ISE08/14-15

• In the 2015 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced that the Government would use Kowloon East as a pilot area to explore the feasibility of developing a Smart City. In the pilot study, the Government would examine the feasibility of, among other things, using technology to enhance pedestrian and vehicular accessibility, manage district facilities, and disseminate information to the public in digital format with a view to making the area a better place for work and play.

Definition of a "Smart City"

• There is no universally adopted definition of "Smart City". However, based on the definitions adopted by different places and institutions, two common features of a "Smart City" are observed as follows: (a) being a city that leverages on the information and communication technology ("ICT") infrastructure and uses innovative solutions to address issues in one or more aspects of the city including governance, economy, mobility, environment, living and people; and (b) aiming at improving the quality of life of the citizens and enhancing the sustainable growth and competitiveness of the city through the "smart" initiatives.
• Many major cities around the world such as Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, New York, London and Amsterdam have introduced smart city projects with different objectives and priorities. Some cities, like Seoul, aim to make a broad range of city functions smart while some other cities, like Amsterdam, focus on particular aspects such as achieving greater environmental sustainability. This paper gives a brief account of the smart city initiatives implemented by the Seoul Metropolitan Government ("SMG") to illustrate the characteristics of a smart city.

A case study: "Smart Seoul"

• SMG initiated its e-Government programme in the 1990s. Early phases of development focused on building government databases, providing public services and information through the internet, and enhancement of the ICT infrastructure. SMG set up a network in 2003 to connect the major government offices via fibre-optic cables along Seoul's subway tunnels. In 2011, SMG completed a high-speed telecommunications network comprising a Wi-Fi network and a closed-circuit television ("CCTV") network to enable citizens to have free access to government services and information through their mobile devices as well as facilitating the development of future smart services.
• SMG incorporated ICT in city development strategies under the u-Seoul Project introduced in 2004 and the Smart Seoul 2015 Programme introduced in 2011. In devising the latest Programme, SMG has adopted a citizen-centric approach, aiming to develop a collaborative relationship between the city and its citizens and bring material improvements in the quality of life enjoyed by the citizens. Under the Programme, SMG plans to further expand the public Wi-Fi network by 2015 through strategic partnership with the mobile network operators. It was reported that SMG budgeted KRW129.5 billion (HK$906.5 million) in 2011 for implementing the Smart Seoul 2015 Programme, accounting for 0.63% of the total budget in that year.

Smart government

• SMG has launched smart government initiatives to enhance citizens' convenient access to efficient and innovative public services and promote transparency of its administration. These initiatives include upgrading its digital public services through the use of big data, delivering public services on mobile devices, developing three-dimensional spatial information-based public services (e.g. urban planning and disaster prevention), and sharing of data with citizens as much as possible based on the principle of open data.
• SMG established the Seoul Open Data Square in 2012 to share various categories of public information with citizens and businesses, including city management, environment, transportation, welfare, health, education and tourism. It also plans to share the data of 150 information systems by 2014, accounting for 35% of the public information systems. The released public information will enable the private sector to develop innovative applications to enhance citizens' quality of life. An example is the development of mobile navigation application using information about bus schedule or road conditions. In 2013 and 2014, SMG spent KRW2.1 billion (HK$15.4 million) on software development and hardware for the initiative.

Smart living

• SMG has introduced smart living initiatives to promote energy conservation, citizens' safety and efficient transport services. Under the smart metering pilot project introduced in 2012, 1 000 households were installed with smart meters and provided with real time reports of electricity, water and gas consumption in terms of monetary units. It was estimated that the initiative might contribute a 10% reduction in energy consumption among these households.
• Besides, SMG utilizes state-of-the-art location-based services and CCTV technologies to provide safety services for vulnerable groups of citizens such as children, the disabled and the elderly. Family members and the relevant authorities will be notified if the service users leave a designated safe zone or press an emergency button on a smart device which is used for locating the users.
• The Transportation Operation and Information Service ("TOPIS") system collects real-time traffic information such as current location and estimated arrival time of buses, operation status of different public transportation systems and emergencies from various systems. The real-time information provided by TOPIS enables bus service operators to improve efficiency and punctuality of their services and helps citizens reduce commuting time. As a result, user patronage of and satisfaction with bus services have increased since the introduction of TOPIS. According to SMG, the total expenditure on developing TOPIS amounted to about KRW200 billion (HK$1.42 billion).

Smart economy

• SMG has supported businesses that develop new technologies of information security essential for smart phones, CCTV and cloud computing. It has planned to increase the investment in strengthening security for mobile public administration and other applications using smart technologies from KRW73 million (HK$511,000) in 2011 to KRW24.3 billion (HK$173 million) by 2015. SMG has also promoted application businesses by nurturing application experts and supporting entrepreneurs. It is projected that the private sector will develop new services using the public data shared through the Seoul Open Data Square. It was estimated in 2012 that sharing of the public data would generate an economic value of KRW2.1 trillion (HK$14.5 billion).

Observations

• SMG has shown great commitment to developing Seoul into a smart city as reflected by its wide range of policy initiatives and the amount of resources invested in developing the smart initiatives. SMG has also worked with the private sector in policy planning and delivering smart initiatives. Besides, it encourages the private sector to develop innovative applications using the open data released through the Seoul Open Data Square to benefit the citizens.
• SMG also recognizes the importance of increasing access to smart devices and education on their use across income levels and age groups to ensure citizens, including the disadvantaged, can benefit from the smart city initiatives. In this connection, SMG has implemented a device donation programme to distribute second-hand smart devices to the needy. It also plans to provide training to 1 million citizens, particularly the disadvantaged groups, on how to use smart devices by 2015.

Prepared by Ivy CHENG
Research Office
Information Services Division
Legislative Council Secretariat
18 March 2015