IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

The Italian Banking Association says its members are willing to pilot a new version of the euro

Italy is joining China and other countries in embracing the concept of digital currency.

The Italian Banking Association (ABI) saysits members are willing to pilot a digital version of the euro.

Guangdong Province, an economic powerhouse in southern China, ranks top among China's provincial governments for online services, said a report released by the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Wednesday.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang, two coastal provinces in eastern China, claim the second and third places in the rating, while Shenzhen, a tech hub in Guangdong, leads the city listing.

Guangdong Province, an economic powerhouse in southern China, ranks top among China’s provincial governments for online services, said a report released by the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Wednesday.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang, two coastal provinces in eastern China, claim the second and third places in the rating, while Shenzhen, a tech hub in Guangdong, leads the city listing.

Global information networks are undergoing unprecedented innovation, driven in large part by the emergence of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and 5G. Unfortunately for the United States, two other critical, but underappreciated, components of tomorrow’s internet—blockchain and digital currency—are at risk of being controlled largely outside of the West’s influence. Over the past year, the People’s Republic of China has positioned itself to become the global leader in these closely intertwined, linchpin technologies that will be fundamental to tomorrow’s financial and information infrastructures.

Since late 2019, Beijing’s senior leadership has promoted the advancement of blockchain and digital currency in China, and the government has been moving aggressively to make its vision a reality. In October 2019, a call by General Secretary Xi Jinping for intensified blockchain research triggered a 30% surge in the price of bitcoin, which is based on blockchain technology’s original concept.

IDC released an IDC MarketScape evaluation report on Chinese e-Government cloud market and vendors. Huawei Cloud e-Government Solution lands in the Leaders quadrant with dominating strength. Specifically, this product is recognized for its advantageous comprehensive strength and a future-proof strategic layout. According to the report, Huawei Cloud e-Government Solution claims the top spot in three major dimensions: current capabilities, strategies, and market performance. The result shows the industry's recognition of Huawei Cloud.

The new projects feature the use of advanced technologies for the green economy.

The third Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) meeting saw the launch of 14 new projects and the signing of eight memoranda of understanding.

Of the total MoU signed, six were on innovation and entrepreneurship, one was on digital trade, and the remaining was on cross-border dispute resolution.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital economy in restoring economic and social development, creating more jobs and improving people's well-being, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday.

Li make the remarks in a congratulatory message to the opening ceremony of the 2020 China-ASEAN Year of Digital Economy Cooperation (DEC).

Chinese citizens could access more than 100,000 government services via online platforms run by provincial-level governments as of the end of 2018, according to an official report.

The assessment report on China’s online government services was made by the e-government research center of the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (National Academy of Governance), commissioned by the e-government office of the State Council General Office.

At this year’s annual gathering, the Chinese legislative body proposed the establishment of a fund to support the development of blockchain technology led by the government.

The National People’s Congress (NPC), the Chinese legislature in its annual gathering of leaders this year featured representatives from all across China including delegates from Hong Kong and Macau. The meeting normally lasting 10 days this time had controversial issues on the agenda. Top of the list was, of course, the economy and security. However, the world was surprised to see the heated Hong Kong protest issue also included among the key issues to be discussed.

Singapore was the highest index-ranked Smart City in the world in 2021, followed by a tie between Zurich and Oslo, according to Statista. While China did not have any cities listed on the index-ranked list, they are certainly working to build digital and business collaborations with Singapore through their Smart City Initiative, which was launched in 2019.

What are some of the specifics that Singapore and China are working on with this initiative? There are a total of eight agreements and 14 projects between the two. Some of the projects include planning to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and boost how batteries are used for electric vehicles via artificial intelligence.

Both countries will embark on 14 new projects spanning e-commerce, cross-border data exchange, fintech, and green tech as the Singapore-China Smart City Initiative kicks off its third year of implementation.

Singapore and China will embark of 14 new projects spanning, amongst others, e-commerce, cross-border data exchange, fintech, and green tech. These are part of the Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative, a joint programme launched in 2019 that aims to build stronger digital and business links between the two Asian markets. 

The partners also inked eight MOUs.

Singapore and Shenzhen have launched 14 new projects on smart city development during the 4th Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative (SCI) Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) meeting.

The new projects will explore areas such as AI and sustainability.

Huawei’s customers have recently won two World Smart City Awards at 10th Smart City Expo World for their innovative ideas and outstanding achievements in driving smart city initiatives, says a press release.

According to the media release, Shenzhen has won the Enabling Technologies Award for technology-enabled refined city governance. Shanghai has been recognised with the City Award for world-class smart cities. Nanhai District of Foshan in Guangdong has won Economy Award. Tianjin

Chinese cities use apps and big data to help administrate residents during coronavirus outbreak

"The technology we use today in epidemic control was hard to imagine in the past," said Yang Fei, vice chief in Fuhe town, Suizhou city of Central China's Hubei Province.

The city is implementing virus prevention through digital means. "The calculation work used to take a week to complete, but now it can be done within two days," Yang said.

The country’s top planning agency is backing 56 projects to help turn the nation into a tech powerhouse

A top Chinese drone manufacturer and a police-backed facial ­recognition firm are among dozens of companies set to ­receive state subsidies as China seeks to become a global powerhouse in internet technology, big data and artificial intelligence.

Senegal is set to become the first African country to replicate the Chinese model of implementing local domestic servers and data centres, a move aimed at strengthening the country’s digital sovereignty.

In late June Senegal announced plans to move all of its government data and digital platforms to a new national data centre. The restructuring of the centre will cost €70m and will be funded by a loan from the Chinese government. Chinese technology company Huawei will be providing material support.

Christian Hammack stands outside city hall and surveys his kingdom – cars at rest. The Redwood City parking manager has spent years helping transform this California city of 84,000 people near San Francisco into a model of smart city technology.

Parking, however smart, may seem dull. But Redwood City’s hi-tech system is helping revitalise the downtown area, increase business and tax revenue and reduce congestion, pollution and accidents, even as powerful smart city tools raise concerns.

Numerous cryptocurrency media outlets have published recent reports asserting that China's Blockchain Service Network will launch in April 2020, Cointelegraph reported .

However, these predictions appear to be based on local reports published prior to China's first official fatality resulting from Covid-19.

According to a report issued by the state-run China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), 88 million Chinese went online for the first time in 2008, a rise of 42% over 2007. With this increase, the number of people using the internet in China has surpassed 298 million. The nation now has more internet users than any other country in the world, with the total number nearly equal to the entire population of the US.

Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang said that the government had placed great importance on e-government work.