Around 50 enterprises and State agencies nationwide gathered at a conference to discuss the development of smart cities in Hà Nội on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the ictnews website.– Photo kinhtedothi.vn

HÀ NỘI – Around 50 enterprises and State agencies nationwide gathered at a conference to discuss the development of smart cities in Hà Nội on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the ictnews website.

The conference was organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), the US Embassy in Việt Nam and the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

Rapid urbanisation has resulted in numerous challenges, such as the aging population growth, environmental issues, budget cuts, health issues and sustainable development, said Nguyễn Thành Phúc, director general of the MIC’s Authority of Information Technology Application, at the event.

These challenges put pressure on the urbanisation process to adjust to become a more sustainable city. This shift will make the city smarter, he said.

Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA acting director, said that an important factor in building smart cities is the rapid urbanisation globally, from Africa to Southeast Asia. The process of urbanisation is causing problems for cities and provinces nationwide.

Phúc also said that one of the factors playing an important role in this shift was information and communication technology (ICT). “ICT is a tool that helps a city address one or more specific issues, not the goal for the development of the city.”

Phúc also emphasised that another key issue to consider when developing smart cities is to ensure sustainable development.

Việt Nam differs from places like Dubai and Singapore, especially in terms of its limited resources, therefore, besides focusing resources on solving urgent issues, it’s necessary to clearly define mechanisms that ensure long term operations, especially finance.

Regarding the implementation of smart cities in Việt Nam, he also noted the research and planning of smart city deployment gives us a general view but it must be closely intertwined with IT applications, e-government and information systems to serve the government and people.

IT applications and e-government systems will help create a smarter government, which is a core element in the development of smart cities.

He also said that since the beginning of last year, the ministry has promoted international co-operation to facilitate learning experiences from developed cities, important technology platforms, technical standards and review of ICT applications to determine the necessary conditions for the development and deployment of smarter cities.

At the same time, provinces such as Hà Nội, Thừa Thiên Huế, Lâm Đồng, HCM City, Quảng Ninh, Vĩnh Phúc and Bắc Ninh also started building and approving planning schemes regarding smart urban development. —  VNS