I have to explain the PLUS! in the title right away. As you can tell from the title this blog is intended to talk about the TOP7 announcement in Taipei on February 9, but so much more went on that week in Taiwan that needs to be discussed here. For instance, ICF Canada took a business delegation to Taiwan; ICF Taiwan was announced on February 9 at a special ICF-related conference focusing on the Internet of Cities; and ICF-related delegations from around the world attended the conference and TOP7 announcement from the Netherlands, Vietnam, Estonia and Hong Kong. And Lou Zacharilla and I came from ICF, the global headquarters of the ICF Think Tank in New York to officially announce the 2017 TOP7 at an event associated with Taiwan’s Lantern Festival. It was an incredible week. Where to start?

If you have ever eaten a bowl of instant noodles, you owe a debt to Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin Foods and inventor of this staple of Asian fast food, who was born and raised in Tainan City. This city of 1.9 million was the historic capital of Taiwan and the cultural heritage of centuries remains one of Tainan’s most important assets that drives a thriving tourist industry.

Tainan today, however, is about much more than the past. It is home to multiple science and technology parks including the Southern Taiwan Science Park, Tainan Technology Park and Shugu LCD Park. The tenant rolls are dominated by optoelectronics, integrated circuits, green energy and biotech companies, which together with more traditional manufacturing generate more than half of the city’s economic activity.

Partnering for Progress

Tainan’s government supports industry in multiple ways. Its Small Business Innovation Research program promotes and subsidizes R&D by smaller companies and incentivizes universities and research institutions to partner with them on commercialization. It has adopted a national program called Dual System Training, a carefully structured co-op employment and apprenticeship system. It accepts high school graduates and guides them through four years of work-study with Tainan employers that generally leaves them debt-free and employed upon graduation. Tainan entered the program in 2012 and by 2016, it had involved 6 universities and 37 companies, and admitted 250 students. Retention rates at partner companies hover around 80%.

Government also invests in broadband as a promoter of quality of life for employers and citizens. Adoption of fixed broadband already exceeds 95%, leaving little room for improvement. The government’s focus instead is on hotspot WiFi availability and applications that can transform living and working in the city. Beginning in 2016, Tainan City created a series of free WiFi hotspots based on its already 4G-equipped traffic light control boxes at intersections. As of August 2017, traffic lights at 1,600 intersections, 904 stop station smart signs, and 400 buses in Tainan now provide free 4G WiFi. The city also installed free WiFi in 35 smart parking lots.

To make use of Tainan’s WiFi availability, the city is in the process of building a set of applications for a Beacon city. In 2016, it published a number of apps, including “Alley X Tainan,” Guide to Historical Sites in Tainan” and “VZ TAIWAN Smart Tourism,” which provide information on nearby foods and shops, interesting stories about the area and transportation information at scenic spots, historical sites and restaurants and shops around the city. Tainan has installed nearly 1,000 Beacon devices at its smart bus stations to provide arrival time information, traffic reports, information on nearby tourist destinations and other services. As of August 2017, Tainan City has roughly 11,000 beacons with a goal of 20,000 installed in the coming years.

Cultivating Youth Innovation

The Tainan city government has set up a number of maker bases for the city’s youth in old housing developments and other unused spaces. The bases—Tainan Maker Base for Youth-BIG O2, PunPlace and Southern Maker Base—all include Hackerspace, Makerspace, TechShop, FabLab and other maker spindles. Tainan’s maker bases provide youth entrepreneurs with software and hardware access, including 3D printing, laster cutting, metal casting machines and AR and VR support in spaces with lower rents that clients can more easily afford.

To further support young innovators, Chang Jung Christian University and Kun Shan University have introduced coaching courses in digital entrepreneurship and marketing. The courses, taught by professional teachers, set up digital cooperation platforms as part of the class, providing students with a platform to increase product visibility and access venture capital.

Mobile Networking Project

Since 2009, the Tainan city government has provided free digital skills classes to middle-aged and senior citizens to help them make use of the city’s newer digital services. Topics include basic smartphone usage and applications, e-commerce, smartphone usage for travel, and smartphone usage for scheduling, including medical appointments, hotel booking and ticket purchases. The classes are taught in a “mobile classroom” environment in which teachers drive to the students, bringing all their class materials and equipment along, so that less mobile residents can still take part. In 2015, 3,428 residents attended at least one class, with the 43% of students being citizens between the ages of 60 and 70.

The Mobile Networking Project has developed a partnership with the Department of Health to improve quality of life and medical care for Tainan’s senior citizens. By offering classes on smartphone usage, the project gives residents easier access to the wealth of medical information available on the Internet and has also streamlined the appointment booking system for those seeking medical aid.

Tainan City has also focused on closing the digital divide in rural areas. In 2006, the city government set up its first Digital Opportunity Center in a rural area. As of 2016, Tainan has 12 such Digital Opportunity Centers. The centers provide lessons in the use of digital technologies and long-distance health teaching, in cooperation with Chi Mei Hospital. DOCs also teach network marketing, helping on rural businesses like small-scale farmers and merchants in remote areas to market their goods more widely and effectively.

Air Quality Monitoring and Transparency

Tainan launched the Bright & Clear Skies program in 2014 to improve the quality of air by reducing particle pollution in the city. Particle pollution is created by a wide variety of daily activities, including factory production, driving vehicles, construction work, road dust, and many other sources. The program targets eight major source of pollution, including enforcing more rigorous vehicle inspections to prevent gas emission violations, advising local businesses on dust-capturing equipment, and encouraging residents to drive less and use public transit. Road dust is the largest source of particle pollution in Tainan. Dust particles on the roads are thrown up into the air by each vehicle that passes along a paved surface. In addition to encouraging citizens to use more public transit, Tainan has organized road-washing trucks throughout the city to minimize dust on major roads.

To ensure that air quality continues to improve, the Tainan government will be installing 240 air quality detection AirBoxes, donated by Edimax, throughout the city. The AirBoxes detect humidity, temperature, and multiple pollution figures, including PM2.5 levels. Edimax plans to collaborate with the Academia Sinica and Taian City to analyze data collected by the AirBoxes, and the city will set up a visual representation of the findings for general audiences. All citizens of Tainan will soon be able to access the visual representation and the indexed data online at airbox.tainan.tw or through an app on their smartphones.

Solar Development

Tainan City is an ideal location for solar power and technology development, as its average sunshine per year is roughly 25% above the national average at 2000h. The city also has a flourishing green energy industry, featuring 161 green energy enterprises, 61 of which are solar-power-supply industries. Tainan’s Solar City Initiative began in 2011 to organize these resources into one central plan that includes implementing solar rooftops, solar public houses, solar living communities and agricultural greenhouses. The city is currently planning to establish a solar PV system on salt industry land, which is useless for cultivation, as well as restored landfill sites in the area. The plan aims to have this solar infrastructure complete in two years’ time. Tainan also launched a solar city service network in 2016 to provide planning subsidies, manufacturer financing, benefit calculations and other services to businesses and investors.

In an ever-changing world of new technologies and the challenges that come with them, Tainan has focused first and foremost on its people, providing education, easy avenues for participation and a better standard of living to lead the city as a whole into a brighter future.

Population: 1,886,267

Website: https://www.tainan.gov.tw/en/

Smart21 2017 | 2018 | 2019

Top7 2018

10 February 2017

Ipswich has been recognised as a global leader in the application of digital innovation to advance community prosperity and liveability after being named among the world’s Top 7 Intelligent Communities at a conference in Taiwan.

Mayor Paul Pisasale said the prestigious accolade was recognition of Ipswich’s ability to think global and act local, embrace digital technology and adapt to change.

“Ipswich is once again recognised as one of the Top 7 Intelligent Communities of the world as assessed by the New York based smart cities think tank, the Intelligent Communities Forum (ICF),” Cr Pisasale said.

The Intelligent Community Forum announced its list of the Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year. The 15th annual Top7 list includes communities from four nations, with Australia, Canada and Taiwan each contributing two, and Russia contributing a seventh community in a first-time achievement for that nation.

【記者洪小蕾台北報導】為架構亞洲智慧城市建設交流平台，推動台灣智慧城市應用成果為國際之櫥窗，「經濟部加速行動寬頻服務及產業發展推動小組」 與ICF(Intelligent Community Forum)於2017年2月9日(四)假香格里拉台北遠東國際大飯店三樓宴會廳舉行「2017國際智慧城市論壇暨ICF Taiwan成立大會」。

本次論壇邀請來自加拿大、荷蘭、愛沙尼亞及越南等市代表來台共襄盛舉，並與國內地方首長及產業代表，共同探討智慧城市下一波機會及如何提升智慧城市素質與永續發展。

由網路科技所引發的物聯網時代來臨，為智慧交通、智慧健康以及智慧生活等產業帶來創新契機，各縣市政府也逐步打造極具地方特色的創意城市，發展成宜居樂活智慧城市。由世界通訊端協會(World Teleport Association；WTA)所成立的智慧城市論壇(Intelligent Community Forum；ICF)，每年舉辦全球智慧城市評比，從全球數百多個城市選出Smart 21，再從中選出Top 7，最後選拔出年度首獎。

2017年台灣共有5個城市入圍：基隆市、桃園市、嘉義市、臺南市及宜蘭縣，入選城市數量僅次於加拿大。經濟部於2月9日舉辦「2017國際智慧城市論壇暨ICF Taiwan成立大會」，邀請亞洲矽谷物聯網產業大聯盟榮譽會長施振榮擔任主席、亞洲矽谷投資長翁嘉盛擔任副主席。智慧城市論壇主席兼共同創辦人John G. Jung、智慧城市論壇共同創辦人Louis Zacharilla以及加拿大、荷蘭、愛沙尼亞城市代表特別來臺見證亞洲第一個成立的ICF區域性組織。

國際組織「智慧城市論壇」 (Intelligent Community Forum,簡稱ICF)9日在臺北市紅樓河岸留言會館公布「2017全球7大智慧城市」入選名單，桃園市再次獲選全球7大智慧城市的殊榮，並將在下一階段，再與其他獲獎的6個城市進行TOP 1的競爭。

桃園從全球近四百個城市脫穎而出，再次獲得國際智慧城市論壇評選為「全球7大智慧城市」(Top 7)，這對桃園市民與在地努力耕耘的產、官、學各界及市府團隊而言，都是一項最大的鼓勵及肯定。2017年獲獎城市包括台灣桃園市、嘉義市、俄羅斯莫斯科、澳洲墨爾本、澳洲伊普斯威治、加拿大艾德蒙頓、加拿大格雷郡等7個城市，該組織並將桃園市的獲獎特色公告於網站上，這對桃園市的國際城市行銷，產生莫大的效益。

國際智慧城市論壇慶祝成立20周年，2017年2月9日在台灣成立ICF Taiwan，並公布入選Smart 21的Top 7城市，台灣的嘉義市、桃園市也在其中，獲獎的評選項目包括寬頻、知識勞動力、數位平等、創新、永續性及行銷倡導等6大智慧城市指標，對市民及在地努力耕耘的政府、民間企業而言，都是極大鼓勵及肯定。

創辦於1999年的國際智慧城市論壇（Intelligent Community Forum,ICF），宗旨為推廣全球寬頻經濟及運用資通訊科技的最佳城市案例，2015年在加拿大多倫多慶祝成立20周年，2017年2月9日在台灣成立ICF Taiwan，是亞洲第一、全球第二個成立的ICF區域性組織。

國際智慧城市論壇（Intelligent Community Forum,ICF），日前宣布2017全球7大智慧城市（TOP7）入圍名單，嘉義市以wifi熱點覆蓋率全國第二，為4G智慧城市全國示範點，從smart21擠進全球7大智慧城市TOP7行列。

嘉義市長涂醒哲說，嘉義市105年首度參與全球智慧城市評比，在全球400多個城市激烈競爭中脫穎而出，擠入前21強，第二階段評比更進一步，名列TOP 7，成為全球7大智慧城市，下階段嘉義市將再與其他獲獎的7個城市，角逐全球最佳城市。

Ipswich has been recognised as a global leader in the application of digital innovation to advance community prosperity and liveability after being named among the world’s Top 7 Intelligent Communities at a conference in Taiwan.

Mayor Paul Pisasale said the prestigious accolade was recognition of Ipswich’s ability to think global and act local, embrace digital technology and adapt to change.