Picture: Rendering of the Three Gorges Cloud Computing Building
Imagine, with a phone, you can visit different scenic spots, receive "one-stop" public online services, such as household registration, housing, social security and so on, check smart parking spaces online ...it’s life in a smart city, not far from us.
In July 2013, after a comprehensive review, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development approved Yichang as a national pilot smart city in 2013. As a result, a special team was set up to conduct a full investigation and demonstration and to compile a series of research reports. On January 28, Yichang Municipal Committee and Government issued A Decision on the Construction of Smart Yichang.
To realize the dream of smart Yichang, they proposed a general idea, key points in work and measures in the Decision.
On April 17, Zhao Guobao, Deputy Director of the Municipal Committee and team member of "smart Yichang", was interviewed by the reporter on the background and highlights of the Decision.
[Background]
Smart city is still a new idea to many citizens. What is a smart city? Why to build Yichang into a smart city?
According to Zhao, it is, in brief, a modernized, networked and informationized city with technology integration, comprehensive application and high-end development; based on the Internet, the smart city uses and integrates more advanced technologies with data and makes things and people live in an instrumented, interconnected and intelligent way. It is a strategic choice to build Yichang into a smart city, which contributes to accelerating the pace of modernization, promoting economic transformation and creating happy livelihood. As a result, a variety of intelligent applications will gradually spread the city, public services be extended constantly, people\'s livelihood be improved continuously, the city be more livable and people be happier.
What advantages does Yichang have in building itself into a smart city? Zhao told the reporter: First, as one of National Top 100 cities in comprehensive strength, Yichang has a solid foundation for economic and social development; Second, Yichang has a good infrastructure. For example: Yichang is the first one to build a city-level cloud computing center and put it into use. Foundation database and application platform are complete. Communication network infrastructure takes the leading position in similar cities in the province; Third, Yichang has a good foundation to promote and apply information technology. Yichang e-government led the country, popularization and application of which reached a higher level, and information technology was widely used; Fourth, the party committee and government at all levels and the broad masses have a strong desire to promote a common understanding of information technology. An ideological basis and strong atmosphere for a smart city have taken shape.
【Highlights】
Highlight One: The general idea and steps of constructing "smart Yichang" are clear and definite. Yichang strides forward to the overall goal of a national pilot smart city in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Abstract: We should adhere to the general rule of "government-leading, market entity, scientific co-ordination, innovation-driven, open cooperation, integration and share" and spend 3 to 5 years in building Yichang into a national pilot smart city in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Reporter: What should be done in advance to reach the overall goal?
Zhao: The Municipal Committee and Government has set up a leading group to deal with e-government affairs in the command of the mayor, issued important documents and plans like Views on Accelerating the Construction of E-government, Implementation Opinions on Strengthening Integration and Share of Government Information Resources, the 12th Five-year Plan on Fostering and Developing Strategic Emerging Industries in Yichang, the 12th Five-year Plan on industrialization and Informatization in Yichang, established a series of rules and regulations and initially produced work mechanism and institutional system to promote informatization.
Reporter: Are there any detailed plan to achieve the goal?
Zhao: To achieve the goal, the Municipal Party Committee and Government should carry out the strategies of "overall planning, step by step implementation, key points breakthrough and continuous promotion", in three phases: laying a foundation in a year, making progress in three years and forming a system in five years. Among them, 2014 is the time for top-level design. The main task is to make a comprehensive planning of smart city, establishing a unified operating mechanism and formulate relevant policy documents to form and perfect the top design. From 2014 to 2016, it is the time for construction and demonstration. The main task is to highlight infrastructure and applications, transform and elevate a number of projects with higher digitization, integrate and reconstruct a number of projects with much correlation and plan a batch of pilot projects with a wide range and many difficulties. After 2016, it is the time for comprehensive promotion. The main job is to carry out comprehensive smart city construction, integrate wisdom and depth of the city and improve the overall intelligent level in terms of the operation, management and service.
Highlight Two: Smart Yichang consists of "four basic projects, four intelligent platforms and five intelligent industries", which will bring changes to the urban development and people\'s lives.
Abstract: "Four basic projects" are intelligent network engineering, cloud services engineering, big data engineering and security system engineering.
Reporter: Which fields do the "four basic projects" include? What changes will they bring Yichang?
Zhao: The four projects are the foundation for the construction of smart Yichang. Intelligent network engineering is based on urban high-speed broadband network, ubiquitous wireless network and sensing network. Cloud service engineering is based on the construction of the Three Gorges Cloud Computing Center, which forms regional cloud computing service capabilities, builds urban engine of wisdom and gives play to congregation and radiation functions. Big data engineering is to vigorously develop big data application technology, establish data management and development center and gradually improve the handling and application abilities of the urban core data in order to perfect urban foundation database and achieve full coverage, real-time update and dynamic management. Safety system engineering is to primarily establish management and technology systems of information security in order to prevent and control information risk.
Summary: "Four Smart Platforms" are development and application platforms in four fields of people’s livelihood, government efficiency, city operation and social governance, focusing on the development and construction of ten application systems including smart transportation, smart education, smart medical treatment, smart social security, smart government affairs, smart city management, smart city construction, smart environmental protection, smart disaster prevention and smart food and drug administration.
Reporter: What conveniences will “Four Smart Platforms" bring to the citizens?
Zhao: In terms of construction for benefiting citizens, we primarily promote comprehensive integration, information sharing and intelligent use between social security information systems and related systems. To construct "smart social security”, we will develop "All-in-one Card" to realize multi-application card in the field of public service and achieve interdepartmental and networked collaborative management in social security field. To construct "smart education", we will build public service platform for education cloud, integrate and share information resources of high quality education and promote education mode innovation under network environment. To construct "smart medical treatment", we will build residents’ electronic health records, promote the smart systems construction of tertiary referral hospitals and achieve the sharing of medical resources distribution and real-time dynamic medical information. In addition, "intelligence government affairs" enables people to deal with affairs without going out; "intelligence community" enables people to do housework without going home; smart transportation provides people zero-distance service; "smart food and drug administration" makes people eat more securely, etc..
Summary: "Five Smart Industries" focus on five smart industries including manufacturing, logistics, tourism, agriculture and information.
Reporter: From which aspects, the development of "Five Smart Industries" will boost Yichang economic reconstruction?
Zhao: Firstly, we will accelerate the development of smart manufacturing, promoting the deep integration of industrialization and informatization, and speeding up information technology’s comprehensive in-depth applications in product development, design, production, marketing, service and other aspects. Secondly, we will accelerate the development of smart logistics, building smart supply chain systems, modern logistics distribution system, complete, efficient and reliable logistics information system and logistics public service platform. Thirdly, we will accelerate the development of intellectual tourism, integrating tourism management, tourism services and tourism marketing. Fourthly, we will accelerate the development of smart agriculture, gradually intelligentizing production, processing, storage, transportation and marketing of agricultural products. We will also transform and upgrade agricultural products’ traceability system, effectively monitor the quality of agricultural products, and provide technical support for “The best city for safe and secure food”. Fifthly, we will accelerate the development of information industry, seize the opportunities to make the related information industry as an important part of strategic emerging industries, and gradually form a new economic growth point of Yichang.
Highlight Three: strong measures to promote the construction of "smart Yichang".
Reporter: What concrete measures will the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government take to promote the construction of smart city?
Zhao: To boost the development of smart city, the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government will: first, organize and carry forward the construction with effective measures and build a market-oriented propulsion system with a body of enterprises and citizens; second, pay attention to scientific operations and rely on the Three Gorges Cloud Computing Center to establish an operation management center for the operation management of smart city; third, strengthen policy support to seize the opportunity of national experimental unit and plan a number of key projects for national or provincial financial support; fourth, gather high-end talents, train and bring in a number of high-level professional and technical personnel of related fields; and five, explore and establish investment and financing mechanism based on market operation with the participation of government, enterprises etc..
【People’s Voices】
Yan Xiaoning (A resident in Shibanxi Community): I’ve never heard of smart city before, but I still expect it after watching some reports. Yichang is a livable city and a famous hydroelectric tourist city. If it can be a smart city and smart applications can be used in various fields, citizens and tourists’travel would be more convenient and enjoyable. I hope the measures in The Decision will be taken step by step. One day we can handle a variety of business at home, enjoy scenic spots using a mobile phone, go shopping only with "One-Card".
Mou Zongju (Secretary of the Party Committee in Tieluba Community) We have experienced the convenience brought by informatization and smart applications. For example, "Human face dynamic recognition authentication system" can make it easier for retirees to get pension conveniently and safely; E-pass in communities allow the grid administrators to dynamically update various data; Palm-bus enables residents to know the exact arrival time of the bus. I believe that with the advance of smart city, our lives will change a lot. I am looking forward to the implementation of e-government in The Decision, so that it will be more convenient for residents to handle affairs in the community.
Tong Qingxi (Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dean of Institute of Digital China, Peking University) Located in the middle of China, Yichang should seize the opportunity, regard the construction of smart city as a strategic choice for the future, and synchronously develop economy and information technology. I am very pleased to see that Yichang has put forward initial ideas and the overall framework. Yichang has expressed that it plans to be the pilot demonstration of smart city, to be smart city in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Next, Yichang will further plan to integrate data system among all departments and industries, and formulate city informatization standard system. Meanwhile, Yichang will make a new breakthrough in the development of electronic information industry, the introduction of high-end talent, the investment operation management model and so on.