South Korea’s advanced smart city technologies are revolutionizing urban landscapes across Southeast Asia, addressing critical challenges such as water management, traffic congestion, public safety, and environmental sustainability. These innovations are not only modernizing cities but also setting benchmarks for scalable, AI-driven urban development that many regions aspire to follow. As these projects unfold, they demonstrate strategic deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), IoT sensors, dynamic data analysis, and integrated systems—creating smarter, safer, and more sustainable cities.
Blaize and Starshine are partnering to deploy a hybrid AI platform for smart city and other applications in India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and China.
Edge artificial intelligence (AI) computing specialist Blaize is deploying its AI hybrid platform in collaboration with AI infrastructure solutions company Starshine Computing Power Technology across Asia.
The collaboration aims to drive real-world hybrid AI deployment across the continent through scalable infrastructure, powering smart cities, industrial automation, and intelligent public services.
Read more: AI companies team to deploy smart cities platform across Asia
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.
These oldest cities demonstrate that tradition and innovation can coexist harmoniously, setting a precedent for urban development worldwide
Asia is a continent of dualities. Here, hypermodern skyscrapers tower over ancient temples, and centuries-old customs coexist with cutting-edge innovation. Nowhere is this contrast more striking than in its oldest cities, where history isn’t just preserved but lived. From the brightly lit streets of Bangkok to the quiet elegance of Kyoto, these cultural powerhouses demonstrate that smart cities aren’t just about sleek technology but about reimagining the past for the future.
Read more: Tech meets tradition: How Asia’s oldest cities are adapting to the smart revolution
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.