cloud for processing and intelligent decision-making, thereby enabling people to make more effective decisions using the information.
Assist with Realizing SC
The industries that constructed the smart city are unlikely to be monopolized by a single company because of the IoT’s popularity over the last few years.
What is the IoT? It is the integration of automation and information technologies. In Mainland China, the IoT is understood as “the union of two”. The transference of information is aimed at combining the computer, mobile phone, and software industries into the IoT. The various products and systems, as well as information and analyses, form a comprehensive ecosystem that cannot be covered by just one company. Advantech hopes to serve as an enabler of a future intelligent planet and to lead Taiwan’s manufacturers onto the international stage by leveraging its advantages. This whitepaper is just the beginning. With the publication of this whitepaper, Advantech aims to illustrate the feasibility of their approach for realizing smart cities to various industries and governments.
In addition, Advantech has established a task-oriented smart city services team to respond to different applications. The smart city services team is not a formal unit in Advantech's organizational structure; instead, it is an applications team focused on smart city applications. This unit will be led by the president of Advantech, Chaney Ho, who aims to collaborate with business unit heads from various industries. During these collaborations, technologies and their practical applications in all aspects of life will be explored. This should allow decision makers to understand how to implement the Smart City concept. Additionally, Advantech plans to promote the mature development of related applications through continuous communication and practice. This is expected to enable Advantech to assist various industries and governments with achieving the vision of smart cities together.
Chaney Ho
About Advantech
Founded in 1983, Advantech boasts more than 7,000 employees in 21 countries and 92 offices worldwide. As an intelligent systems company, Advantech is a leading provider of trusted, innovative products, services, and solutions. In response to the emerging Smart City and IoT Era and diverse market needs, Advantech formed four strategic business groups to serve specific markets such as the industrial automation, intelligent services, embedded, and intelligent systems markets. Through close cooperation with partners, Advantech is able to provide complete solutions for a wide array of applications across a diverse range of industries. Advantech’s corporate mission and goal are, “Enabling an Intelligent Planet” and “Partnering for Smart City and IoT Solutions”. Advantech will continue innovating to accelerate the evolution of each industry in an effort to become the most influential global corporation in the Smart City and IoT Era.
