Taiwan’s Smart City Summit to become top trade show

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – One of the most-anticipated and talked-about events of the year for ICT players is coming up next week! The 2018 Smart City Summit & Expo, one of the world’s largest trade shows dedicated to Internet of Things (IoT) applications for smart cities, is set to make Taiwan’s Information and communication technology (ICT) industry flourish.

Liang Su, the chairman of Taiwan Smart City Solutions Alliance (TSSA) and MITAC Information Technology Corp., said in an exclusive interview with Taiwan News on Thursday that the show will attract a record-high number of registered visitors/exhibitors and trade teams, from 120 cities of 33 countries.

The event will provide an exhibition space and educational forum for a wide range of top quality IoT applications that may be integrated into Taiwanese businesses and society. Su is hoping that the Smart City Summit will soon catch up with Computex, one of the world’s leading ICT trade shows, which is scheduled for June every year in Taipei.

The Smart City Summit at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center this year will additionally host three sideshows in cooperation with government departments and professional associations, including: the Smart Healthcare Expo (SHE 2018) with Ministry of Health & Welfare and Joint Commission of Taiwan; Intelligent Building Expo (IBE Taipei) with Taiwan Intelligent Building Association; and the Smart Education Expo with the Ministry of Education and Institute for Information Industry.

“It requires a huge effort to put together people from different sectors to showcase how IoT’s potential and commercial value can be realized in healthcare, building, and education,” Su said.

To welcome the record-breaking number of visitors and city representatives from around the world, more than half of the sixty forums are going to be conducted in English. Also, an online and offline business matchmaking service, along with business meetups are scheduled to help show goers efficiently and effectively find their best matches, according to Su.

“The show began to reach international audiences last year, after its launch in 2014, and has since successfully attracted far larger city and business leaders, and over 1,200 buyers from 50 countries to come to seek solutions to make their cities better places, as demonstrated in Taipei and other cities in the island country. This also means enormous business opportunities for the Taiwanese ICT companies and exhibitors,” said Su.

In addition to showcasing IoT related products and services, the show provides a one-stop venue for buyers to acquire comprehensive products and services tailored to their institutions. Take the Smart Healthcare Expo for example, Su said, buyers can find IoT system integration services that can take care of work ranging from medical records management, bed occupancy and even long-term care, all from this show alone, a feature that is hardly ever provided by the usual hardware-minded med-tech expos.

“What makes Taiwan unique is that the government has been putting a lot of effort into digitization, information systems integration, and infrastructure enhancement, to expand integration for a wide range of IoT applications to achieve the vision of a smart city.”

These efforts are exemplified by the YouBike and EasyCard services. Another successful story in smart city development is taking place in Hualien, where drones have been introduced to quickly take pictures after a car accident occurs, a measure that is anticipated to save time and costs, Su added.“The new technologies adopted in cities should be accessible and have a noticeable and positive impact on people’s lives, as this is the ultimate goal of a smart city.”

Visitors will be invited to experience the convenience around the cities and have their hands on these cool gadgets during the show, which will integrate the MRT stations, and include test driving of unmanned buses.”

At the end of the interview, Su expressed his hope that the Smart City Summit will soon become one of the world’s leading trade shows for state-of-the-art smart city technology and system integration, joining Taipei Computex, an annual event centered around the PC hardware industry, as a major annual forum to help pave the way for Taiwan’s ICT industries to flourish as never before.

Getting excited for the show? Come visit the Smart City Summit at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on March 27.