Taoyuan wins rave reviews from ICF delegation as Smart City Expo closes

The 2024 Smart City Summit & Expo and the 2050 Net Zero City Expo came to a successful conclusion in the last few days. The number of exhibitors, the scale of the exhibition and the number of mayors and industry representatives from overseas grew substantially while the total number of visitors reached a record high with nearly 148,000 people going to the exhibitions in Taipei and Kaohsiung, an increase of 12% from the previous expos.

Among the highlights was the pavilion presented by the Taoyuan City government, which captured the visitors’ imagination. There colorful geometric cubes were imbued with the municipality’s unique features and images. The Taoyuan Pavilion’s display was not only diverse but its AI applications drew enthusiastic response, including from John Jung, a co-founder of the International Community Forum (ICF).

The Taoyuan City government points out that, with AI FOR ALL being the core concept of the expo this year, officials seek high-tech solutions to challenges facing urban governance, focusing on difficulties that citizens encounter in daily living, commuting and water management, etc. by adopting AI, systemic integration and big data applications. Many of the AI applications showcased at the Taoyuan Pavilion drew the attention of numerous international visitors.

Headed by Jung, members of the ICF delegation included Doug McCollough, director of the DMC Group from the US State of Ohio, Peter Portheine, co-founder of the Eindhoven International Project Office, Suvi Linden, a former minister of communications of Finland, and other promoters of smart cities from Canada, Vietnam and other countries. Jung said that the smart city development in Taoyuan is clearly there for all to see, with many smart and innovative applications being on display at the expo. The ICF delegation paid a visit to the Taoyuan City government after the expo ended.   
 
As traffic congestions have become a common scourge of modern civilization, Taoyuan’s application of new technologies including AI and data management caught the attention of foreign visitors, especially the platform for street maintenance information management, which won an award for innovative smart city applications this year, and the AI smart traffic signals control system. Visitors from Mexico, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and other countries inquired about those systems and the two-way translation counter, presented by the Taoyuan Metro Corporation, also became a popular feature among foreign visitors.  

After his visit to the Taoyuan Pavilion, Kang Yosik, president of the Seoul Digital Foundation, praised the city government’s AI applications and invited all departments of the Taoyuan City government to present the city’s intelligent and innovative capabilities on a world stage by competing for the Seoul Smart City Prize, an event organized by the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO).
 
Since Mayor Chang San-cheng took office in December 2022, all departments of the city government have actively adopted AI technologies and smart innovations in order to solve problems and optimize service to the public. During the latest expo, the Taoyuan Pavilion attracted a total of 25,000 visitors and positive reviews from both domestic and foreign guests reflect Taoyuan’s standing on the world stage in terms of smart city capabilities.