Da Nang is turning to technology to improve the manageability and efficiency of the city's infrastructure and become a smarter city where citizens and visitors can enjoy a higher quality of life and services.—Photo baodanang

DA NANG (Biz Hub) — Da Nang is turning to technology to improve the manageability and efficiency of the city's infrastructure and become a smarter city where citizens and visitors can enjoy a higher quality of life and services.

"With the vision of becoming a dynamic city and focusing on welfare and environment issues, Da Nang is taking bold steps in deploying advanced technologies to build and operate the infrastructure of the city," Pham Kim Son, the director of the city's Department of Information and Communications, said.

"Water and transportation are the two priority sectors that the city has chosen for using advanced technologies."

On Wednesday the city began operating IBM's intelligent operations centre to efficiently manage its water and transport systems.

It provides a summary of events and incidents through maps, dashboards, and alerts, allowing authorities to track trends, forecast demand, and better manage infrastructure and other assets.

"We are heralding Da Nang as the first smart city in Viet Nam, with its initiatives of smarter transportation and smarter water systems being the first such systems in Viet Nam," Poh Wah Lee, head of Smarter Cities and Financial Operations, IBM Growth Markets, said. "This first initiative is a huge step towards enhancing the infrastructure for the businesses and citizens of the city and in building a prosperous, sustainable and liveable city."

The Da Nang Water Company will use company's technology for real-time analysis and monitoring of the water supply.

It can measure water turbidity, salinity, conductivity, and pH and chlorine levels, and its workers can instantly visualise operations and receive alerts and notifications when readings stray from norms or when analysis indicates that water quality has changed.

In term of transportation, the city's traffic control centre will have the tools to forecast and prevent potential congestion.

In 2012 Da Nang was identified as one of the 33 cities world-wide to receive a US$400,000 grant in kind from IBM for the smart city project.

The city's Department of Transport will have real-time information about all 100 public buses, such as driving speed, location, and predicted journey times.

Through its website, passengers will be immediately informed of changes to bus routes, schedules, and estimated arrival time.

Son said the city has successfully piloted projects to manage water supply and bus transport. "The initial success has given hope to widen the project of building a smarter city to improve the quality of life for people," he added.

Da Nang has a long-term plan to become an environmentally and economically sustainable city. In subsequent phases it plans to use technology to transform other areas such as public safety, flood management, and food safety.

In 2012 Da Nang was identified as one of the 33 cities world-wide to receive a US$400,000 grant in kind from IBM for the smart city project.

It was selected based on its "desire to set an example for other municipalities, an eagerness to collaborate with multiple stakeholders, and a strong commitment to consider implementing those recommendations the city felt would be the most feasible and beneficial for their residents."

"Da Nang is punching above its weight as a smarter city," Michael J Dixon, general manager of IBM Smarter Cities, said. "This is a city which understands the value of technology in helping it to become more efficient, sustainable and liveable." — VNS