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Macroscope | How Singapore synergy shows the way forward for Hong Kong’s smart city dreams
- Hong Kong does not lag behind its neighbours in its work towards becoming a smart city, especially in infrastructure construction
- The city’s fatal flaw is that many projects are not related to each other and parts of the government fail to coordinate, making it difficult to produce synergy
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Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan recently delivered an impressive address which can inspire us to think about the way forward for Hong Kong as a smart city.
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Balakrishnan, who is also the minister in charge of the Smart Nation Initiative, spoke at a geospatial and location intelligence conference in March about how geospatial innovation has become “a critical dimension of Singapore’s Smart Nation journey”. The resulting “great synergy” made it more effective in rolling out smart city initiatives.
These viewpoints are not new. However, it was refreshing that he did not talk about policies or funding but rather quoted real-life examples to illustrate how geospatial data could benefit the community.
Take attending cardiac arrest patients as an example. There is the myResponder app, which connects the ride-hailing company Grab and CPR-trained volunteers. When drivers are alerted by the app, they can head to the scene.
By the beginning of this year, 50 ride-hailing vehicles had been equipped with automated external defibrillators and first aid kits. More than 60 private-hire drivers have been trained to be lifesavers.
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Construction in full swing to build China’s ‘city of the future’, Xiongan
Construction in full swing to build China’s ‘city of the future’, Xiongan
At the same time, GeoWorks – similar to GeoLab in Hong Kong – aims to support geospatial industry to promote innovation and business growth among start-ups and corporations. It has a drone company that could assist rescuers by helping locate patients quickly.
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