Asia and Europe dominate the top 20 in this year’s revamped IMD Smart City Index.
The study, produced by The Smart City Observatory (SCO), part of the IMD World Competitiveness Center (WCC), combines hard data and survey responses to show the extent to which technology is enabling cities to address the challenges they face to achieve a higher quality of life for their inhabitants.
Asia’s city leaders are among the world’s most forward-thinking when it comes to smart cities. In fact, the Asia-Pacific region is set to account for 40% of the global smart city spending, or $800 billion by 2025 and 80% of all economic activities is expected to shift to cities in the years to come.
Rapid urbanization, demographic shifts, climate change and advancements in technology have all been drivers for disruption for a need for smarter cities. This transformation has been further accelerated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed vulnerabilities, but also prompted cities to seek out new technologies to help them deal with COVID-related disruptions.
- Biometric facial recognition technology is becoming increasingly accepted, including in Southeast Asia
- Papago has developed Face8, a popular face recognition tech across industries in Taiwan, which has begun to make inroads in SEA
It was not too long ago that biometric identification methods became accepted means to authenticate a customer’s identity in the financial services sector. First fingerprints became commonplace, followed by voice recognition tech
Read more: Can facial recognition tech boost Asia’s biometric acceptance?
Post-pandemic and over the long term, much of the digital shift towards the 'contact-free' economy is irreversible
Roundtable panellists:
- Yash Patodia, partner and portfolio manager, Wellington Management;
- Fan Cheuk Wan, chief investment officer, Asia Private Banking and Wealth Management, HSBC;
- Julie Koo, managing director head of Citi Investment Management Sales, APAC Citi Private Bank
Moderator: Genevieve Cua, wealth editor, The Business Times
ASIA is widely expected to pick up speed as a global economic powerhouse, post-pandemic. We ask the experts for their views on the likely impact Asia tech would make on digital transformation, and their strongest investible ideas.
- Asian cities are among the most congested, accident-prone in the world
- AI-driven intelligent traffic management systems could significantly improve not just traffic conditions, but bring ecological and business benefits as well
Cities across Asia are growing exponentially, and there seems to be no end in sight to the rapid urbanization that is driving city populations up around the world’s largest continent.
Read more: AI-powered traffic management is slashing Asia’s congestion problem