In April this year, the Japanese government, namely Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, jointly updated and published a guidebook on the significance, necessity, effectiveness, and progress of smart cities. This is to support local public organizations and residents’ councils of each smart city project based on the cases of areas already being built by the Japanese government.
Not only has Japan faced various social challenges such as population decline, aging, disasters, and infectious disease risk, but also digitalization, AI, and IoT are rapidly developing with COVID-19. For that reason, the Japanese government aims to improve the quality of life of citizens and the efficiency of urban activities in creating smart cities. This is an extension of the Social 5.0 (a human-centered society that combines economic development and social task solving through a highly fused system between virtual and real space) proposed by the Japanese government.
The Japanese government has established three basic principles for smart city construction. 1. Citizen-centeredness (conscious of citizens’ perspective for well-Being improvement), 2. Vision and task focus (not ‘new technology’, but ‘a solution to a task’, ‘realization of vision’), 3. Connectivity between fields and cities (data connectivity beyond complex or wide-area task)
Furthermore, the Japanese government established five basic principles. 1. Ensuring fairness and inclusion (realizing a smart city where all citizens can enjoy the same service and participate), 2. Securing privacy ( thoroughly securing citizens’ privacy in promoting personal data), 3. Securing sustainability in terms of operation and funds (securing sustainable smart city due to region), 4. Secure security, resiliency (secure security, resiliency for emergencies such as privacy protection and disaster), 5. Secure interoperability, openness, transparency (secure interoperability in urban OS, open data distribution environment, decision-making process, etc.)
The Japanese government is trying to realize the future of smart cities by introducing the following 10 services.
1. In terms of transportation and mobility, the value of mobility experience is improved by optimizing the movement of citizens using location information and traffic observation data, self-driving is used to resolve congestion in cities and tourist areas, and public transportation services are sustainable.
2. In terms of environment/energy, the goal is to reduce the total use of energy or supply renewable energy through the application of new technology, improve the overall energy efficiency through the distribution of power, and improve the response power in the event of a disaster. Improve the insulation of buildings and secure a pleasant life while suppressing costs by combining smart technology.
3. In terms of disaster prevention, we will data the terrain or weather, promote optimal measures according to prediction or simulation, and establish a system that can induce adequate evacuation and respond to disasters through visualization or analysis of information in the event of a disaster. It enables relief activities in consideration of population reduction or the safety of the savior by using robot technology.
4. In terms of infrastructure maintenance and management, data is collected using sensor technology, analysis by AI, efficiency of infrastructure maintenance and management by prediction, and a city that can be secured while suppressing costs by optimizing investment. Through data collection, new services are developed to help maintain and improve the standard of living for citizens.
5. In terms of tourism/regional revitalization, the goal is to visualize and induce information on destinations and transportation to enhance the experience during tourism, and to transmit information about tourism and regions more easily, accessibly, and attractively. Considering the tourism style corresponding to the new normal, it promotes consumption expansion by creating new services using ICT.
6. In terms of health/medical, it supports citizens’ health care, such as promoting appropriate exercise using personal movement or health data, and secures medical access from remote areas and reduces the burden on medical personnel. It introduces a structure that takes care of the health of the separated family.
7. In terms of security/safety, crime prevention or response is optimized by the installation of crime prevention cameras or analysis of incident information, and when the guardian knows the information of the guardian in a timely manner, the accident or incident is prevented or dealt with. It aims to improve the working environment and improve the level of service by reducing the burden on guardians or childcare and nursing personnel.
8. In terms of logistics, the introduction of new technologies such as robots, drones, and self-driving trucks improves delivery certainty and speed, reduces environmental load, and seeks to save or paperless resources from shipping to payment. Responding to the reduction of the work of logistics workers and the lack of future talent due to robot technology, etc.
9. In terms of urban planning/maintenance, analysis is carried out by data conversion of analog information or generation of big data, and it is used for policy planning or business planning, and research on urban planning of industry-academic institutions is promoted. Agreements are reached by actively discussing urban creation based on data-based plans among residents.
10. In terms of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industries, various work automation through the use of robot technology reduces farming burden, reduces working hours, and data accumulates and utilizes skilled farmers’ skills, know-how, and judgment to improve quality and increase yield. Damage from nature is reduced by predicting development, predicting pest occurrence, and collecting and analyzing agricultural weather information.
MIKE CHOI
ASIA JOURNAL
